Thoughts on my brief of bridges

Having started with capturing bridges of Manchester I get more and more confident with the topic which I have switched to literally the very last minute. It is such an interesting subject, showing the differences in architecture, objective, connection, style and their environment. Having gone crazy on bridges in Castlefield in Manchester city centre I am very happy with the results. It is a knotpoint of different railway bridges crossing canals so a lot of graphic structure in there. Since it is in the centre of Manchester - although a bit remote from the buzzing Deansgate - there are the occasional pedestrians bringing a personal element to the pictures. One of my favorite pictures is a bit out of focus so I need to get back again to take the perfectly focused shot and I'd be content with that part of town.

Another bridge I like a lot is the one leading from the Lowry Hotel to Deansgate. A very contemporary bridge, symbolizing for me the new English self-confidence that came with the economic boom in the 1990s and 2000s. I have tried to capture this bridge in daylight but if just wouldn't work out the way I hope. I think, I want to photograph this bridge in the blue hour to catch all it's aspects. The modern architecture, people using the bridge to cross the canal, the lights flanking it and the lights of the buildings in the background, showing its urbanity.

Last week I took pictures of another modern bridge crossing M60 from the Trafford Water Park. I started at the early beginning of sunset till it was dark and caught some very good images using long shutter speed and catching the lights of the cars crossing under it. The pictures turned out really well although the setting of the bridge itself is rather dull and grey - well, what do you expect from a motorway?

A friend of mine who knows about this brief showed me a snapshot of a bridge leading from Picadilly station to a parking garage. The bridge itself is a very bland concrete bridge leading to a rather spectacular parking garage that is covered with what appears to be rusted iron plates. Giving a strong contrast of textures and colors. I want to get round there within the next days to figure out the right angle, right time of day for the right light to capture this image. I hope I can capture the textures the way  I have in mind.

In my brief I also want to add an image of an abandoned bridge and asked the same friend wether he had any idea. Him being a dedicated train driver for over 30 years now, he certainly knows his way around all tracks in the north. He suggested one to me and I am going to check it out this weekend, although I don't have a clue where exactly it is.

I hope to finish my brief next week latest the week after to be able to concentrate on my second interior brief. But this is worth a seperate post in this blog.