Ian Bramham's Photoblog
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.
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 NEW WEBSITE where prices are listed in the gallery sections under each individual photo.
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Links to the websites of other photographers whose work I love and who have all helped me enormously over a long period of time. I find the work of all 3 to be inspirational.
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: Thanks yz!
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
Matt from Gainesville, United States
This is incredibly expressive and sublime- really nicely done!
17 Feb 2009 12:15am
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
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.)