Here are some photos that have inspired me recently.

Click the photos to get to the original pages, each photographer has many, many more beautiful photos worth seeing!

#1 Snowplays

A simple and delicate composition. Like ghosts in a fog.

#2 All That Remains

Scenes like this don’t seem possible in real life. And yet, here’s Swanage. Beautiful use of a very long exposure (111 seconds) to soften the water and create this surreal effect.

#3 Umbrellas in the Snow

Dynamic and full of life. Great contrast with lots of light and shadow, and playful silhouettes. I particularly like the inside-out umbrella glowing on the right.

Looking at this makes me think longingly of this winter’s snow, now that it’s long enough ago for me to have forgotten the travel chaos it caused, and the frozen toes when I went out walking in it.

#4 Brighton

Shades of white blended with the softest of colours, creating swirling clouds and elaborate railings that contrast with the straight lines of the deck and the bench. This photo makes me think of a watercolour painting.

Definitely somewhere I’d be happy to sit for hours and stare out to sea.

#5 Stockholm, Sweden

A cyanotype photo taken in Stockholm, 1900. I fell in love with this photo about a year ago and keep coming back to look at it again. There’s something so dreamy about it, like a window to another world.

Look at the sun reflected off the water, the silouhetted figure by the lamppost, the row of masts lining the opposite side of the river, the circle of light (which I assume is camera flare) like a giant moon in the middle of the sky, and the photo’s imperfections wafting like clouds across the scene.

#6 Tangled

While I love my digital camera very dearly, I have to admit that often digital just can’t beat film. Here’s an example. This is a collaboration between two photographers. One uses a roll of film, and sends it to the other, who then takes a roll of double exposures. They have no idea what photos the other has taken until the film is developed. A wonderful result, no?

According to the Flickr information, these poppies are somewhere near my town but I’ve never seen them. I think I’ll have to do some poppy hunting this summer!

#7 Hanging out on the Hill

Primrose Hill, London. I was standing here taking photos of this very lamppost at sunset just a month ago. None of my photos came out quite like this one. The colours are so bright and joyful. Like the umbrellas earlier, this photo has a lovely light-hearted feel to it.

# 8 Summer Longing

I love tilt-shift photography. This is a wonderful example of using Photoshop to add the effect in post-production, something I really want to try myself. Also, look at all the vivid colours and sunlight. Doesn’t it make you miss the summer?

# 9 Rusty Old Shack

A 30 second shutter speed capture of the Northern Lights in Iceland. Like the Swanage photo earlier, I find it hard to imagine a scene like this in real life. Magical.

Tenuously on topic: Have you ever seen Joanna Lumley in the Land of the Northern Lights? I adore it, and her. Check it out if you get a chance.

#10 Sacré Coeur

This final photo is, of course, Montmartre. One of my favourite places in Paris. I like the high contrast to this photo, and the depth, with the carousal in the foreground and the Sacré Coeur basilica rising majestically far off in the background. It makes me want to watch Amélie again.

Tagged: double exposure, featured photographers, inspiration, London, Northern Lights, Paris, Sacré Coeur, Stockholm, vintage

§ 2 Responses to Photos I’d love to have taken

• Kevin Mullins says:

  April 8, 2010 at 7:04 pm

  Lovely set of images – I’m using them as inspiration too now. Nice one.

  Reply
• Mistiza W says:

  April 29, 2010 at 7:37 pm

  A great group of pic

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  http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1EMKnt/www.thecoolist.com/abandoned-places-10-creepy-beautiful-modern-ruins//r:f

  I came across this site and like sharing it . some great shots

  Reply