February 2025.
Southampton, Great Britain.
After boarding the Norwegian Bliss, we departed Southampton around 5 PM, a few minutes before sunset. As we sailed down the River Test toward the Atlantic, I looked for photo opportunities along the way. Southampton at dusk was a study in crossings. The skyline glowed with the last light of day, high-rises flickering to life as twilight settled over the coastal waters between Southampton and the Isle of Wight. In the foreground, a dome pulsed with color—part leisure, part landmark—while the city’s layers unfolded behind.

At the time, I didn’t know what the glowing dome was—only that it stood out against the darkening skyline. It looked like a carousel or a nightclub, something festive and theatrical. Later, I learned that it had once been Oceana, a waterfront club, which closed in 2021, and before that, it was the Royal Pier Hotel. Though the building was vacant, its lights remained, casting a glow across the quay, the riverside dock area. Just to the left, across the street, signage for the Isle of Wight Terminal marked the gateway for Red Funnel ferries.

As I reviewed my photos of Southampton, I realized that I captured a harbor in transition—first in the fading light of day, then under the glow of early evening. One image showed a dome still lit despite its vacancy, casting a glow across the riverside quay; the other, a ferry completing its daily crossing, maneuvering past industrial silhouettes toward the Terminal 1 port. Both scenes framed a moment just before our own departure, as the Norwegian Bliss turned seaward and began its transatlantic journey. We left behind the layered rhythms of the harbor—its crossings, its quiet choreography—and sailed into the night.

About the photos: Both images were captured with my Samsung S23 Ultra within 6 minutes of each other, just after sunset. The first was taken about five minutes into blue hour, so I processed the JPG files with that in mind. To include both the glowing dome and the distant skyscrapers without cropping either, I took two shots—one framing the dome in the lower portion, the other capturing the towers above. Using Luminar Neo’s panoramic stitching feature, I combined them into a vertical panorama that preserved the whole composition. A touch of Twilight Enhance helped harmonize the sky with the dome’s lighting. Both images were cropped and noise-reduced to compensate for the high ISO required by the fading light. I’ve posted both pictures in 2K HD on my Flickr site here for anyone who wants to pixel peep or check the metadata.

I invite fellow bloggers to join in by creating their own Cellpic Sunday posts. There’s no set theme—the only rule is that your photo must be captured with a cell phone, iPad, or other mobile device. The second rule is simple: link your challenge response to this post or drop a comment here with your link so others can find it. And remember, despite the name, there’s no penalty for sharing on a day other than Sunday.

John Steiner