Whilst visiting Hartshead Pike in Ashton-Under-Lyne I decided to try and take the photographs for a lot of my projects. I even used the location for a lot of my photographs for Assignment 3. It has stunning views over Manchester and when the weather's right, a photographer can take some excellent shots.
For Project 46 (Choosing the Moment) I decided to use the sun as one of the main subjects in my shots as it moves through the sky. Upon arriving at the location I had plenty of time to decide upon my favourite viewpoints.
After switching my angle of view so that I was looking directly towards Manchester City Centre I took my next shot.
Still not happy with the result, I attached my 75 - 300mm lens to get closer to the City.
Five minutes later the sun had come from behind the clouds and the sky was blazing orange. Having rather stupidly left my tripod at home, I used a nearby fence post to keep my camera steady, set the focal length to it's maximum of 300mm to get some close up shots of the sun setting over Manchester.
Another similar shot.
Not quite right.
I'm very proud of my final shot and feel it is some of my best photography yet. The colours are incredible, the composition is balanced and overall it is a very pleasing image.
Twilight
Keeping in the same location as earlier, I waited for the sun to disappear further behind the horizon.
My first shot isn't true twilight as the sun is still slightly visible.
After changing to a wider focal length of 135mm I took another shot, this time of the entire City. The colours that twilight bring to a photograph really make for an interesting shot. I would have to say that this is my favourite out of the twilight shots.
Over exposing the shot slightly at 205mm much more detail is visible in the City but the colours are less dramatic. This is quite a surreal image.
My last shot is a silhouette of the tower on top of Hartshead Pike. It has quite a eerie and sinister feel to it.