Manchester on mobile

September 25, 2022September 25, 2022 / mikeosbornphoto / 2 Comments

Earlier this year I admitted that I didn’t like using my smartphone to take photographs. That was a good starting point to try to make more use of my phone camera.

My Samsung A51 is classed as ‘affordable’, so its camera doesn’t have superpowers. But it slides into my pocket easily and has been coming on more trips, including daily walks around Manchester city centre.

I’ll admit that I’m getting used to it and the results are fuelling stories on my Instagram account. Editing is minimal and the content is good enough to last for 24 hours.

Everything is still shot in portrait and I spend a lot of time looking up at Manchester’s varied architecture. Despite this progress, my camera has its own life which I still value more.

How do you juggle your smartphone and conventional camera? Let me know in the comments below!

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: Rochdale Canal

: Portland Street

: Deansgate Square

: Castlefield

: Spinningfields

: Castlefield

: Castlefield

: Exchange Quay

: Deansgate Square

: St Ann’s Square

: Deansgate Square

: Castlefield

: Castlefield Viaduct

: Great Northern

: Bridgewater Canal

Manchester at dawn

June 26, 2022June 24, 2022 / mikeosbornphoto / Leave a comment

Summer mornings start very early, so I got up, grabbed my camera and had a wander around Manchester city centre. But this wasn’t a normal Saturday… CONTINUES BELOW

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This was a extra long weekend to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Both Thursday and Friday were designated public holidays, very unusual in the UK.

As I wandered around the centre of Manchester from 5am in the early summer light, I got the distinct impression that this was the morning after the night before.

The streets and squares were practically deserted as most Mancunians decided to sleep in after their celebrations.

It meant I had the place to myself and could go about photographing some familiar landmarks that can be difficult in a bustling city centre.

What gets you up early to go out and take photos? Let us know below!

An empty Deansgate in Manchester on an early summer morning

You can’t usually stand in the middle of Manchester’s busy Deansgate

Manchester’s sexy car parks

September 6, 2020October 26, 2020 / mikeosbornphoto / 4 Comments

Car parks are usually uninspiring, dull buildings. But Manchester has some that are totally hot… READ MORE BELOW

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Manchester’s New Bailey area is a new architectural development featuring housing, restaurants and other amenities.

And yes, multi-storey car parks. But they’re not the featureless lumps that usually pass off as car lots. One is encased in a compelling beehive structure, the other is a medley of candy-coloured stripes and lattice panelling.

They’re certainly sexy to photograph. And walking back from my shoot, I stumbled across another car park in the Spinningfields district, clad in a compelling metal of pink blush.

After this photo walk I needed to take a cold shower…

New Manchester

May 28, 2017May 28, 2017 / mikeosbornphoto / 6 Comments

I’ve had my first true taste of summer since moving to Manchester last September. Crowds of sun-hungry people have flocked to the waterways, green spaces and al fresco bars of Castlefield.

With a city draped in piercing blue skies, I turned my camera to the city’s growing crop of contemporary tall buildings – hulks of steel and glass that glint in this light.

This left out the slender Beetham Tower, Manchester’s tallest building which has enthralled me for months. The colour palette for these shots is overwhelmingly blue, which turns dramatic and even menacing in monochrome.