I took this picture late at night last Sunday when I unexpectedly found myself in Manchester (more about that in a moment). It’s the view from Quay No. 9 on the Media City UK complex.
For some time I’ve been wanting to get a decent photograph of a reflection. While this isn’t the flaw-free reflection I was hoping for, I like to think it is a reasonable first attempt.
I simply put my camera on a gorillapod, lined it up and adjusted it so it had a long exposure time. I suspect the slightly blurred effect on the water is a result of the exposure time being slightly too long.
Alas, I didn’t feel all that comfortable dedicated further time to see if I could get a better picture. It was late at night, there were very few people around and I had noticed a scallie or two in the distance showing an interest in what I was doing. In fairness, they were probably completely harmless, but returning to my hotel seemed like the better option!
So what was I doing in Manchester? I had been asked to appear on the BBC Breakfast sofa with Sarah Jackson, chief executive of the charity Working Families.
We were both to go on air to discuss Working Families’ latest ‘Modern Families Index’ and what’s been dubbed The Fatherhood Penalty. I won’t go into the details here, you can read about them in this blog post.
Unbeknownst to me, BBC Breakfast is no longer filmed in London, which would have been a short train journey. These days it is filmed at the BBC’s Media City studios so I had to arrange some childcare and travel up the night before. It was a lot of effort but it was a great experience and for a good cause.
It also gave me the opportunity to go out do some urban photography late at night. I have linked this post to the marvellous #MySundayPhoto photography linky hosted by the brilliant Photalife blog. Please do click on the badge below to visit the linky and see what other bloggers have been getting up to with their cameras.
33 thoughts on “Night time view from Quay 9, Media City UK”
I love reflection photos but find them so hard to get right. You’ve taken a beauty. Brilliant work on raising awareness of such an important issue too. Your blog on the subject explains it so well. #MySundayPhoto
Thanks for your kind words there Tara. Work / life balance is a major issue for us. Delighted that you liked the photo too. With a bit of practice I hope to get better.
Hi John, I’d have been chuffed with that photo. I have yet to take a decent reflection photo. You may have put the fear of God into those scallies after all they probably had no idea what you were up to. It sounds like you had an exciting week.
xx
I hadn’t considered the opportunity the scallies might have been afraid of me! You may be right. Good luck getting your own reflection image.
Fabulous photo! Sorry I missed your interview, but well done – and what an exciting opportunity!
Thanks Sarah, it was the colours that caught my eye first of all.
Sounds like you’ve had an exciting week! I was on Good Morning Britain this week and had a similar experience with a great view of the London skyline at night from my hotel room… #MySundayPhoto
Well there we go, a pair of media luvvies hey? Hope your interview went well!
Great shot John, night time photography is much more difficult, this looks amazing with the reflection. #MySundayPhoto
I’m learning a few things about night time photography. Never be afraid to ramp up the exposure time.
This is an amazing photo, the colours are so appealing and the overall image is super futuristic. How wonderful to be on the Breakfast sofa even if it meant a bit of logistics to be there. #mysundayphoto
Oh the logistics were interesting, but I got there in the end!
Well done on your interview! I love your shot, the reflection is great. I love all the bright colours too, it certainly looks like an exciting place to be.
#MySundayPhoto
Thanks, colours did catch my eye. The interview was a great experience too.
I really like this reflection photo, the colours are amazing
Thank you for linking up
The colours are eye catching aren”t they? Thanks for hosting your magnificent linky.
What an amazing photo, looks stunning.
Thanks, glad you thought it was stunning.
I love reflections too but find then really hard to capture unless the water is totally still. Love the colours in this shoot. Well done on your TV appearance, what a great experience #mysundayphoto
Thanks, it was a great experience. I think reflections are very hard to catch and I wasn’t entirely convinced by this one but as you can see, I didn’t want to hang around!
This is a great reflection. I love all the lights on the still water and well done being brave enough to go on TV #MySundayPhoto
Glad you liked the reflection. I do love a bit of live TV, I can’t deny it.
This is a great night time shot, I love all those colours and bright lights!
Yeah, it was the bright lights that caught my eye.
I think it’s a wonderful shot and the reflection works so well, very excited about why you were there. Breakfast TV, wow that’s amazing.
Great that you liked the image Fiona. Breakfast TV was indeed pretty cool.
Thats so fab, I wish I had seen it. Living not far from Manchester it is somewhere I have really grown to love, such a beautiful city. This is a gorgeous photo x
Glad to give you some memories of home.
How exciting to appear on BBC Breakfast. Love this shot and the reflections in the water – the colours are so pretty against the night sky.
Night photography is not an easy subject but I think you have done a fantastic job with this image. Beautifully captured. #MySundayPhoto
Fabulous image John, love the colours. Off to read about your latest adventures 🙂
Thanks Sara. Hope you enjoyed reading about my adventures.
Pingback: Rush hour on the M25 - Dad Blog UK