Liverpool Pier Head

The Pier Head in Liverpool is a popular tourist destination, and it’s where you’ll find the Three Graces (the Royal Liver Building, the Cunard Building and the Port of Liverpool Building).

In more recent years, it’s also become home to the Museum of Liverpool. Opened in 2011, it’s now one of Liverpool’s most popular museums, documenting the city from it prehistoric roots right through to the present day. It’s a really great museum with lots to see and loads of interactive bits and pieces for the younger visitor to enjoy.

But what I’m posting about here is not so much what’s inside the museum, but what you can see from it. At both sides of the building on the top floor are sets of huge windows looking out over the Pier Head and the Albert Dock. The views are fantastic.

On the day we visited, during the half-term holiday in February 2015, the weather was not clement. There was heavy drizzle being blow almost sideways by the wind, and it wasn’t particularly pleasant to have to walk through. However, from the shelter of the museum, the fine rain and thick cloud made for the most wonderful, muted atmosphere, creating layers out of the buildings disappearing into the distance.

The conditions allowed me to get these photos, with a mixture of misty, layered buildings and shiny, wet floors. I often like to shoot in sunny conditions where I can get strong shadows and high contrast, but this day provided me with a very different, yet very beautiful, diffuse light to play with.

I’m really pleased with the results.

I wasn’t the only one enjoying the views, either; there are always people at the window, soaking up the views. Some photograph it, like I did, and some just … gaze …