Onegav

Tonight I thought I’d try a long exposure of the Mersey Gateway Bridge. I thought the lights might look cool, and the traffic crossing over the bridge would create some interesting light streaks.

I set off into the night, and headed towards the bridge, trying to think of somewhere high up so I could get an elevated view.

I couldn’t get the angle I wanted without being swamped by lights (I wanted somewhere really dark so I could use a long exposure), so I headed over to Wigg Island, where I knew I’d have a good view of the bridge, all be it at a lower elevation, and I’d definitely not have any light around me. With Island at night is pitch black, no light at all save for the bridge, which is ideal for what I wanted!

The bridge looked really impressive, and the dark sky filled to the brim with persistent rain I think added to the mood.

I took my shots from a bird lookout, camera on my tripod again tucked underneath an umbrella. I used shutter speeds mainly between 20 and 30 seconds, to capture the details and let the car headlights streak across the bridge, ultimately joining to give that overall warm glow.

I took a few different compositions, and really tried to bring out the vibrant red lights of the upright bridge towers, they really looked cool! For some of the images I included some of the river in the foreground too, again to capitalise on the light reflecting off the water.

Another soaking wet photographic experience, but hey I like the mood the rain gives, even if I have to flap about like a crazy man huddled underneath a tiny umbrella trying to keep my camera dry!

Learnings – the cold bit tonight, and with very cold hands controlling the camera became more difficult. So much so at one point that I accidentally fired off a 30 second exposure before I had the shot setup properly; that 30seconds felt like an eternity!

Aside from that, I think I’ll have another go at this photograph from another angle, there has to be a spot somewhere I can get an angle looking down on the bridge, to really make those car lights ping as they cross. We’ll see…….