Photography Locations in Cardiff Bay
I had the pleasure of exploring Cardiff Bay early one morning a couple of weeks ago with my camera. The light was good, and the lack of crowds made for different scenes than you’d typically see around here. Usually, Cardiff Bay is full of crowds, especially when the weather is good. But I was here at 6am in the morning, and there were no crowds then. So I had the place to myself. I was fortunate, as the weather was beautiful, with clear skies and no wind. The lack of wind helped set up some great photographs of the bay, which was completely still and with a fine mirror finish.
Early morning is best
My exposures were f22 at ~1 second, and people passing through were blurred, including a couple walking past the front doors of the Millennium Centre , which you can just make out. The Millennium Centre is now probably Cardiff’s most famous landmark. The building with the copper roof and the inscription, ‘In these stones, horizons sing’ . Possibly the most famous landmark, or a close second after the Principality Stadium , AKA Cardiff Arms Park, home to Welsh Rugby. But Cardiff Bay is now quite photogenic, with sculptures, buildings, views and more to see and photograph.
The Millennium Centre sits alongside the old Bute East Dock is now filled in. It's a natural arena that sometimes hosts bands and events in the spring & summer months. The old tide markings on the walls are some of the only indications of its former use.
Cardiff was a major port in the 1800s and early 1900s. Thousands of ships came/went weekly to all points on the globe. The Norwegian Church was built by Norwegian sailors as a refuge when visiting Cardiff. But, Cardiff had many nationalities that called it home. One notable Norwegian who made Cardiff his home, was the father of Roald Dhal. Arriving in the 1880s with his wife, Roald Dhal was born in 1916.
New Retail, Residential, and Office Space
The Everyman cinema is a totally new building, and is part of the new retail/entertainment space in the Bay Area, as well as the Millennium Centre (below) that hosts music concerts and bands as well as pantomimes.
Roath Dock
Roath Dock - probably at its calmest ever - and a world away from what it must have been like at its heyday. The noise, dust, and smells must have been intense, to say the least. Here's a link to an old Ordnance Survey map from 1952 - showing a contrast to the modern day landscape.
Totally Regenerated
The area is a shadow of its recent self. The whole area was derelict up till the late 1990s when the renovations began. 100 years ago, this was the busiest port in the world, exporting something like 13-15m tons of coal worldwide from Cardiff and Barry docks. The warehouses, cranes and old moorings were all disused and overgrown with weeds. The transformation is now complete, with over 30 years of development and construction the area is now a tourist attraction in its own right. These are the views that you can expect to see, though most will see it amongst a sea of tourists and locals. To get these views you need to be up early in the morning!