Let there be light

Welcome to November's Photo Challenge. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness (no, I haven't gone all religious, though this time last year PC, you may remember, was all about churches.) This time I was looking for lighting. And to say I was blinded by the light (I know, I'm incorrigible) would be an understatement. We're also joined this month by a couple of newbies, including a Sunday Times bestselling author. So, sit back and light up your world as you enjoy, hopefully, some ninety odd amazing photographs from all over the world. And Nottingham.

Rol Hirst gets to do the grand switch on: "Hi John, attached are three images with lights. The first, a late night dog walk illuminated by a passing car. The second, the outline of a spaceship that landed in my back garden. The third, another scene from the Snapshots Christmas Banquet - wish you were there! Take care, Rol." Calling occupants of interplanetary craft! Nice one, Rol. That's what I call an illuminating start.

Ernie: "Hi Mr. John, three for this month's theme. Hopefully the notorious jobsworths responsible for this exercise will rule that candles are allowed (why, of course, Ernie - JM), but if not I can provide a replacement. The three are: a street load of fairy lights in Angra do Heroismo in the Azores, an illuminated street sign in Berlin, and a Georgian Orthodox nun in a convent outside Tbilisi. Keep up the good work, Ern." Cheers, Ernie - loving the nun.

Portuguese George: "Hi John, this is a photo of the street light attached to next door. It was going to be attached to ours but I asked the men to stick it on next door. There was no warning about the work, I saw the cherry-picker outside our house, went on the verandah to see what was happening, and there was a bloke there, and another on the cherry-picker platform, with that light! George (in the Alentejo Litoral, hoping for rain)." Thank you, George. I have no idea why you've stuck your light on your neighbour's house, it must be a Portuguese thing. Could you send us a picture of it lit up? Presumably engulfing next door's in a swathe of halogen.

Kate formerly of Lincoln now residing in NG5: "Bridge lights in Budapest, early evening festival lights in the UK." Thank you, Kate.

Alpha Dave: "Dusk descending over Hong Kong harbour; taken on a mini tripod, listening to a jazz singer & supping something grapey in the Intercontinental, HK. The wine was lovely but a little expensive. We ended up having a McDonalds by the Nathan Road underground station…" (Long way to go for a Maccy D - JM.) 

Dave's second one is, I think, a harbour somewhere en Francais. Cheers, Dave. Good tripod action.

Harry Harrington Harris is back in circulation: "Hi John, Nottingham Light Night, St. Mary's Church, 2022." Cheers, H. We have a few Nottinghamians on board, so Light Night (together with Goose Fair & Rock City) was always going to feature. Lovely stuff.

And here is Nottingham Claire: "Scream if you want to go faster! Nottingham Goose Fair 2025." Thank you, Claire. Shabba!

Rich (who may or may bot be related to Miss Turner): "Limelight Orchestra, Ibiza Proms." Nice one, Rich. Rich is an esteemed trombone player who I think may have sat in with the Limelight...

Speaking of Miss Turner: "Reflected lights in a Menorcan Harbour, 2019."

Alfie's back! "Alfie seeing Santa's sleigh, 2021."

"River lights, Hoi An Vietnam, 2018."

Lights at school in the science corridor for our open evening."

"Lights inside Note Dame I've just finished building in Lego!" Splendid! Lego builders of the world unite.

Alyson from the Highlands: "This a particularly favourite theme for me: I’ve been a keen gardener this year as my  neighbour told me in early June that she missed seeing colour in our front garden this year (I had to remove many shrubs as we have a tick problem). From mid-June I went to town and had a “flower show” the day before the Autumn Equinox. I also thought I should make it pretty at night so came up with this." 

"My second photo is of our Town House at Christmas - they light it with all sorts of colours but I like the pink." 

"And finally, the castle in the centre of town at the start of the pandemic. It was lit up in blue to support the NHS." Thank you, Alyson. Edinburgh Castle gets you a podium finish.

Johnny Legs: "Battersea Power Station."

"Concorde flight engineer's panel."

"Belfast."

Two shots of 'local interest'." Thanks, Johnny. Nottingham looks great lit up, doesn't it?

My very dear friend Mollie has recently returned from New York. She showed me her holiday snaps and I said Queensboro Bridge is definitely a candidate for PC - which she kindly donated. 

Whilst in NYC Mollie also went to Niagara Falls for the day (as you do) and that's when I spotted this: that's right a rainbow. And what's a rainbow if not an arch of colours visible in the sky, caused by the refraction and dispersion of the sun's light by rain or other water droplets in the atmosphere? All of which has made me think that rainbows may well get their own spin off PC in 2026. That's an early heads up btw. Thanks, Mollie.

Neil Abdo: "Hi John, The Bath Inn in Nottingham and Bob Vylan at Rock City from last year." Thank you, Neil.

The Swede: "New York streetlights, headlights and traffic lights in the pouring rain. March 2023." I was half expecting to see Bob Dylan in your first shot! Thanks, TS.

Pete Zab: "Hi John, I was spoilt for choice on this one so here's a few that might be of interest. The first is a ceiling in an elevator; the second is The Analogues in concert; three and four were taken during Light Nights in the city." I love The Analogues, Pete.

Riggsby in southern California: "For about 10 years I lit up stages: starting with my son’s band and expanding into gigs with other bands, parties, weddings, even a fashion show. Lasers, fog, uplighting - I loved both acquiring and using the lights, meeting musicians and enjoying live music with a lot of people along the way. I remember a San Diego band’s guitarist particularly, who thanked me for making him feel like a rock star. I have hardly any photos, for various reasons, but a kind photographer just shared some from a charity show I lit in Whittier, LA - seven tribute bands, two stages, and as much color as I could muster. Grateful to see it through her lens. The costumes and music made the day, but I like to think I contributed as well. The last time was for a band I'm in, Signal-to-Noise, when we played a ROCKtoberfest party in a friend's garden."

Next a photo from Richard's wife Jingyi (last seen on Potato Chip Rock): "A picture from her 'hometown', Shanghai. It represents both old and new landmarks of the city. The Broadway Mansions Hotel and Garden bridge, old; the TV tower, new."

"And lastly, this picture beams us back to 1982 and the entrance of Manor Court - a block of flats I used to pass when I was living in Leamington Spa when I was an undergrad at Warwick University. The arrangement of the lights made me think of the transporter room in Star Trek. Happy that we made it into this picture." I remember this well, Richard (I'm on the far left, dear readers). We all put our jackets on back to front and channelled our inner Shatner! Loved it then, love it now. Nice one, Richard.

Charity Chic: "Hi John, the Delgados at Barrowlands. Hope it meets the criteria, CC." Of course. (Tho I'm now wondering if you've got a shot of the iconic neon sign that hangs outside the venue?) CC also advises me that the dude in the bottom left of the pic is JC of the New Vinyl Villian blog.

Matthew's got some corkers: "Hi John, Gardens by the Bay, Singapore; Fremont Street Experience, Downtown Las Vegas; 'From Sky to Sea', Devonport, Tasmania.  Some from Sam to follow, M x."

And sho' nuff Samantha's pics did indeed follow: "Tokyo on departure from Haneda Airport;  Las Vegas Strip from 'Eiffel Tower' and George Square Christmas Fair in Glasgow." Thanks, both. There's some serious air miles gone into these!

Here's that Sunday Times bestselling author I was telling you about - Sathnam Sanghera: "Happy Diwali - the world needs the light." Indeed it does; I saw Sathnam's photograph on Bluesky and asked if he'd like to loan it to Photo Challenge. "Sure," he replied.

Martin's been to see Gene get back together for their date at Hammy Odeon. However, you could be forgiven for thinking he'd witnessed the second coming: "I don't think I've ever felt such a positive, celebratory vibe from an audience; I felt real unity & communion." Wow.

Swiss Adam's keeping it real in Manchester: Hi John, the streetlight at a junction near us, the only one in the area which has a bowl lamp."

"And a lantern in a cafe in Altrincham, shot from below." Perfect! Cheers, Adam.

Shahi Mehmood, another newbie and photographic friend on Bluesky: "Hi John, I took this picture at Oslo Airport the largest airport in Norway." Thank you so much for allowing me to use your photo, Shahi. I love the lights in this.

Khayemn from the Kotswolds: "Hello John, A fistful of fotos for you: 

1. Klan K spent Christmas 2019 in Tenerife, Mrs. K and I flew from Bristol; Lady K clearly teleported from the Starship Enterprise. (Another teleport, great stuff! - JM.) 

2. This is where we stayed. No, the island wasn’t struck by an earthquake, this is an unplanned shaky snap that waited patiently for six years and an appropriate Photo Challenge to join. Thanks, John! 

3. No gig is complete without a lighting rig and Jah Wobble & The Invaders Of The Heart were no exception when they performed in the bowels of the good ship Thekla in Bristol in December 2023. 

4. A subway in Chepstow, this week. Is there ever a time when all of the lights are working, and adequately illuminate the thoroughfare? 

5. The bane of my life - and many other people, I can imagine. It’s seemingly impossible to drive into any English city without coming a cropper thanks to the ubiquitous temporary traffic light. This is Gloucester, this week. A while back, a set was finally removed outside the village of Painswick after the best part of five years! (Nearly as bad as those at the top end of Piper Street, past McVities's - JM.) Best wishes, K." Thank you, K. A most splendid collection, as ever.

Tim from 'ucknall: "Hi John, a batch of pics I think (just about) hit the lights brief. (They most certainly do, Tim - JM.)

- Rainy night tram by the Poly; might have maxed out the filters a bit but love the result!

- Late night traffic Charles St. Manchester.

- Light Night in Nottingham.

- Another one in town: think you like this one - the excellent Contemporary signage at night. (What makes you say that, Tim? - JM.)

- Hucknall 6am.

- Rock City - sums up so many things at the moment. Can’t fault resplendent swearing.

- Bedroom light: mucking around with phone & liked the result.

Looking forward to the results. Cheers, Tim." Thanks so much, Tom. Strong light game.

David Cooper: "As usual, John, three from me: the first - Salina Turda: a salt mine in the Durgău-Valea Sărată area of Turda, Cluj in Romania. The second was taken in Hoi An, Vietnam famous for its lantern festivals. Back home for the third photo - taken at a Model Railway exhibition in Ruddington. David." Nice one, Coops. The train definitely gets you a podium finish!

Walter from the Fatherland: "Hi John, here are my contributions to this month's challenge. Let's start with a picture taken at a Christmas market in our local capital, Stuttgart, two years ago. Then we can switch to two pics of pedestrian traffic lights in my hometown, featuring local advertising characters: a horse and a monkey. Finally, a picture of The Twilight Sad, taken at a concert in 2019. Cheers, Walter." Danke, Walter. Love the wacky traffic lights.

As ever, I get to sign off with a few of mine. Here's the sound desk at The Lexington in north London.

Hell's Kitchen caff in Sheffield.

El Capitan Hotel in Merced, California.

Rock City, Nottingham.

Blackpool Tower - where I saw Richard Hawley earlier this year.

Another tower in the north west: Liverpool's Radio City.

Formerly The Palais in Nottingham, now home to Pryzm. Thankfully not on fire.

All lit up - the Ningbo Friendship Bridge that straddles Nottingham's ring road. And how it looks in the daytime too.

I couldn't not post one of my Goose Fair snaps. I still go every year to take photos and sample their world famous mushy peas.

And finally, who better than Captain Sensible (Rock City, 2023) to turn the lights out on what has been a most luminescent collection.

Thank you, again, to everyone who takes the time to snap and send. I'll post December's challenge in the comments section in a day or two. J x

...

Postscript

You ask for photos of Barrowlands neon sign and two come at once. "Barrowlands neon, you say?" said frocknrollbrummie on Bluesky. "And that's Sparks' tour bus obscuring the sign." Thank you, f. Now you're on board, why not come back next month?

And then the original originator came back to me after a trawl thru his photo roll. "There you go,"  he said. Thanks, CC.