New Brighton | Mark Simms Photography

Along The Sea Wall

I took these shots a couple of weeks ago whilst taking a stroll along the front at New Brighton. I was just experimenting with the shallow DoF that my Canon 70-200mm F4 L IS USM lens would produce wide open:

In case you’re wondering, the title of the first shot “Fort Blur” refers to “Fort Perch Rock” that you can see blurred-out in the background on the left. The fort was built-in the 1820’s to house a coastal defence battery to protect Liverpool Bay and the mouth of the river Mersey.

Rainy Reflections

In yesterday’s post, “Low Light New Brighton”, I mentioned that I had some more images from the same shoot but on a slightly different theme. Well here they are…..

Low Light New Brighton

I had a day-off work yesterday and decided to go to the cinema at New Brighton in the afternoon to watch “Zero Dark Thirty” (and yes it is a good film and well worth a trip to the local picture house).

When I came out it was late afternoon/early evening and it had just finished raining – the combination of cloudy twilight with post-rain reflections was simply too good to miss. So, rather than heading home immediately, I grabbed the camera and tripod from the boot of the car and decided to take advantage of this unplanned photo opportunity.

All the above were taken with my Canon EF-S 15-85mm F3.5-5.6 IS USM lens locked-off on a tripod, with long exposures from four to ten seconds at F16.

I’ve got some other photos from the same shoot (but on a slightly different theme) that I’ll post soon – so watch out for those if you’re interested…..

Perch Rock Lighthouse

I find lighthouses to be particularly photogenic subjects. They are fascinating buildings in their own right, but they also make good focal points for coastal landscapes/seascapes. So to have this one only a 20 minute drive away from home is great and it has definitely become another of my favourite local photography spots.

What helps is that at low-tide Perch Rock lighthouse is easily accessible…..you can, pretty much, get right up to the base and walk around the outside. In addition because New Brighton is west-facing (well probably more northwest to be accurate) the light from the setting sun can be fantastic at times.

It might surprise you to learn that there has been a lighthouse just off the coast of New Brighton since the 1680’s. The existing building, which stands 90 feet tall, was built between 1827 and 1830. It was decommissioned in the 1970’s.