It was a late Thursday wet afternoon when my wife and I finally arrived at 'The Daffodil', a floating restaurant berthed in the Albert Dock. We had been gifted a restaurant voucher and had decided to use it. On the bus ride to the waterfront the sun was shining, but by the time we reached the Albert Dock the rain had begun to fall.
Taking shelter in the OpenEye Photographic Gallery we took a look around the current exhibition: 'New Faces, New Focus, stories we share.' I can recommend it and it is on until 20 December 2026. The image below is from the inside the gallery. But I digress...
On the walk to the Daffodil I made a few images despite the dull and inclement weather. I had my iPhone with me, so why not?
The x8 telephoto gave me a good reach and I had noticed the office windows lit in the ever darkening afternoon. I only had a brief moment before the rain came down in buckets.
The office block made a good subject and I sheltered beneath something while making this photograph. You can see the rain falling heavily in the shot, it added texture and atmosphere. The light was also flat which in this case assisted with the image.
It was time to take shelter properly and we headed inside the boat to take our seats for our meal. The interior of the Daffodil has some of the feel of the original 'Overchurch' a former Liverpool ferry built in 1962, before it became the 'MV Royal Daffodil' and finally the floating restaurant.
It made a most unusual, but very pleasant dining experience. I noticed that the iPhone handled the light very well. The restaurant area was relatively dark and the light from the windows could have cast the interior into dark shadow, but the cameraphone coped incredibly well. I guess that's what multi-frame stacking and smart HDR on modern phones can do. I much prefer my Canon AE-1, but I needed to travel light today. It was after all, a meal out for my wife and myself and not a photo-walk.
It was getting late and we were heading for our bus home, but not before I made a few more photographs. The rain had almost stopped and the fading light made for almost monochrome scenes.
The rain was returning and so at this point we headed for home. A lovely meal with a few drinks and I even managed to shoot some photographs - even if they were made with my iPhone. It all made for a lovely, if damp interlude.