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Cooling Towers at Night

Posted by
Ian Bramham (Manchester, United Kingdom) on 16 February 2009 in Business & Industry and Portfolio.

The cooling towers of Fiddlers Ferry Power Station photographed at night and backlit by the glow from the lights of a nearby town and the stations own artificial lighting.

NIKON D40 30 seconds F/5.6 ISO 200 450 mm (35mm equiv.)

Like what you see here and are interested in photographic composition?.....the blog section of my website now has a complete set of 5 articles covering my personal approach to the subject: Ian Bramham Photography - Blog

For purchasing high quality archival prints of any of these photos you can send me an email by clicking here or by going to my website Ian Bramham - Fine Art Photography where prices are listed in the gallery sections under each individual photo.

GJC from Kyoto, Japan

As usual, this is done with great sensitivity to light and composition. Such a strong photo.

16 Feb 2009 6:29am

@GJC: Thanks GJC!

yz from Budapest, Hungary

beautiful

16 Feb 2009 7:23am

@yz: Thanks yz!

Marhilde from Geraardsbergen, Belgium

Just great !!

16 Feb 2009 9:39am

Mirko Herzner from Mühlheim am Main, Germany

Impressive, Ian! Great composition and simplicity with that shot. The noise adds to the feel!

16 Feb 2009 9:41am

Polydactyle from Canada

Excellent highs contrasts and the grain. I really like this Power Station serie.

16 Feb 2009 12:48pm

Cheryl from Texas, United States

the grain makes it looks like sand is blowing out of it!

16 Feb 2009 2:13pm

MadScientist from Düsseldorf, Germany

30 seconds only - your nights must be quite bright! This looks very dreamy, I love it!

16 Feb 2009 2:14pm

Julien from France

looks like someone loves Michael Kenna ....
see http://www.michaelkenna.net/html/rcliff03/index.html
always cite your sources...
http://plan.focal.free.fr

16 Feb 2009 2:51pm

Eyeing Africa from ?, Uganda

Great capture, the one tower seems to be disintegrating in a flurry of grains. Wonderful.

16 Feb 2009 4:04pm

Momo from Montpellier, France

amazing graphic, great crop, love the grain and the somehow dangerous looking mist...

16 Feb 2009 6:06pm

Laurie from New Jersey, United States

Beautiful mood here. Love the grain and what it adds to this one.

16 Feb 2009 6:55pm

Darhy from France

Good grain in the picture for a very good B&W. However I somehow feel the framing is a bit narrow.

16 Feb 2009 7:05pm

Betsy Barron from Chester Springs, PA, United States

eerie!

16 Feb 2009 8:09pm

Anna.C from LA ROCHELLE, France

special atmosphere ! great shot !

16 Feb 2009 8:47pm

drum from carcavelos, Portugal

impressive work
congrats

16 Feb 2009 9:43pm

Matt from Gainesville, United States

This is incredibly expressive and sublime- really nicely done!

17 Feb 2009 12:15am

Marie LC from Voiron, France

Impressing !

17 Feb 2009 6:51am

Ian Bramham from Manchester, United Kingdom

Thanks for all the comments guys!

I did see one comment (see Julien above) though which had got caught by Aminus3's very efficient spam filter that seemed to suggest that I had somehow plagiarised the work of the renowned fine art photographer Michael Kenna. Those who follow this photoblog regularly (you know who your are and I thank you) will know that I've often quoted his work as a major influence in my photography, particularly his low light and power station photographs: http://www.michaelkenna.net/html/rcliff03/index.html


I'm very flattered that Julien thinks my photos somehow stand up to comparison but they are definitely mine and not Kennas, although it has to be said, prints from my photos are a lot cheaper :-)


There isn't enough space in the standard Aminus3 blog header that we all use here to acknowledge more than 2 photographers and I've already mentioned Hugo Poon and John Leech there as their influence on me has been more profound than that of Kenna.....I also figured that Mr Kenna was already famous enough in his own right and doesn't need help from anyone.


Here's some examples of past acknowledgements that I've made:
http://ianbramham.aminus3.com/image/2007-12-21.html
http://ianbramham.aminus3.com/image/2007-12-20.html
http://ianbramham.aminus3.com/image/2007-12-22.html
http://ianbramham.aminus3.com/image/2007-12-23.html


I could go on, but I think by now you've got the message that I love Kenna's photos and that I'm proud to acknowledge his influence.

17 Feb 2009 12:11pm

Marcie from United States

Stunning! Love the shapes and forms and contrasting postiive and negative spaces..and the abstract feel of this image. Absolutely gorgeous!!

17 Feb 2009 12:39pm

Hervé from France

Great mood
Superb
Regards

17 Feb 2009 2:00pm

Virgil from Richmond, United States

This one was shot and framed nicely.

17 Feb 2009 9:35pm

Michael Paulison from United States

This is a great shot. As a set, these smokestack images are very powerful. As a teaching tool, this photograph shows when grain can make a photo beautiful, interesting and more important.

18 Feb 2009 3:42am

NIKON D40
30 seconds
F/5.6
ISO 200
450 mm (35mm equiv.)