St Annes Parish Church

Hello, I hope that you are well.

Today I would like to share some images taken of the Parish Church of St Annes.

The Above image was lit by attaching LumeCube lights to a drone and flown close by to illuminate different areas. Multiple exposures were taken and then blended in photoshop.

The church is from which the town took its name. It is part of the Church of England and in the Diocese of Blackburn. 

History

The building of St Annes Church was commissioned by Lady Clifton in the early 1870s and named in memory of her aunt who was called Anne. It was built as a chapel of ease to the then parish church of St Cuthbert in Lytham to benefit the farm labourers and fishermen of the hamlet of Heyhouses, who had difficulty in getting to church on a Sunday morning. It was several miles walk

GoPro Hero10 Photos

Hello, I hope that you have had a lovely weekend.

Today I wanted to share a couple of images taken from a GoPro Hero10.

Whilst out running the sky was looking incredible. I placed the GoPro onto a nearby fence and recorded a short video.

These were merely screen shots from the footage.

Sometimes it isn’t about the fanciest of cameras and pixel count.

Nice lighting trumps all those things.

I would love to see your training photos or comments over on Instagram @lee_ramsden.

Thanks

Lee

Seagreen Wind Turbine.

Seagreen offshore wind turbine.

The Seagreen turbines have a maximum height of up to 204m to the blade's tip with a blade diameter of 164m.

Seagreen has 114 turbines with a total generating capacity of 1,075MW.  Following the first power in August 2022, the site became fully operational in October 2023.  Power is exported via around 19km of underground cables from landfall at Carnoustie to a new substation at Tealing near Dundee.

I would love to hear your comments over on Instagram @lee_ramsden

Thanks

Lee

Blackpool Promenade.

Good morning.

I like to share some images of Blackpool front.

Blackpool’s sea front, with its dazzling lights and timeless charm, has been a beloved destination for generations. Stretching along the Fylde Coast, Blackpool’s sea front is famous for its piers, the iconic Blackpool Tower, and a lively promenade filled with attractions.

Standing tall since 1894, Blackpool Tower is an enduring symbol of the city’s heritage. As the sun sets, the tower lights up, creating a spectacular sight against the evening sky.

Have you explored Blackpool Sea Front? Share your favorite photos and experiences in the comments on Instagram @lee_ramsden.

Thanks,

Lee

A ship with legs.

Good morning.

Images of the Wind Orca with a walk to work bridge.

The Wind Orca vessel provides a safe, efficient, and reliable solution for the installation, maintenance, and decommissioning of wind farm projects. Their advanced specifications set the industry benchmark for vessel transit speed, lifting capability, DP station keeping and jacking speed, offering a significantly improved operating weather window. They are fitted with high-quality equipment, supported by advanced preventative maintenance systems, and incorporate a significant level of operating redundancy. Safety is enhanced through a 6-leg design that allows them to operate even on sites with the most challenging seabed conditions.

Let me know what you think of these recent posts I love to hear from you on Instagram @lee_ramsden

Thanks

Lee

Derrick

A derrick is a structure over an oil well which supports the drilling equipment and allows it to be lifted into and out of the wellbore.

The term derrick originates from Thomas Derrick, an English executioner c. 1608.

In English history, the executioner was not a commonly chosen career path because of the risk of friends and families of the deceased knowing who the executioner was and where to find him. Executioners were sometimes coerced into the role. Derrick in particular had been convicted of rape but was pardoned by the Earl of Essex (clearing him of the death penalty) on the condition that he became an executioner at Tyburn.

Derrick executed more than 3,000 people in his career, including his pardoner, the Earl of Essex, in 1601. Derrick devised a beam with a topping lift and pulleys for his hangings, instead of the old-fashioned rope over the beam method.

The word derrick became an eponym for the frame from which the hangman's noose was supported and through that usage (by analogy) to modern-day cranes.

Offshore Vessels.

Happy Monday.

A couple of images from an offshore work site.

CTV

Blackpool

Hello,

today I’d like to share some images of Blackpool.

The above was taken handheld and panning to match the speed of the bus.

A couple of joggers enjoying there daily excersise

Lighting painting interiors.

Hello,

Today is like to share a process with you on how I like to light my interior images.
If you’ve ever tried to photograph a building interior, you know how tough it can be to properly expose all parts of the scene. You know how many areas tend to fall into darkness.

When this happens, many photographers will just try to recover the shadows with a brighter exposure or some dodging and burning. Unfortunately, that can lead to muddy results which often display a lack of texture and colour.

One technique that I like to use with modern photographic tools is light painting.

One method would be to literally stop down the aperture, wear an all-black outfit, and wave a light around for a 30-60 second exposure to fill in shadows.

Luckily, things are a bit easier these days. You can use a single Speedlight and see the results instantly.

I personally like to use a speed light and a remote to pull it off, (depending on how much power I’ll need.)

The aim here is to add light in spots that appear to have natural light falling on them – either from landscape lighting or interior lighting. Adding flash or hot light will dramatically clean up the quality of the light, by giving it direction and fall off. Whereas the ambient light may create a muddier appearance due to having no directionality, incoherent colour casts or being mixed with the window or interior lighting.

Above is an image of myself adding a pool of light onto a foreground part of the scene.

A couple of points to remember -

• The camera has to be on a tripod or secure point and does not move throughout the process.

• The camera has to be in manual mode to ensure that each frame remains consistent. Focus, exposure, ISO, colour temperature etc.

While using a Speedlight I use pocket wizard triggers, one on the flash, one in the hot shoe on the camera, and another as a trigger in my hand which is able to fire the camera and flash remotely.

Again here are a few more images of me moving around the scene adding more illumination.

(Schoolboy error though, this time I forgot to pack my coloured gels and so had a bit more photoshop work to do after the fact.)

Once all the images are captured, they are imported into photoshop and aligned.

Using a base layer, (without any flash) I add each illuminated frame on top.

Changing the blend mode to “lighten” and adjusting the opacity, I am able to change the intensity and have greater control of what is lit.

Finally using a layer mask, I paint out everything that is not required to help to keep the image clean.

The final example of this technique in use.

Personally, I think the before image would have been a flat, uninteresting image. By adding light to different parts of the scene I feel brings in greater interest and a more polished professional product for my clients.

If you have any questions or would like to know more about this technique,

please drop me a note.

Kind regards,

Lee

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Blackpool Transport

1/20 F2.8 ISO800 NIKON D800 50mm

1/30 f5.6 ISO400 NIKON D800 50mm

1/30 f 5.6 ISO400 NIKON D800 50mm

Hello,

A few images of different transport along Blackpool Promenade.

In this post I have included the camera settings, as I wanted to illustrate the different shutter speeds used whilst panning to capture the moving vehicles. All images taken were handheld.

But I am sure you will agree when it works, the images look great and really isolate the moving vehicle in the blurred moving scene.

1/60 f1.4 ISO200 Fuji XT3 35mm

Flotta Oil Terminal.

Hello,

Today id like to share a few images taken at Flotta oil and gas processing terminal.

The Flotta Terminal is located on the island of Flotta in the Orkney Islands just north of mainland Scotland. It was commissioned in 1977, with Repsol Sinopec Resources UK Limited becoming the major shareholder and operator in May 2000. The terminal covers a 395-acre site, approximately one-sixth of the area of Flotta Island. Crude oil is imported to the Flotta Oil Terminal from several offshore installations through a 30” subsea pipeline. The pipeline is fed from the following Repsol Sinopec Operated fields; Claymore, Scapa, Piper ‘B’, Tweedsmuir, Tartan, Highlander, Duart, Petronella, Galley and Nexen’s operated Golden Eagle field.

The crude oil processing facilities consist of three separate crude stabilisation trains operating in parallel. This allows a design maximum plant flowrate of 375,000 bbl/d to be processed between the three trains.

The stabilised crude is then transferred to the Crude Oil Storage area with the Desalter wash water transferred to the Desalter Water Treatment plant.

There are currently insufficient volumes of gas supply to sustain the operation of the gas processing plant; as such the gas plant facility was decommissioned in 2017/2018. Gas from the overhead stabilisation process is utilised as fuel gas at the hot oil heaters and powerhouse which generate site electricity using duel fuel turbines. Any excess gas is used at the powerhouse, where there is spare generating capacity to allow additional power export to the national grid.

Blackpool Promenade at night

Hello,

Today id like to show a couple of recent drone images taken at night.

I hope that you are well.

Lee

Blackpool Tower at sunrise.

Hello,

Today is a quick one of an image of Blackpool Tower at sunrise.

I hope that you enjoy.

Lee

The Wild Ginger

Hello,

Today I’d like to share a few images recently taken for a local business “The Wild Ginger”.

Facebook page

A lovely Gift & Homewares shop in the coastal town of Ansdell, Lytham. Supporting talented Artisan makers, Cards, Gifts, Homewares, Handmade items such as jewellery, Pictures and ethically conscious products. Dogs are also welcome.

Christmas decorations along the Golden Mile

Hello, I hope that you are well.

18 sleeps until Christmas….

Here is a photo of Blackpool prom getting into the spirit.

I hope that the bow is well secured, as we have been seeing some high winds recently.

Lee

Setting sun in the North Sea.

Hello,

Today i would like to share some images of the setting sun in the North sea.

I have been lucky in my time offshore to see some amazing weather.

A spectacular sun rise, or setting sun in the middle of the sea is something really magical.

I hope that you have a good weekend.

Lee

The difference two weeks can make.

Hello,

I hope that you have had a good week.

Today i wanted to share a quick comparison.

The above images were taken litteraly two weeks apart. On both occasions i was very lucky on the weather front.

If you have not yet been, i strongly recommend a trip up Helm Crag in the Lake district.

Out of all the hikes there, this is regarded as one of the easiest.

Even with all your camera and camping kit.

Hope that you have a good weekend.

Lee

Petrofac Bridge View

Hello,

Today id like to share with you some images of the office where i am currently working.

Again all drone images, the above image a little cameo roll as felt that i needed a person in the frame to add some interest.

Have a good weekend.

Lee

Head for heights.

Hello,

How are you? Have you had a good week?

Today id like to share some images of a job on Blackpool Tower.

The above image on the left is obviously not one of mine, but wanted to show how things have changed, and thank god that they have.

The guys in the past had little or no working at height protection.

These days we use advanced techniques such as rope access, to access these hard to reach places safely.

I hope that you have a good weekend.

Lee