This evening I went to Font Bar in Manchester to attend the launch party for an exhibition of photos by Manchester-based photographer Jon Shackleton.
The photos feature a striking use of long exposure combined with unusual lighting effects.
Many of the photos were taken with exposure of 2 or 3 minutes up to 10 minutes. Some featuring star trails have an exposure of up to an hour and a half to two hours. All include unusual lighting effects made using coloured gels.
One of my favourite images was the one of the ‘Dream’ statue near St Helens.
The giant elongated head is pictured against a night sky with curved light trails caused by the movement of the earth during the exposure of 36 minutes.
Others portray eerie abandoned or remote places – a derelict house, a hilltop in the Lakes, a sculpture park in Hungary and an old T33 Lockheed shooting star plane in an undisclosed location.
The images are impressive and fascinating from a technical point of view.
Jon has used a Canon 20D digital SLR camera and amazingly there is no noise in the images.
Prints are for sale at prices from £15 to £40.
The exhibition is on at Font Bar, New Wakefield St Manchester (behind Oxford Rd Station) until December 09.
See the exhibition pieces on Flickr.
For more info about Jon Shackleton go to www.tdmphotography.co.uk.