MANCHESTER STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

So finally I got round to do a little more personal work this year and this time it was based around me heading over to Manchester for some street photography. This year has been an incredibly busy one for me and I haven’t really had any time to spend shooting anything but weddings and commercial things. I actually made the most of dropping Mrs B off on her works do on the Quays, in Manchester. Taking my camera with me and making myself get out there on the city streets. The last time I managed to shoot city stuff without being on vacation was back in my Liverpool Street Photography Blog.

ROAMING THE CITY

I’ve always wanted to head out at night and shoot but by the time I get home from freelancing and food in my belly, making the trip to my nearest city doesn’t seem that appealing once I get relaxed in my tracksuit bottoms. Anyway this night had it all, cold, dark and it was raining and I think it made the photos a lot better. See, I love spots of ambient lights in a photo and they can really set the scene and mood, add the reflection from surface water and puddles and you instantly add mirrored details to areas of a scene that may have been hidden by darkness. Manchester has a lot of available light to work with and there aren’t so many areas that are pitch black which makes taking pictures at night fairy easy with todays camera tech.

There are so many individual stories that are being told every time you walk around a street corner in a city, stories of people and their reactions are by far my favourite to shoot. Being near Christmas, it was easy to find many people in the Christmas spirit and having a laugh, and on the other hand you discover a complete polar opposite of the true grit of city life.

WHERE IN MANCHESTER DID I GO?

Armed with my Sony A7 3 and Canon 28mm F1.8, I was ready to rock and roll on these Manchester streets. My main aim was to head over towards the Christmas markets near the Town Hall, where I knew there was going to be a lot of activity of people enjoying themselves. I decided to park up in the Northern Quarter and head across Picadilly Gardens where it was perfect for capturing people shopping and hanging around tram stations. I also visited the area of Spinningfields, as the Christmas Markets also lead all the way down to that part of the city.

MY FAVOURITE SHOT OF THE EVENING

Sometimes when you press the shutter, you have an instant love for the shot you have just taken and this is my favourite shot of my evening. It’s no ground breaking image but I just really like the synchronicity that these three individuals have with each other on the same parallel, even though they weren’t walking as a group. If you look to the right of the image, there are another three people in a similar line taking the up the same stride. The yellow light offsets the the definition of the legs as they walk along the pavement.

So thank you for taking the time to visit this brief journal update and I would like to know your thoughts on my Manchester Street Photography work below.