Magic hour in Cheshire

At the beginning of the summer I was given an assignment from prominate estate agent to create blue hour, long exposure style images of some most popular villages in Cheshire. Idea was to look for a perfect moments during twilight hour and capture still present natural light and combine it with artificial lights of streets along with passing traffic. This project gave me a great opportunity to explore Cheshire a little bit more and I had a lot of fun doing so.

Alderley Edge – This village is located at the base of sandstone escarpment that separates two relatively level areas with different elevation. It’s also where you can snapp one of the best skyline photos of Manchester or simply come to watch a spectacular sunsets. This village is also part of Cheshire’s “golden triangle” where most expensive houses and designer shops are located. Unfortunately I spent the least amount of time capturing Alderley Edge but despite the project is now complete I’m planning to return on my own volition to get a few more pictures of this village.

Prestbury – Most of the buildings in the center of the village are painted white therefore it contrasted very well with the blue color of the twilight sky. I was also very lucky in terms of the weather. Very little cloud cover enabled me to shoot for much longer and gave me plenty of time to carefully choose my compositions.

Bramhall – Next on the list was Bramhall. Upon visiting this location a had a chance to check out famous timber-framed, 14th century Town Hall building located in parkland area with lakes, woodland and gardens. It mostly serves as a museum these days. Hopefully I’ll be able to explore it from inside once renovation work is complete. After that I head off to the center of the village to capture a few long exposure shots during the dusk.

Wilmslow -Part of previously mentioned “golden triangle” and probably biggest of all visited places during this project. However the town was quite empty perhaps due to ongoing school holidays. I had to wait quite a bit for cars to pass by in order to capture the light trail images I came here to do.

Nantwich – Last place I visited was this lovely village located furthest south of them all. This time I arrived during golden hour and the weather once again didn’t disappoint and treated me to a stunning sunset. I met many friendly people who stopped by my tripod and asked me questions about what I was doing and seemed genuinely interested when I explained what the assignment was about.