Salford Quays (I never expected the sunset)

We are very lucky to have such wonderful things on our doorstep, and most of the time we don’t appreciate them. Back in the day Salford Quays was a working docks, complete with all sorts of storage buildings, and channels for the ships. Not that I know definitively but the Manchester Ship Canal ends here.

The weather forecast for the weekend was awful and it proved to be the case, but I had in my mind that I wanted to try to shoot some of the reflections that the brightly lit buildings have on the quays. 

As I drove over I had it in my mind to park at the Imperial War Museum (North) this is dead handy for all I wanted to shoot. When I got there the car park was closed, and a circuitous detour got me to the Lowry Car park.

I was not expecting what I saw when I got to the waters edge. The sky above the Imperial war Museum and the ITV studios was lit up with the back end of some glorious light of a sunset. This was not expected.

The Imperial War Museum (IWM)

I’ve visited the IWM on several occasions and each time I go there I marvel at the wonderful exhibitions that they have inside what is a wonder of modern architecture. Or maybe a carbuncle if you’re Prince Charles!!

Whatever your view of the building it wouldn’t have mattered at that point has all the main action was going on in the sky above it. I had really not thought that the sky would be lit up so orange and so I quickly moved around to try to get some good compositions. 

Along with the IWM and ITV Studios there are some of the chemical storage units of some description. All 3 of these landmarks where being treated to a wonderful sky. The oranges and faint pinks where being taken over by the blue tint that comes to the sky after the sun goes down (blue hour). I really like this image as it captures the vista of the IWM but the star of this particular show is definitely the sky.

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The Feathers

All around the quays are sculptures that mingle in with the angles of the modern architecture. I really like this sort of thing and it adds a bit of something to what could be a drab scene. Glass, concrete and steel work could be very cold, but the addition of the sculptures really defuses this coldness.

Along one of the quaysides I came across what I can only describe as feathers. I really didn’t mind what it was, as I could see it complimented the scene quite well, something a bit different.

Criss crossing the water are a few bridges, all modern and fancy looking. One if these has a fan type design for the huge metal ropes that are used to suspend it across the water. As I stood there was almost an element of the feathers and the fan looking alike. This made a great composition and allowed me to get more of the sky in the shot with a portrait image. I really like this composition.

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Reflections

My original intention as to take an image that contained reflections on the water of the many lights that would be on in the buildings as the darkness arrived. Little did I know that the reflection image I did get was of a building (well part of one) but it was the sunset reflected on the windows. 

The amount of glass around the buildings it wasn’t hard come up with the idea to photograph one. What I needed was a building close enough to where the lovely orange glow was slowly fading. As I looked around I could see that there really was a huge reflection in one of the sections of the building nearest the water. 

The image here is a crop of the actual in camera shot, in camera I included more of the building but once I started to edit the image I felt that it looks much better with enough building to give context. The star of this image has to be the sunset, so a good crop was required. I like this, it’s different for me.

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The Blue Bridge

The sun had set, and blue hour was in full swing. I decided to walk around to the other side of the quays and see what I could find. I did take quite a few more images and some of these have appeared on my Instagram account. 

There is lots of open space in and around the quays. There are lots of joggers, dog walkers, skateboarders as well as people heading into the Lowry to eat and drink and have a good time. A really big part of the architecture, anywhere, is lighting. Building designers think about outside lighting as part of the design process and I really like this. 

The sun had set, and blue hour was in full swing. I decided to walk around to the other side of the quays and see what I could find. I did take quite a few more images and some of these have appeared on my Instagram account. 

There is lots of open space in and around the quays. There are lots of joggers, dog walkers, skateboarders as well as people heading into the Lowry to eat and drink and have a good time. A really big part of the architecture, anywhere, is lighting. Building designers think about outside lighting as part of the design process and I really like this. 

For years we have lit up buildings. Castles, Stately Homes and all manner of historical buildings have lighting to add to the affect. This also applies to bridges as well as buildings. Clearly there is a safety aspect to lighting up bridges and walkways etc at night. Thoughtful lighting really can turn drab looking structures into very different and interesting structures at night. 

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I will definitely go back to this location and finish the job I thought I was starting when I drove towards the quays a couple of hours earlier. I really do want to find a good reflection of the lit buildings in the calm waters of the quays. It’s 15 minutes round the M60 from home for me so there really is no excuse for not coming back on a regular basis.