I have been looking at photos I had taken during my visit to Liverpool in 2006. It was late in the year, and in the off season. The days were shortening, and the sunlight softening (if it wasn’t hiding behind the clouds!).

There was one photo I took in the Anglican Cathedral - Cathedral Church of Christ in Liverpool. Completed in 1978, the omnipotent church sits at the other end of Hope Street – with the Roman Catholic Cathedral at the other end.

What impressed me as I toured the church was the light flooding into the church – I was fortunate to visit on a sunny day. One particular photo I took within the Cathedral is one of my favourites from the city. It reminded me of a photo I saw with light cascading across a set of church stairs.

Not only was I able to get light falling onto steps and wall which lead into the main part of the Cathedral, but light is also highlighting the ceiling within the main body of the Church. It could easily be two separate photos, but the two parts of the photo complement together.

The light accentuates the church and its features in a most subtle way. It’s predominantly highlighting the left of the photo, but sneaks some onto the right which balances the photo nicely. It frames the stain glass window at the end of the Cathedral rather well.

While I tend to play with light and shadows in black and white, this image works well in colour. This is mainly due to the stain glass window.

As a photographer, I find myself drawn to light as well as shadows. I often explore light and shadow with black and white film.

During winter, I often notice the city lights more than I would during other times of the year. The short days and long nights highlights the amount of light cities use. They also allow the use of light creatively to offset the bleakness of the time of year.

Much of the city lights are often unnoticed in some ways as they are always there. However, I started noticing the light as I left to and from work. There is a side street that passes under London Bridge’s train tracks. It caught my eye recently as it was light up with purple light. One could easily pass by the side street and miss the purple light – it’s there, but subtly.

I snapped a few shots of it in colour as it lent itself to colour. I am sure that a black and white image would be stunning, but in an entirely different way. What I found important was the colour. It wasn’t simply white light, but purple. I was also interested in how it interacted with its environment. It seemed to contrast against the yellowish light given off by the streetlights, buildings and cars. I did wonder how many people noticed it.

What also caught my eye as I wondered around the Thames nearby was the use of light on the buildings and structures across the river in the City of London. 

It was the different colours and where the lights were placed that gave the built environment a certain character. 

Night photography is something I enjoy, and don’t do enough of. However, winter does provide me with some more dark time to work with, and I hope to take some more photos of lights and shadows. 

The Sphinx statues in Crystal Palace Park are remnants of the park’s glory days when it was the Victorian playground - a playground which housed The Crystal Palace, which occupied the area from 1854 to 1936.

The Park may not be as glamorous now as it was when The Crystal Palace stood in its boundaries, but its charm and character draws me back. The graffiti-ed Sphinx statues, the crumpling statues and stairs, and anatomically incorrect dinosaurs are reminders of Victorian grandeur, curiosity and scientific thought.

I have photographed Crystal Palace Park in all seasons, and have enjoyed the changing moods, colours and difference in light. While I enjoy photographing the dinosaurs, I am increasingly drawn to the other side of the park, which isn’t as maintained as the area of the dinosaurs. The decaying grandeur of the statues and stairs draw me in.

A week ago, I was walking through the park and taking photos along the way. I was enjoying a bustling park on a Saturday afternoon with nature in slumber. The muted colours gave me a subtle palate to work with, and accented the crumpling remnants of Victorian splendour. The 2 films I was shooting on focused my attentions on what really caught my eye.

I was photographing the Sphinx statues, and was really enjoying the light falling across the faces of a couple of them. I was particularly drawn to one. Its eyes had been drawn in with black marker – making them look less dead. The statue looked as though it was still surveying the park from its perch. The statue has seen many changes since it was placed in the park – and I am sure that it will bear witness to future changes.

For me, the eyes drew me in – and I could relate at its gaze. The parallel is I often feel like I am perched somewhere taking photos of what is around me. I have sometimes gone back to re-photograph something or an area and have picked up something different or any change that has happened – however subtle. 

I was passing through Westfield shopping centre in Shepherds Bush, West London recently, and they still had their Christmas lights up. It was just after Christmas, and I had a slight ‘after-the-event’ feeling.

With the build up to Christmas – as with other religious celebrations around this time of year, there is such emphasis on light and colour to offset the darkness and bleakness of mid-winter. I really appreciated that the lights were still up at the shopping centre because the days are still rather short.

The lights at the shopping centre were just asking me to take a picture of them. The pictures I took were snaps as I didn’t have much time. However, I did managed to get a few that I really liked.

Not all of my photos turn out when I am taking them in haste, but sometimes I do get some that turn out quite nicely. The nice thing about digital is I can delete any that I don’t think – although, I have deleted some I liked in haste, which can be irritating!

I am sure that the Christmas lights will slowly disappear over the coming days and weeks – not only at Westfield’s, but around London. My Christmas tree has finally been tucked away.

I find there is a certain sadness to putting away the lights – I wish to hold onto them when the nights are so long.