I had the most tedious journey I’ve ever experienced up to Yorkshire today – it took me over nine and a half hours to drive three hundred miles. When I reached yet another traffic jam near Nottingham this afternoon I decided to take avoiding action and headed east towards Newark to join a different road, figuring that even if I was moving slowly I was at least making progress towards my destination. As I drove east from Nottingham I noticed these enormous power station cooling towers and couldn’t resist taking a brief detour to take a photo. They really are vast structures – to give you an idea of scale, the building at their base is East Midlands Parkway railway station which isn’t exactly tiny itself! Given that it was pretty overcast a gritty monochrome conversion seemed the best option to bring out the detail in the clouds and the steam emerging from the top of the towers.

Hopefully someone is paying attention over there! Nice shot! Lsample · 2012-07-27: 22:01

That is a VERY cool shot, Helen! The use of b/w really produces a nice contrast and delineates the construction textures! djnana · 2012-07-27: 22:33

Very well presented, Helen! lgnelson · 2012-07-27: 23:30

Really impressive ! The B&W here is wonderful to emphasize textures and sky josy63 · 2012-07-28: 01:33

Excellent mono treatment, Helen. Very impressive in more ways than one. SM2012 · 2012-07-28: 03:00

Superbe B&W I hope it's not nuclear power? photoneur · 2012-07-28: 03:23

9.5 hours... that sounds like fun... I hate traffic jams, they are such a waste of time, and sadly very frequent on this small overcrowded island we call home... Annbramwell · 2012-07-28: 03:36

Your effects really accent these monstrous towers well Helen. It was worth the detour. We have similar towers near our home. Also close to Three Mile Isalnd - yikes.... danrav · 2012-07-28: 06:04

Nice detailed capture love the black and white mystic1 · 2012-07-28: 10:42

simply great yeargin · 2012-07-28: 19:05

Super shot Helen, really stark looking. I've seen these several times and thought of photographing them. No need now, there's no way I'd top this. Jarvo · 2012-07-28: 20:31

What is sight!! Ryana · 2012-07-29: 13:51

Tagged: powerstation chimney tower architecture nottingham monochrome bw