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Tag Archives: Birmingham

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Birmingham Lockdown #2 – a photographic journey of the first morning

by Damien Walmsley Posted on
Sunrise at the BullRing

Thursday 5th November was the start of Lockdown #2. As I pass via town on my way to work, I took the opportunity of getting my camera out to record events on this particular day. I was near to the Bull Ring and as luck would have it the sunrise was spectacular with a pinky orange tint to the clouds. I was never in Birmingham for the last lockdown so I wanted to capture the atmosphere of this event. First there were people around, not many but I suspect more that there were in March/April. There were more pigeons than people and i am not sure if it was my imagination but there was a feeling of acceptance to the new restrictions. It was quiet and people moved briskly through the area.

Sunrise over Selfridges
Sunrise over Selfridges
People going to work oblivious of the sunrise.
People going to work oblivious of the sunrise.
The Bull is still there
The Bull is still there
Single Figures move through the empty passageways
Single Figures move through the empty passageways

My pictures were around the Christmas tree outside St Martin’s Church, up to Selfridges and then past the Bull and down onto New Street. I myself did not linger very much as I was very conspicuous with my Canon D5 camera. Whilst I love my IPhone camera, the time is coming to invest in a new compact camera that does not draw attention.

Empty platforms at New Street
Empty platforms at New Street
Reflections in the passageways
Reflections in the passageways
Catching the tram
Catching the tram
On their way to work
On their way to work

On my way back I saw two young people by Selfridges. The pictures show some form of tension between them and the surroundings, especially the picture that is looking upwards towards them. Finally I also saw that the scaffolding is going up around Selfridges and there will be some new photographic opportunities of the specially designed covering going up.

Waiting and watching
Waiting and watching (buy a copy)
Waiting and watching
Waiting and watching
Last word from the pigeons
Last word from the pigeons LOL
Categories blog

Walking in St Paul’s Square and down Livery Street

by Damien Walmsley Posted on
Amongst the trees JQ

I love the area around St Paul’s Church and in Autumn it starts to look colourful with the leaves on the ground.  It was one of my stops on my way to walk.  The sky was also very colourful with the sunrise and rain clouds making pretty patterns. 

Livery Street and it is only “A matter of opinion”

I took a picture down Livery street which is a very long street/road.  There is a Brummie saying that you look like you have “a face as long as Livery street”.  There are some good sign posting on the buildings in the area.  A matter of opinion has been up for a while and is shown on Livery Street. 

Compared to what
Compared tp what….

I noticed at one of the corners of St Paul’s Square that there was more signposting with the words “Compared to what…”  They add a fun element to the streets of Birmingham. 

St Paul’s Church in the Jewellery Quarter

A picture of St Paul’s Church was well received on social media.  It is a a very photogenic church.  Taking a picture of both the spire of St Paul’s and the BT Tower is another photo opportunity. The area is very pretty and it was after discussion on social media that I realised that there are more hidden squares around the Jewellery Quarter. It is a place to return to time and time again.

St Paul's Church and BT Tower
St Paul’s Church and BT Tower
Categories blog

Reflections on Gas Street Basin

by Damien Walmsley Posted on
Gas Street Basin

Now I am back in a work routine, I take the opportunity to park in the city around 7am and stay until 8am just before the car parking charging begins.  I set myself an area to walk around and aim to come away with 4 to 5 pictures that I can use over the coming days.  These may be for my 365 project or pictures that I can post onto Twitter and Instagram.  Gas street basin is a changing place and there is always something to photography during a walk on the tow paths.  On this visit, it was very still and quiet and there was a hint of mist.  The water in the canal was so still that it provided perfect reflections for my photography.  I had my trusty Canon 5D mark VI and my ‘go to’ lens EF24-70mm with me.  Initially I did not think I would get particularly good photographs but then as I got down low I started to see the photographic possibilities.   

Reflections in Gas Street
The still waters reflect the buildings of Gas Street Basin.
Birmingham - new vs old
Showing the new versus the old in Birmingham
Gas Street Sunrise
Golden buildings in the sunrise

With the reflections of the buildings, I saw that there were many different views.  I took around 20 to 30 pictures and then carefully selected around 6 photographs.  A selection of 4 posted on Twitter took off with many likes. At the last count it was over 20 thousand views.   I see so many excellent pictures of Birmingham and I am not here to say that mine are any better.  These pictures are my own personal view of the area and I am pleased that they make people happy.

Brindley Place
Venturing into Brindley Place for the reflections of the canal waters
Categories blog

City Arcade – Birmingham’s hidden gem

by Damien Walmsley Posted on
City Arcade Birmingham

Lockdown had interrupted by own personal visits to all the arcades in Birmingham. I enjoy mornings when it is quiet and so before going to work, I parked up in town and made my way to the City arcade. In some ways it is my favourite arcade but it has fallen on difficult times. There are not that many shops in the arcade and they are all down one side. When I arrived at the arcade, there was a rough sleeper outside the real ale pub. In these difficult times the city is overburdened with homeless people and I worry for them.

City Arcade
Play on light in the Arcade
City arcade
Getting down low to show the architecture

The City Arcade was built in 1901 and designed by TWF Newton and Cheattle. I picked up this information from the Historic England site and then you are able to search on from there. It has had a recent face lift and the interior designs have been painted and stand out showing the detail that had gone into this building. It is part of Union street which is a busy thoroughfare between Corporation St and the High St. However, step into the Arcade and the noise of people quickly dies away. The arcade is at an angle and links up with the junction of Union and Warwick passage.

City Arcade Birmingham
Details of the ceiling

There are a few shops in the Arcade but from a photographers perspective, there are many reflections of the light. When people walk through the arcade then you can get some very nice effects. I spent a good 20 minutes taking photographs before I headed off to work. Another one of the Birmingham Arcades done and photographed. As the title says a hidden gem and worth exploring.

City Arcade Birmingham
Outside detail
City Arcade Birmingham
The front facade
City Arcade Birmingham
Morning light in the Arcade
City Arcade Birmingham
The grittiness of Union Passage (Arcade to right)
City Arcade Birmingham
Outside design details

And now moving inside to view some of the details of the shops.

City Arcade Birmingham
Signs for the Arcade
The speciality beer outlet “TILT”
City Arcade Birmingham
WillPower
City Arcade Birmingham
Gadget Swap
City Arcade Birmingham
Chandeliers
City Arcade Birmingham
Reflections

If you are interested in the other arcades in Birmingham then please follow these links –
The Piccadilly Arcade
The Great Western Arcade

Categories blog

My best pictures are taken with my iPhone

by Damien Walmsley Posted on
Reflections in Digbeth

Should I be worried? Should I ditch my big camera? My most popular photographs are all taken by an iPhone. My most recent one of Gibb Street in Digbeth has been published by several outlets including BBCMidlands, Independent Birmingham, IgersbirminghamUK, Bhamupdates and Source investments. All very pleasing but I would like to talk about my aperture and shutter settings. The camera ISO and how I held it to take in the picture. No all I did was dip the iPhone into a puddle and the resulting picture then gets a life of its own. Getting down low certainly led to more impact to the picture. However, I am pleased that I can brag about my composition and that it caught the spirit of Birmingham!

Categories blog

Port Loop

by Damien Walmsley Posted on
Port Loop

Running was and still is a big part of my life. When the dental hospital was operating out of the Queensway site then we used to take the opportunity to run up to the Soho loop along the Birmingham Canal Old Line. I took my camera with me to revisit the area and my start point was Port Loop on Rotten Park Street. Nothing rotten about it and an amazing housing development is going up. I took several pictures around there, chatted to a local developer who was commissioned to take pictures of the old buildings and then made my way to the canal.

Port Loop development
Port Loop development, Birminghamn
To be developed
To be developed, Port Loop

There were so many people running, cycling and walking and as the Canal and River Trust say #lifeisbetterbywater. I strolled up and down the old line and lingered around the junction with the Soho loop. I enjoyed seeing the city from the distance and the graffiti was very colourful adding to the enjoyment of the photographic opportunities. There were lots of different activity happening and I caught different activities including trains, bikes and boats. I look forward to seeing the area develop over the next few years.

Start of the Soho loop
Start of the Soho loop.
View of the City along our canal
View of the City along our canal
Just talking
Just talking
Quiet Saturday morning
Quiet Saturday morning
Colourful surroundings
Colourful surroundings

Finally the added bonus was taking a short drive to see the Two Towers. Edgbaston Water Works and Perrrot’s Folly are both seen as inspirational in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. The Two Towers are in walking distance of the Oratory which is where the young Tolkien went to Church and is a subject of another of my blogs.

Edgbaston Water Works
Edgbaston Water Works, the Two Towers
Perrott's Folly
Perrott’s Folly, The Two Towers

Here are some links
Urban Splash
Canal and River Trust
Birmingham City Council
Places for people

My links on canals
Down by the canal
Night on the canals
Canals and Waterways
Winner BCN 250

Categories blog

St Paul’s Church

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

The Jewellery quarter is one of my inspirational places for photography. Affectionately known as the JQ, it contains so much history wrapped in its character. Old and new blend together with interesting details including churches, shops, doors, alleyways and jewellery shops. Arguably the centre piece is St Paul’s square with the beautiful Church in the centre. The spire is taller than the building making it difficult to frame for the photograph. However, there are a few areas where you can frame it correctly using the surrounding trees. I wandered around the square and then down Bennett’s Hill on a quiet Sunday morning. The only company were cyclists and joggers. A few people were sitting on the benches taking in the early sunshine. These are a few pictures taken around the square and down the hill.

There are a few places that are active on social media including the Soda Bread Cafe and up and coming photographer Rebecca who posts lovely photographs of the JQ skyline. It is sad to see the Jam House as I have many happy memories of nights out there. It will be a while before it opens again. The square holds many happy memories for me. It was here that one of my photographs first got featured as a BBC Midlands picture of the day. The Jam House, Andersons and St Paul’s House all have special family and work memories. So a quiet Sunday in June was spent not only taking photographs but reliving memories of a favourite Birmingham spot. Don’t let me have it all for myself why not visit it yourself but remember to take your camera with you.

Categories blog

That was then, this is now

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

I planned to go into Birmingham on Sunday as it is quiet and often there is the chance of getting some interesting pictures. As I planned for the trip into the city, I thought what if I matched up some new pictures with old ones from my Flickr collection. Going into Birmingham is not pleasant as there are many homeless people around who are desperate following on from the Coronavirus. I did not take any pictures as they were aggressively asking for money. Therefore I was very careful getting my camera out to take the pictures. I took most of the pictures around changes caused by the tram network. I did take a few pictures of the new library but for some unknown reason, they were corrupted and I will have to do return and take a new set of photographs on another day. Once again as a photographer during lockdown it is wise to remember the strict security around buildings. When I went up the ramp to take the picture downwards, I was immediately spotted by security guards and asked what I was doing. I did feel bad as I am putting the guards under unnecessary pressure by checking on me. However the empty picture of the ramp was perfect. The pictures of the trams are shown in the gallery below.

In front of the Town Hall
On Pinfold Street
Taken on the ramp
Weaman Street

The past Birmingham views were chosen where I had some old photographs taken roughly in the same spot. These are lined up below. I realised that it was not until 2011 onwards that I really started to take pictures on the streets of Birmingham. In retrospect I should have done more but hindsight is a wonderful thing 🙂

Taken on January 11, 2012
Taken on July 1, 2019
Taken on February 9, 2012
Taken on November 7, 2013

I made the images the same size and then used layers in Photoshop to align the pictures and with a mixture of altering the opacity, rotation and altering the colours, I came up with 4 composite images.

I have had some nice feedback from them on social media and I will go back to do some more in a few weeks time. I wished I had done more old pictures but my photographic interests have certainly changed over the years.

Categories blog

Venturing into Birmingham

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

Having done Digbeth, I felt brave enough to go into Birmingham again and look around both Gas Street Basin and Centenary Square.  My first difficulty was parking as car parks and on street spaces were either shut or there were traffic cones preventing you from parking.  I found a place and wandered down into gas street.  What I noticed was how many runners there were out and about plus cyclists using the tow path.  It is wide enough to do social distancing and it was being patrolled by two police officers as well.  

Some parts are locked up
The basin is still colourful
Many runners around

After Gas Street I went to Centenary Square and I had brought along my lensball as I thought it might give me some different and creative photography.  Sometimes the lensball is frustrating as it just does not add anything more to the picture.  In this situation, the shallow pool of water allowed you to place the crystal at the water’s edge and then lie low to line up a picture.  I was pleased with the result and it was well received on the social media.  I also noticed that whilst Broad Street is undergoing changes for the metro tram, there are social distancing notices all over the pavement.  The virus is still around and although walking around the streets of Birmingham has a normality about it, you do realise that we are sill in a state of crisis.

Work on the tram makes for lockdown pictures of the Library
The lensball likes being reflected
When will the Rep open for performances?
Centenary Square is quiet
Evidence of neglect on Broad Street
Changes and more Changes on Broad Street
It is a difference world
Social distancing on Broad Street
Categories blog

Blossom in Oozells’ Square

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

Every year this arguably unremarkable square bursts into a riot of colour which is provided by the blossom on the two rows of trees on either side of the square. I am being harsh about the square, as it does have the IKON gallery which is an imposing building at one end. The blossom and the white pebbles of the square are beautifully offset by the IKON gallery. This display only takes place for a few weeks of the year. It is enjoyable taking the pictures and my iPhone picture of the square was featured on the late night news.

Sunny morning in the square
Blossom
Trees
Tree shape
Great start to the day
A row of trees
Branches
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