Bright Lights, Big City

Bright Lights, Big City by American bluesman Jimmy Reed is playing on Apple Music on my laptop just now. Classic 12-bar blues!

It was music of a different genre which took us to the Quays Theatre at the Lowry Centre in Salford the other night. We were lucky enough to get tickets for Opera North’s production of die Valkürie which was sublime.

The whole Salford Quays area is amazing and it was a visit there about 3 years ago that got us thinking we needed smaller (and lighter) cameras. You can’t really go to an opera or a play, looking like you’ve just come off a mountain with that huge backpack you need for DSLR plus lenses, filters, maybe a small tripod for night shots etc etc. So after a great deal of research and consideration over a period of at least two days(!) we invested in Fuji x100s cameras. And have never regretted it.

The outdoor pictures here were taken hand held at ISO 4000. This wee camera performs well at ISO 6400 but that wasn’t necessary on this occasion.

The indoor pictures were taken with iPhone 6s.

Media City Salford Quays Manchester BBC ITV studio

Media City ©HelenBushe

Quays theatre Salford Lowry Manchester architecture modern

Quays Theatre 1 ©HelenBushe

Lowry theatre Quays Salford Manchester modern architecture

Quays Theatre 2 ©HelenBushe

Millennium Bridge night colours night sky

Millennium Bridge ©HelenBushe

Green Apartments Orange Bridge Salford Quays

Green Apartments and Orange Bridge ©HelenBushe

The Shopping mall was deserted on the way back to the car park:

Lowry shopping mall escalator night deserted

Upwards ©HelenBushe

escalator lowry shopping mall night deserted

Downwards ©HelenBushe

I’m now halfway through my second playing of the album “The Best of Jimmy Reed” and when it finishes, I’m going to listen to it again…and again…..as I’d forgotten how ace it is.

9 Comments

elleturner4 · 19 June 2016 at 18:47

Amazing colours 🙂

HMB · 19 June 2016 at 19:14

Thanks .

Laurie Graves · 17 June 2016 at 14:15

Impressive! And it’s amazing what wee cameras can do nowadays. I wouldn’t be without one. I can tuck it in my pocketbook or bike bag, and I have it whenever I need.

suzannerogersonfantasyauthor · 17 June 2016 at 10:11

Amazing pictures.

Marga Demmers · 17 June 2016 at 09:16

The pictures of the deserted shopping mall are impressive, almost unworldly.

Helen Bushe · 17 June 2016 at 12:16

Thanks Marga. It was kind of weird being in a deserted shopping mall. Everyone else from the opera had long since gone to the car park. But we’d been out around the Quays with our cameras. The escalator up to the car park were a real bonus. Have a good weekend. We’re home for lunch now having spent morning watching terns and chicks at Preston Marina.