This series of pictures features Birmingham centre just after the clocks have gone back. Why is this so important. Sunrise for the next couple of weeks is around 7 am and that is the time that I get into Birmingham. When I took these pictures, I did not have any theme attached to them as I just felt like I needed to stroll around the city and see what is happening.

A lone figure in Victoria Square

There is a fair amount of change happening around Birmingham. This includes the next phase of the Metro tram linking up between Grand Central and Broad Street. There are also many new buildings going up around Chamberlain Square. So many changes happening. I then moved onto Gas Street Basin and caught the light from the early morning sun.

The view to Centennial Square with a lone figure

It was only when I reviewed the pictures that I noticed a figure in each of the pictures. Maybe it is the same person that was following me around the city as I was taking photographs. Whoever he/she or they were, they do add a point of interest and a story to the pictures.

Looking towards the mailbox with a lone figure
Looking towards the sunrise

During October, my daily commute starts when the morning is dark. Likewise in the evening if I am working late or at a function in the city then I am travelling again in the dark. It has also been raining many of the days and in spite of the gloom the conditions provide reflections of the lights on the pavement or in the shop windows.

Speeding Tram (featured on BBC Midlands Instagram page)

This is a selection of photos taken last week in the dark. There is a mixture of long exposures and opportunistic street photography of people interacting with both the City and the conditions. There are a couple of favourites in here and they have been picked up by other social media outlets. One was In Explore on Flickr for several hours. During this time it clocked up over 35,000 views and many likes and comments. The picture of the blue tram in slow motion was featured on the BBC Midlands Instagram site. It has been a fun week for photographing Birmingham in the dark.

This picture titled “Rainy City” clocked 35k views on Flickr
Cars and Pedestrians at Grand Central
The Zebra crossing to towards the Mailbox
More Trams taken with a long exposure
An umbrella is needed to brave the conditions.

I am so happy that I have caught up with most of my pictures that I can concentrate on a few pictures taken this week. My first picture is from Winterbourne House where Autumn is really showing its colours. Taken with my Sony Camera, I was surprised how deep the red colours had started to show.

Lovely deep red colours from the maple leaves

The colonnade outside the University of Birmingham sports centre is often photographed so after a rather large down pour of rain there was the opportunity to take photographs of the reflections. Also there was an obliging figure that came into the picture

Reflections after the rain

The new Library offers great views over campus and I went to a reception on the 4th floor. After all the formalities and on my way out I happened to see this scene over towards the Medical School. I was showing it to a colleague and he advised a tight crop to bring out the details of the buildings. It did well on Twitter with over 5k of views and interactions.

The final picture is taken on my way into work through the Pebble Mill gardens. This is a wooden walkway that was lit up for the first time. I now realise that the mornings are getting darker and that many of my pictures will be taken under such lighting for the next few months. I think this picture grabs the attention due to the low view point. A good week of pictures and hoping for some more in the coming 7 days 🙂

The path to work (featured in Amateur Photographer)

It is said that somewhere at the turn of the century, a horse and cart loaded with Treacle upended and the cargo split all over the streets. The treacle was immediately scooped up by the locals and the term “Treacle Town” literally stuck. Now Macclesfield is a thriving market town famous for many other important historical facts. In 2010, the Treacle Market was established on the last Sunday of every month and people travel far and wide to the market. It is a craft market with lots of energy including live music and street food. There is a large range of craft stalls selling many different often unusual goods. You can check out the web site to find lots more information. Treacle Market

We were visiting friends and the weather was inclement but that did not stop either the traders or the shoppers from packing the town centre. I loved the day as it was a gold mine for street photography and the collage is just a few of the many pictures I took. If you are ever around the area when the market is on then definately worth a visit.

Here are larger pictures of the above gallery

In contrast to the previous week in Glasgow, the weather in Edinburgh was glorious. It was hot and sunny and the light was glorious. Was in Edinburgh for a research grant meeting and whilst there was lots to do during the day, there was also some downtime that allowed me to photograph this beautiful city. There is a mixture of night time views and sunny views from Calton Hill over the Forth. It was challanging to get some good photographs done as the city was brimming with tourists but the sights of the city won in the end.

Street Scene
The Waverley Commute
Early in Market Street
Colours of the Night
Greyfriars Bobby
Calton Hill
View of the Forth (featured by BBC Scotland)
Old and the new being built
Cranes over the city
The Scott Monument

I just love going up to Scotland and the cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh are so different but rather wonderful in their own particular way. First stop was Glasgow and I was there for a conference in September. I stayed in the City for the week and then Sandy came to join me on the Saturday. The Conference was at the University of Glasgow which is very photogenic with its imposing Gothic structure overlooking the city. Some of the lecture theatres were also surreal such as the Kelvin Gallery which had a definite Steampunk feel to it. After the conference we went up to Loch Lomond to visit friends and even though it was misty, the magic of the scenery was there to see.

Grafitti greeting
Glasgow University
Steampunk lecture theatre
Glasgow Town Hall
Scottish Dancing
The weather was good on some of the days! (featured by BBD Scotland)
Early morning on the Clyde (featured by BBC Scotland)
The beauty of Loch Lomond

I am fortunate that I am able to visit different places and one such place is Berlin.  It is a city that cries out to walk around and I did one better by doing a lot of running around the city.  I ran to the Brandenburg gate, Reichstag and along the river.  When not running photographic opportunities presented themselves on the conference river cruise and next to the bus stop.  What I particularly enjoyed were the sunrises which were particularly spectacular.  Most of the photography was done with my iPhone whilst running or using my Sony compact camera which is still working well in captured the moments of the city.

View of a tram from my hotel room
Early morning runs had added benefits such as lovely light
Abstract shapes and reflections
View from the boat trip
The Brandenburg gate with the early sunrise

Watergate bay the last night and we went out for a nice pub meal. On the way back we stopped off at the Watergate Bay hotel. They have opened a bar called Watchful Mary. It seemed that the night was going to be overcast and worse still the bar was crowded so we huddled up under blankets on the outside seats. As the sun went down the clouds parted and there was a spectacular sunset which lasted around 20 minutes. It was a great finish to the holiday.

We spent a delightful morning in St Agnes followed by a trip to Wheal Coates Tin mine. These pictures are rather special as I have wanted to visit the Tin mine and see it for myself. The scenery is beautiful but the thoughts go back to all those people who worked these mines over the years. This is owned by the National Trust and looks impressive against the natural backdrop of the sea. The colour of the heather adds to the pictures.

Cornish Streets
Red box, White house
Flowers in the street
The path to the mine
The mine appears
Od Buildings
Chimney
Wheal Coates mine and its stunning backdrop
Reach for the Sky
More stunning scenery
The picture that I love

I like this assignment that I was given by a 52 weeks of photography group that I am a member of on Flickr. This was to tty out a new way of exploring a landscape. The idea is to create a composite of multiple pictures of a landscape that you’ve taken during a short walk through it. It was a simple job of taking many shots of the Watergate Bay beach landscape. I found lots of views that caught my eye. It was also great fun assembling this selection of pictures.