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Author Archives: Damien Walmsley

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Photographing Iceland

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

My photograph of the winter lights festival in Reykjavik that was taken on my visit to Iceland has featured in the Rove.me travel web site. Although I did not get to see the Northern lights, the Winter lights festival more than made up for it. Enjoy my picture and visit in person to photograph the experience. Thank you to Rove.me for the feature. Here are a few more of my travel photographs from Iceland for you to enjoy.

The Sun Voyager – an ode to the sun – Reykjavik
Gullfoss – A spectacular waterfall on the Golden Circle in Iceland
The Blue Lagoon is an experience and the water is so warm especially on a very very cold day. This picture reminds of the “where’s Wally” series. Sandy is posing for the camera

A night shot from Ryekjavik and their Winter Lights Festival to counter the long winter days of darkness.



Categories blog

Photographing Riyadh

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

My recollections of Riyadh from my first visit in 1996 were hazy. I remember it being very hot with many white buildings. Here I was back in Riyadh for a second time (third to Saudi Arabia). What I first noticed is that there is great deal more traffic around than before. It is difficult to get a feel for the city initially and my first morning and afternoon were taken up with meetings. The fun started at lunchtime and then re-continued at dinner as I soon discovered that the Saudis love their food. The evening food was served on the floor which was an experience especially for my knees which were very stiff when I stood up.

The food served on the floor was fit for a kingdom

Day two of the trip was a recharging of batteries and after early morning meetings, it was catch up in the hotel. Passing the time of day and ceiling was worth photographing as the picture shows

Hotel ceiling

Both Universities that I visited on day three of the trip were situated in large expansive campuses. King Saud is a well established university and the architecture is impressive. Long outside corridors which are so long that there are mini-mokes available to assist you. Luckily the weather was reasonable and cool. In fact later that day a dust storm hit the city and part of the time it was not advisable to have the camera out. Princess Nour University is a female only campus and again so vast that a monorail is provided for the female students to access all the departments. The hospital was again large (do you find there is a common theme here) and some of the architecture was just asking to be photographed.

The city goes on forever, the traffic is intense
Downtown Riyadh
Kong Suad University
Long Corridors
I love arabic coffee
Interesting styles
Restaurant with Saudi Symbol
Shopping area
Architecture on the Princess Noura University
Looking Up
Categories blog

Getting that picture

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

I have started to take my wide angle lens out with me when wandering around Birmingham. I usually do this on a Wednesday morning as I have a clinic in the City Centre. I plan different routes around the city but today I went for a route from Snow Hill to Brindley Place. Along the way I took several pictures and at around 7.30am arrived at the NIA. The Iron bridge over the canal is a photogenic leading line and I started experimenting. It was then that a noticed that a colourful sunrise was starting to happen. I overcame the lack of tripod by using the canal wall. The manual settings of the camera were as follows shutter speed 1/13, aperture f/20 and ISO 400. I use live view to check the scene. I also ensured that I focused part way into the picture to find the hyperfocal length thus ensuring all would be in focus. I took a few more pictures and then went to one of my favourite coffee houses Tom’s dinner in the Mailbox. Browsing through the pictures and this one caught my eye. Processing is a mixture of Lightroom – up the exposure, drop the highlights, touch the shadows and a heavy vignette. I use a LUT (Lookup Table) add on to bring out the cinematic effect. Then into Photoshop where I use an unsharp mask followed by adjustment of the levels as the final adjustments. The picture looks good and I have also included some of the other pictures that were taken on my walk.

Cube spotting
Another view of the sunset
Bridges
Long boat and windows
Categories blog

Maryvale

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

It is fun discovering new places to visit around Birmingham and the Maryvale Institute which is a Catholic college. It has much history attached to the place including being the place of residence of Cardinal John Newman from 1846. More of the history can be found on the Maryvale Web site I am involved in the quality assurance of the Maryvale/KYRA Certificate in Leadership and Management Skills in Socially-Orientated Organisations. Monsignor McHugh who was previously the Institute Director convened a meeting but also wished to have some pictures taken of the Church and the Shrine to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Here are some of the pictures that were taken of the buildings and the day. The Institute is situated in Old Oscott Hill, on the border of Perry Barr and Sutton Coldfield. The area is close to regeneration related to the Commonwealth Games and will be a part of Birmingham that I will visit again soon.

Maryvale Institute
The sun shines down
The shrine to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
A view of the small dimensions of the Shrine.
The main church and the Shrine is to the right of the picture in the upper windows
The stations of the cross in the grounds of the Institute.
Categories blog

Photographing a Cathedral

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

“Birmingham we are” is full of passion and I have been posting pictures on their Twitter account for over 3 years. It is run by Jonathan Bostock and Daniel Sturley with help from Debbie. They have successfully published the Birmingham Gem’s Calendar for the years 2017, 2018 and 2019. Their web site is popular and has many followers throughout the West Midlands and beyond. Jonathan organised a visit to St Phillips Cathedral for a group of enthusiastic photographers who contribute to the @birminghamweare twitter account . The meeting was also an opportunity to meet @wasps (we all shoot photographs) collective of photographers. We met up at the St Philips Cathedral on a Saturday morning and were greeted by one of the volunteers, Andrew, who showed as around. We initially went outside and then undertook a detailed visit of the inside of the Cathedral. There were many highlights and the stained glass windows in particular were interesting both to photograph and to listen about the story about their creation.

The stained glass windows were impressive each with a story to tell
This City was built on Books
The Sacristy
Beautiful glass
Every church should have one
Andrew answering questions

There were so many other pictures taken and here is a gallery of them and if you want to see how others interpreted the Cathedral then please visit the fantastic post from Birminghamweare.

A view outside
Categories blog

Glasgow University

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

There will be many visits around the country in the coming few years as I am part of a research grant with 4 other universities (Glasgow, Leeds, Southampton and Edinburgh). The lead institution is Glasgow University and that is where the kick of meeting began. There was a Burns supper the night before the meeting proper and a chance to photograph in and around the University buildings. The University is very photogenic and has commanding views of the surrounding Glasgow area. The building is also impressive and the central area is called the undercroft. The University have left the Christmas fairy lights in place and it makes for an impressive site. There had been some rain the night before and this added to some of the street reflections seen in the pictures.

The Undercroft
Stairs in the Building
The lights
End of the night
Fairy lights
Always fun to look at
Snowdrops and path
Imposing facade
There was time for a Gin in the Hotel
Categories blog

A few recent likes

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

I just thought I would share four of my recent photographs that I have taken so far in January with a story of how they were taken

Another perspective  – The family went for a cup of coffee in San Carlo Gran Café in Selfridges. (Incidentally the coffee there is very nice). I went outside with my grandson and looked up from the entrance to the top of the building. I saw a reflection. After a few goes I realised that the iPhone camera would give the best view. After posting the picture I received so many likes that I knew it was a popular photograph.

I called this the Selfridges Clam although others likened it to a pair of giant lips or a smartie

Metropolis – fun title for this picture of a West Midlands travel tram ready to go into Birmingham. There is another tram coming out of Birmingham and in the distance you can see the latest Snowhill building No3 and the rest of the city. I used my 40mm pancake lens on a Canon 6D. The lens makes you work for the view and it also gives a very crisp image.

The light from the St Paul’s station on the tram contrasts with those form the City

Sunrise over the Green Heart – The Green Heart is a spectacular open area in the centre of campus. This picture was taken on my iPhone and I wanted to catch the colours of a sunrise with a new view of the Chamberlain Clock Tower. The lights from under the benches provided a nice touch so much so that the picture will be featured by the University.

A new view created by the open space of the Green Heart.

Two sides to every picture – The Edgbaston tunnel on the Worcester and Birmingham Canal has been recently renovated and the towpath widened. Taking the photograph meant leaning over the railings and carefully holding the camera to get the picture. Picture taken with the 40mm and Canon 6D. The picture looks as if it is in two halves almost split down the middle.

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