After having so much fun the last time i did a night shoot in Norwich,Norfolk,i jumped at the chance to return when asked by my friend Simon Watson.Our first port of call was to get some pictures down at one of the bridges looking into the train station to get some light trails as the trains entered and departed.It was quite difficult getting a clear line of sight as the trees round there had an uncanny knack of obscuring the view from wherever you stood.After a few jokes about nipping back to the car for a chainsaw,i managed to find a spot.It was a good solid start but still was waiting for more inspiration.We decided to head to one of the bridges overlooking the river by the train station.At night its a beautiful scene with the riverbank lit by streetlights and the reflections on the water just give it that extra factor too.Whilst setting up our shots,i did notice a group of ladies also stopping to take a glance but was quite caught up with my shot.I'd heard one say 'beautiful' and thought to myself that they appreciated the views too.If was only after,that Simon filled me in by saying they had actually been pointing to my bum and had said 'beautiful' then,so while i was admiring one view,they were taking in a completely different one.Needless to say,that was a hot topic for me for the rest of the night and was quite flattering.Now the last place we went was what you could call the most 'interesting' and when i say this i mean you have to be abit bonkers to do it! Simon had us walking along a very narrow footpath along the side of a duel carriageway in the hope of getting some impressive light trails from it.It was only halfway along he then told me that we should actually set up some of our shots from the central reservation between the two sets of traffic! Now i'm not one to shy away from getting to tricky spots for a photo but i have to say this ranks very high in the list of daredevil (or death wish) feats.Simon tried to reassure me by bringing a couple of high vi tops but in fairness i felt like we wouldn't have looked out of place at a village people reunion.I only got a couple of shots from the central reservation because the feeling of air rushing past you from the traffic flying by made it quite hard to concentrate on your shot.It was still a great spot and have to say that the photo's i did get were great to look at later on.On the way back to the car i did spy one last shot with a puddle on the carpark reflecting the lights from the buildings on the street nearby.It made a fitting end to the night and like the first trip,i enjoyed every minute of it and am now looking forward to what the next trip up to Norwich will hold.
I know my general photo's are normally set in the more traditional 'landscape' category but Doing some urban photography was a breath of fresh air and something i really enjoyed.This particular trip i had my brother along with me as he's a keen photographer and my tour guide for the evening too.We started up at Mousehold heath which overlooks the city and was greeted by a beautiful sky with the sun rays catching off the clouds and so i knew already it was going to be a good trip.We had parked up opposite the prison there and was a relief to see the car was still there when we returned.I suppose if anyone was to escape then least they'd be able to see the whole of the city before deciding which way to run,very thoughtful of them at the prison.After Mousehold we headed into the city itself and mainly followed the river along.In an urban landscape there is always such a mixture of different themes so theres always alot of diversity when your taking pictures.As ever,there are always funny moments when out.To pick out just a few highlights,Nearly tripping over a chain guard which would have catapulted me into the river,Some drunk bloke carrying a coffee cup (which i suspect didn't have coffee in) trying to find something on the ground which i can only assume was his dignity.Also having some moron in a car shout 'what are you perverts looking at' when were stood in front of a cathedral all lit up in its glory,clearly this ape (actually that's an insult to apes) was using all his skills just to keep his car on the road and his spacial awareness obviously lacked along with his intelligence too.What else,oh there was me trying to block out glare from my brothers camera with my hand then realizing it looked like i was saluting the traffic......we salute you! My favourite had to be getting my brother to gurn for a shot on a long exposure with both of us completely oblivious to the fact that 2 ladies were coming are way,so god knows what they must of thought to the two guys who seemed to show an over excitement to finding a roundabout.All in all tho,it was a great night and was topped off with capturing the light trails of the traffic from a fly over above.Well worth doing.
