Monochrome Manchester...

...or rather, trying to shoot Manchester in monochrome without it appearing grey ;)

Luckily yesterday didn't succumb to the usual textureless slate-ish/white-ish sky, but instead had some interesting clouds and - some sunshine!  Unluckily, I lost my polarizing filter.  RRRAH!  After spending ages retracing my steps, I realised that looking for small grey thing on a massive sea of grey pavement pretty much guaranteed futility.  So, all of these were taken without that crucial bit of kit.

Manchester has its share of 'attractions' and over-photographed areas.  It is often said that photographers ought to stay away from these and be more creative, show things from a different point of view, etc.  I'm all for that, but most of the time I like to shoot what I like - inspiring, beautiful, interesting things, or simply things that catch my eye, for whatever reason. 

Usually, I may as well have my telephoto lens glued to the front of my camera.  I decided to leave it at home yesterday and shoot from a wider perspective.  Also, to focus on buildings, and to shoot in black and white. 

What follows is a selection of shots from a small area of the city.  They don't tell a story or have any deeper meaning.  Some will have been photographed countless times before.  For me, they are snapshots of things which caught my eye, for whatever reason.

The ubiquitous Urbis building:

And down to the right behind it, the Printworks.  Used to be a major headquarters for printing national papers - now "Europe's first urban leisure and entertainments complex":

Manchester's Big Wheel, surrounded by a mix of Manchester architecture:

A small block of buildings containing a pub, a porn shop and a tattoo parlour:

And finally, the late afternoon sun caught reflecting off various shiny surfaces around Ancoats: