Birmingham - I always thought it looked better as a reflection

[carregwen]

Took these last week in the canal area of Birmingham city centre. All are reflections in the canal water rotated 180 degrees. C+C welcome.

#1 On black


#2 On black


#3 On black

[Steve H]

Very cool Rob - I like it. 1 and 2 my favourites but would prefer to see 1 in 'straight mode' i.e. not angled. It's abstract enough without having to turn my head Well done though - I'll file it away in the memory banks for a still day. LOTS of water here at the moment, well flooding actually but not still enough for reflections. Cheers.

[Dave Humphries]

Took these last week in the canal area of Birmingham city centre. All are reflections in the canal water rotated 180 degrees. C+C welcome.

Hi Rob,

I thought at first you were being rude and were suggesting a glance in a rear view mirror but no, you weren't
In my experience, it only looks bad from the M6, once you're off the motorway, it's no worse than anywhere else and the locals are very friendly and helpful. My fondest memories are of the folks there.

Tell me; do you (as I would 'cos digital film is so cheap), take multiple shots and choose the ones with the best combinations of wave distortions/reflections?

Cheers,

[Maritimer1]

Love the uniqueness of them all, but #3 (with the people in the foreground) is my favourite. The human element takes the surreal look to the next level. You have such a great eye!

[carregwen]

Love the uniqueness of them all, but #3 (with the people in the foreground) is my favourite. The human element takes the surreal look to the next level. You have such a great eye!

Thanks, Myra. I know this technique is not new - quite a few people do it, but it does produce some unique looking results. I was amazed in #3 at the level of detail in the figures. I don't know who they were, but if I new them I'd recognize the guy on the right fom this blow-up even though he occupies a very small area of the original shot.

[carregwen]

Hi Rob,

I thought at first you were being rude and were suggesting a glance in a rear view mirror but no, you weren't
In my experience, it only looks bad from the M6, once you're off the motorway, it's no worse than anywhere else and the locals are very friendly and helpful. My fondest memories are of the folks there.

I come from Birmingham, so I know it quite well. It has changed a lot over the years. It's always been one of those places, like Bradford or Manchester, that has a lot of civic pride, even though it's a working town. Their collection of pre-Raphaelite paintings in the main art gallery is excellent.

Tell me; do you (as I would 'cos digital film is so cheap), take multiple shots and choose the ones with the best combinations of wave distortions/reflections?
Cheers,

I don't take many. It helps to have a longer lens handy as you often have to avoid debris or other obstacles and so need to zoom in to avoid cropping. You have to shoot in RAW - absolute must in this case. Here's another - this one is one of the moored barges

[arith]

There are some nice places in Birmingham, and some not so nice places. Harbourne is quite nice and I like the area around the science museum in Newhall St. I used to go to the Casino a lot in the 70's and there are quite a few art galleries but it has been years.

Handsworth might be a bit dodgy because I was living in Birmingham during the riots and you do not want to get stuck in a traffic jam along the A41 but that was many years ago.

Brilliant idea to photograph reflections, I can't see anybody objecting like they do in Burton. cheers