Bristol - New Photographs in Glorious Black and White

I have just loaded the recent photographs to my www.davebutcher.co.uk website that I took when we visited Bristol 3 weeks ago. Our first visit to Bristol - ever, albeit just for one night!

They were all taken with my Mamiya 7 cameras using Ilford FP4 120 film, giving me 10 shots per roll of film. I switched to the spare Mamiya 7 body because the cable release socket on the first was blocked, probably by the end of a broken cable release. It's difficult to buy good quality cable releases these days and the metal screw-ends tend to be quite brittle metal which breaks off in the camera. I used a Gitzo tripod with a Manfrotto head for all of them to make sure the framing was exactly as I wanted it to be and they were pin-sharp.

After processing the films and selecting the final 15 negatives to use they were scanned one at a time on a Nikon Coolscan 9000, edited in Photoshop CS6 and loaded on the website.

Here's a selection from them, to see the full range please visit the website.

Pero's Bridge at Night, Bristol Harbour

Clifton Suspension Bridge at Night

Royal York Crescent, Clifton

Cranes at M Shed, Bristol Harbour

Bristol Millennium Square

Bristol Cathedral and Statue

Next up will be photographs taken around Exmoor and Lynmouth, from the same trip but taken a few days after we left Bristol. They may take a couple of weeks to scan, edit and upload as there's a few more of them.

Leaving San Francisco

This post has been delayed somewhat, catching up after having 4 weeks away and phone problems.

The photos for trip posts are all taken on my Samsung Galaxy S3 phone. Unfortunately, it has been running down the battery in just a few hours, even a new battery, for several months. It also runs the battery down while plugged in to the mains power if I try and use it. All this made posting to my blog and Twitter, etc a bit of a problem.

I just managed to edit some recent photos that I took on it and it will be replaced this week. Hooray!

We finished our photo trip to California and Canada with an evening in San Francisco after our jaunt around Napa Valley. Some new beers at the Mikkeler brew pub to try but no new photos around the city, I gave myself a few hours off!

We returned on Virgin Atlantic on 9th June, flying over the main SF bridges as we left.

Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco

Bay and Oakland Bridges

I have 72 rolls of exposed Ilford 120 film. Mostly FP4, but also 16 rolls of 400 Delta (rated at 500 ISO in case you're interested) and a few rolls of SFX infrared film. 20 rolls processed so far, just 52 to go, probably spread over 3 more days. It will be a while until I start scanning them. None of the film I took with me was subject to x-ray machines, Jan put a lot of effort into pre-arranging a hand search at Heathrow Airport. San Francisco and Vancouver Airports did hand searches as soon as we asked on arrival at the x-ray machine, as is usual in North America.

New Black and White Images

I have added some new images on the Dave Butcher Photography web site. They are the last few scans that were done for my new book City Light. Included are Wellington in New Zealand, Sydney, Washington DC, San Francisco, Buxton, and Manchester.

There are one or two more on the web site.

Manchester Trinity Bridge

Buxton Turner Memorial and Town at Night

Washington Memorial Flags at Night

Wellington Carter Fountain at Night

San Francisco Transamerica Pyramid

Sydney Strand Arcade

All of these are in my new City Light book, out in March. I should have the cover design soon and will post that when I have it, along with more information on what is in it. At the moment it looks like there will be 119 different black and white photographs and the sub-title will be 'Cities of the World and Buxton'. Buxton is my local town here in the English Peak District.

New images of Oxford

We visited friends in Gloucester at the end of November and nipped across to Oxford for a few hours.

It was a good day for photos, although parts of Oxford were flooded after recent heavy rain. Nice skies.

I took 9 rolls of Ilford FP4+ 120, my first shots of Oxford. I have lots of photos of Cambridge as that's where I did my PhD and needed some of Oxford for a bit of balance in my new book, City Light, due out early March. Don't want to be accused of favouritism!

Here are a few examples, more on the web site Recent Gallery or follow the Oxford permanent links:

All Souls College and Radcliffe Camera

from St Mary's Church Tower

Christ Church College Puddle Reflections

Bridge of Sighs and Hertford College

Flooded Christ Church Meadow and Trees

Radcliffe Camera from St Mary's Church Tower

Amsterdam Canals, Bridges and Rooftops

Yesterday was our second day in Amsterdam and it was a hot one at 26°C.

We had a late start after the late night of photography on Tuesday. We actually returned to some of the locations from Tuesday so that I could re-take them with blue sky and a few clouds.

Jan dragged my camera case, in cities I use a Peli 1510 wheelie case. It easily holds my 2 Mamiya 7 cameras and 4 lenses.

If I had known Amsterdam had mostly cobbled and brick streets which make dragging a case difficult I would probably have used my usual carry case and a rucsac.

I've taken 16 rolls of Ilford FP4 120 film so far. Hopefully a few more today but more clouds.

We walked miles. Most of the good shots were in the south and west. It was dull in the centre when we were there.

I took quite a few rooftops with the short telephoto, 150mm lens. I don't often use it but it was good for these.

Last of all I wanted to repeat the bridge shots from Tuesday. It was too dark when we reached the best location and I wanted more detail in the buildings behind the bridges.

The bridge and street lights came on at about 10.30pm. It was a lighter evening than Tuesday so I could take the shots I wanted and have more detail in the shadows.

Another late night, finishing after midnight. I much prefer doing night shots in the winter, I can start at 4pm and be finished by 6pm!

Today the forecast was for clouds and it's sunny. A bonus day!

Amsterdam Day and Night

We are on a short photo trip to Amsterdam. It's quite a few years since I was last here but Jan had meetings here in 2011.

It was an early start yesterday to catch the 7am from Manchester. The day was mixed with some sunshine in the afternoon, the odd shower of rain and quite a lot of cloudy periods.

Mostly the shots were of the canals and their bridges, with a few buildings thrown in for good measure. Lots of walking in warm humid weather.

Jan found us a very nice restaurant that she knew then, at 10am, it was time to start the night photography as it was starting to go dark.

I had several canal bridge shots lined up but all but one weren't lit up fully. They all have strings of light bulbs outlining the bridge but quite a few were unlit. One of the problems of not being able to do night photography until most people are in bed! Not many boats moving around after 10pm so not much need for illuminated bridges.

We finished about midnight. Round 2 today. Overcast now so I will look for smaller bits in the landscape and keep the big views for when the sun comes out later.

Will try and find some wifi too so that I can pick up emails and post this to my blog. In Starbucks with free wifi so fingers crossed this goes.

New London Images

I have managed to find some time to scan and edit some of my new images from our recent trip to London. Here are a few examples. I have another 18 scanned and part-edited but unsure when I will find time to have these added too.

I obtained a permit to take the photos around City Hall this time, filling in all 25 pages of the application form, but it was worth it for the shots. The buildings around there are spectacular plus that area has the best views to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge.

The Burlington Arcade shot was taken after being moved on by the security guard. After chatting with him for a few minutes he kindly told me where the limit of the property was (just a couple of feet further back). The shot shown here actually benefits from having the black wrought iron gates in the foreground.

I was disappointed that they have removed the Underground signs from outside Westminster station. I wanted to get an improved shot with the sign in the foreground and Big Ben behind. I'll just make do with what I took last year. The bus light trails shot worked quite well though.

What a relief to finally see the Albert Bridge (Victorian vintage) resplendent after a lengthy refurbishment. Last year (and the one before) it was covered in white plastic as they worked on it. Now, it looks spectacular; I can understand why it's known by many as the prettiest bridge across the Thames in London. The Prince Albert down the road on the Battersea side is a good one too!

The Shard from The Scoop theatre near City Hall

Albert Bridge at Night

Big Ben and Light Trails

Burlington Arcade

Battersea Power Station and Telephone Box

There are more on the Recent gallery on the web site:

www.davebutcher.co.uk/gallery/recent

To see all of the London shots on the web site click here:

www.davebutcher.co.uk/gallery/cities?place=London

London Sun and Rain

A good day in London with lots of sun and blue skies with lots of fluffy clouds. Just a few light rain showers. Good weather for black and white photography.

I now have shots of the Tower of London, Shard, St Katherine's Dock, Battersea Power Station and the Albert Bridge. I also have new shots of more familiar places like Tower Bridge and City Hall.

Some of the Battersea Power Station images were thanks to the generous offer of Pippa, whom we met at an art show last year. Her apartment is right on the banks of the Thames with an unobstructed view. Perfect.

The attached photo is of the Albert Bridge at night. This is thought by many to be the prettiest bridge in London.

Northumberland course day 2

Today we spent the day on Holy Island/Lindisfarne and had pretty good weather all day. No camera again for me.

We started around the huts made from upturned boats, then took pattern pictures amongst the lobster pots before moving to the jetty.

Then around the harbour for shots of the castle and old lime kilns.

From here we went to the Crown and Anchor pub for lunch. The priory and harbour followed before we finished with the classic shot of the castle with old jetty posts in the foreground with waves crashing in behind us. Had to go back for this at the end of the day as tide was too high earlier.

After a quick wash and brush-up it was down to the bar to review the results from the day; lots of good shots.

A quick nip round the corner found us at the Wetherspoons pub for dinner. This was chosen for its position next to the main bridge.

As we saw the light start to fade we made our way down to the bridges to take the lights and reflections between the 2 road bridges. In total we were out for over an hour doing night photography. Everyone had some good shots, probably the best being the early ones before it was completely dark so that we kept detail in the sky.

Tomorrow we do more castles.

New Images of London

There are some new images of London on the web site in the Recently Added Gallery or you can find them through the Cities - London Gallery. Just click either of these links to find them. They are mostly panoramic as this was the format requested by a London hotel that is considering my photographs to decorate their walls.

I also re-edited some other London images that were already on the web site to panoramic which may be of interest to you. I use the 2 to 1 panoramic format rather than anything more extreme. They are all sized to fit a 1 metre by 0.5 metre frame without a border but can be printed to pretty much any size up to this.

More to come!

Tower Bridge from Southwark, near HMS Belfast

Canary Wharf from Rotherhithe

Shad Thames near Tower Bridge

New Marlow Image

I found one new image of Marlow that I scanned several months ago so I have edited it and added it to the site too.

Marlow suspension bridge and church at night

Danish Bridges and Copenhagen at Night

Touch damp at times today but no real rain. Lots of bridge shots either side of Odense in Denmark, quite breezy so sea choppy.
Tonight was out taking photos around Copenhagen until 11.30pm, This included Tivoli, Nyhavn and Little Mermaid. Back to do some of them tomorow. Morning in daylight.

Late morning cross into Sweden then up to Oslo for tomorrow night.
Dave Butcher