Concrete, Canals and Graffiti

Last month as part of my recovery from surgery, I took a walk down my local stretch of the Grand Union canal. It was a nice clear day, cold and bright; good photography weather. In fact, looking back, it was probably the last week where the vibrancy of autumn was still visible - the leaves have now all dropped from their branches so everywhere is looking a bit dreary and devoid of colour.

After a little while I came to a section of concrete overpass where the motorway crosses over the top of the canal. I’m not a fan of graffiti, as a rule (unless there’s an element of skill or thought behind it), but it can certainly make a photo more interesting. It just so happened that I’d arrive at the overpass as the sun was low enough in the sky to shine through brilliantly, creating severe areas of light and shadow and illuminating the tags on the concrete. Unfortunately I didn’t have my tripod with me, or it might have been fun to combine multiple exposures for more control over the balance of shadows and highlights in post production, but I think they came out OK.

All photos of the Grand Union Canal in Warwickshire were taken on the Fuji X-T2 with the Fujifilm XF16 - 55mm F/2.8 lens, processed from RAW with Capture One.

Please visit my main website, www.lukebennettphotos.com for much more content, including further landscape and nature photography from the UK and visit my Print Gallery to buy high quality prints of my UK landscapes. Also, if you are interested in hiring me as your wedding photographer in Solihull, Birmingham, Coventry, Warwickshire, the Midlands or Beyond, please say hi!