The Streets of Stockport (well some of the town centre)

I’ve been toying for a while about having a go at some street photography, it’s a genre that is very popular and I see lots of adverts for courses and walks etc. Me being me decided I’d like to try it for myself before signing myself up to any courses. This is what I’ve done so far so I don’t see a reason to change just yet.

My usual style is to do some research and my first port of call is usually always Youtube. There are lots of photographers who post vlogs about street photography, and I’m not sure I would want to do it quite like some of them do. I really don’t feel comfortable taking pictures of random people on the street. It really isn’t my idea of what I want to do on the streets.

So having had a few walks around both Stockport and Manchester City centres I decided to have a another go on Saturday just before sunset. The following images are the best of what I captured. I hope you like them.

The Chimney

You may or may not know this but Stockport is famous for making hats. The football team are even nicknamed “The Hatters”, and for a good while I knew that there was a museum of hats in the town centre. Having parked my car in Heaton Lane car park I headed towards the centre. I knew it wasn’t long off sunset (7.15pm) so I looked to see if there was any colours in the sky. As I did so I spotted the chimney of the factory that now houses the hat museum. 

I quickly framed up the shot and to my delight I could see the vapour trails of an aircraft flying off somewhere exotic no doubt (more of this later). When you look at this image you are left in no doubt that the hat museum is housed in the factory as the chimney provides fantastic advertising reach (it’s quite high that chimney).

• 

The Skyline

I really wasn’t sure what I was looking for as I walked around the town centre but I decided I would head along into the town centre down the road that joins the A6 at Stockport library. This road takes you through into the market area of the town centre and I felt like there might be something worth looking at around that area. There’s a bridge just a short way before the market place and I stopped to look at the sky. I saw some lovely colours and a great silhouette of the buildings in the foreground against the sky. 

As I framed up the image I was very lucky again to have aircraft vapour trails running through the shot. I took 3 or 4 versions of this scene and the image below is my favourite of them.    

• 

The Church

The area around the market hall is really thriving and even in this Covid world there were lots of folk sat outside the pubs and bars enjoying a drink and some food. It really is a good place to have a few beers these days.    

I guess the genuine street photographer would tell some stories in some images involving the people enjoying their evening. Now I’m no introvert but I’m really not comfortable taking pictures of people innocently enjoying their night out. Yes I’m sure I could “spin some good yarns” about the pictures I’m taking but it really isn’t me. Luckily just beyond the market hall is a lovely church….. that’s more like it.

I’ve photographed this church before but this time the light and sky where much better and I’m actually quite pleased with this image, the colours of the masonry, the light on the church and the framing is good. It’s quite a wide angle shot at 18 mm but I guess that’s the point of such a lens.

• 

The Market Hall

I do love the old Market Hall Building, it reminds me of the old market hall in Oldham where I was brought up (sadly not there anymore). I really think a good deal of praise needs to be given to the council for the use that’s made of this building. You can eat, drink and be merry in there as well as holding small stalls for people to sell stuff. I really like that.

My eye was drawn to the archway that is part of the entrance to the church but as I turned round I could see the market hall building framed up in the archway. I really think this sort of framing really helps add to an image and I hope you’ll agree with me that this framing works well. It means this image is more than just a shot of the building, it gives a little more mystery to the shot. I like it.

• 

Mr Moon

The town centre started to get busier as more people arrived to go to pubs or restaurants. This means more people looking at what I was doing and more people to get in the way. I did take quite a few images before it got too dark but I found myself walking through the archway into the bus station. The glow in the sky had drawn me in and I could see the moon lit up as well. 

Those who know the town centre will know that there is a viaduct that runs through it, carrying the mainline railways south. This is great for train users and also is a landmark worthy of the name. It crossed my mind that the moon in the not so black sky would be a good image, particularly if this could be framed through the arches of the viaduct. I picked my moment and stood in the middle of the busway and framed up the shot. I’ve done minor cropping to the frame but I really like the moon in the coloured sky.

• 

The Tree

You will probably have realised if you are a regular reader that I do like a good “lone tree”. I really didn’t expect to find very many trees in the town centre but like most urban areas these days there are trees and bushes and tubs etc. My original thought was to walk up towards Stockport train station and see if I could find something that interested me in the new buildings that are around the station these days. 

Unsurprisingly a number of the buildings are closed (Covid related I’m guessing) which means that the lighting wasn’t quite what I’d expected. What I did find however, was a few small trees that had been planted around the square which all had their own lights. I thought it would be a good idea to frame the tree up against the sky but also against the Stockport station sign, this gives a bit of context of where the tree actually is.

The lighting works quite well and the camera has coped admirably with the dark sky and bright lights. This is another lone tree image to add to my collection.

• 

The Line of Light

Earlier in the evening I had walked through a square which is just behind (nearly) the library. The council have made this an open space with lots of modern seating and lighting. I think this attracts quite a number of youngsters who use the wide open spaces to practise skateboarding. What did catch my eye as I walked through the square was a number of lights had been put up in the square that effectively form a wave type line running through the square.The first time I walked through the square I made a mental note that the best time to take an image in that square was when it was dark. The lights would show the wave effect off brilliantly well. The skateboaders where still there when I came back to take the shot but this just adds a bit of interest to the shot.

• 

I think for me street photography is about lights and darks, shapes and moods, feelings and emotions. This maybe what the proper street photographers might also say they are after, who knows. I thoroughly enjoyed my walk around the town centre, and I hope you enjoy the images in this blog.