Remembering summer on the South Bank

Back in August I spent a day with a friend on the South Bank taking some snaps. I have only just got round to looking at some of them and decided to make a post out of some of my favourites.
As they say in all the best competitions...in no particular order

This one was taken as people were rushing off to work in the morning, me crouched on the floor to get this angle caused more than one strange look!

The Millennium Bridge has been photographed many times and yes I took all the usual shots. However I wanted a different angle, when I saw this corner I knew I had it...literally... and it was just a matter of waiting for a city gent to walk past.

Sometimes this just seem odd, I called this Ancient and Modern, for obvious reasons.

Another odd find was this hot air balloon tethered outside Tate Modern, we never did discover why it was there.

Boris's bikes just had to be taken, although only by photographers it seems!!!

 This building was lit as you see it, just one of those lucky finds, although I suspect that if entered into a competition it will be dismissed as a selectively coloured image.

I always say when taking photographs look, up, behind and down, as well as in front. Looking down I saw this bit of peeling paint always 'appealing' to a photographer!

This one had to be taken. I am still working on it in order to get the most out of this image, may be one which will be entered into a competition one day.

London is full of reflections, again it was a matter of spotting the potential and waiting for somebody to move into the right spot...and bingo there is your image.

Back to the Millenium Bridge, this time with my infra red camera. I tried a low angle, but I think St Pauls is just a bit too small, back to the drawing board on this one.

My final image was taken at the end of the day, when we were both rather tired and sitting on a wall getting enough energy to make our way back to the train station. I called this 'Culture Clash' and although I like the idea I think that, to work properly, it needs the young people to be looking towards me rather than away.

Holiday Themes

Number Two - Shop Windows of The Baltic

Well I said I had some other Baltic Cruise themes to follow and finally I have got round to number two. At first glance the shops all seemed and yet a closer look revealed a very distinct style at each stop, perhaps the shops in this country would look quirky if they were viewed through a visitors eyes! So theme number two is shop windows

The first image was taken in Stockholm, most of the shops reflected the crisp, clean lines typical of most of their designs, this attracted me because I really had no idea what type of 'Very Important Clothes' they were selling or indeed what the monkey had to do with it!!

I enjoy the irony of this image, a man on his phone outside a shop called 'Sound Pollution' !

Aarhus felt very similar to many UK shopping centres. Despite language barriers it is still possible to find amusing sights! I have no idea what the signs say...but really it hardly matters.

It was very difficult to spot shops in St Petersburg. Most of them are tucked away, very different to the shopping centres we are used to. This was a typical tourist souvenir shop and it just had to be taken! Most people didn't seem to spot the irony of the sign!

We loved Tallinn and would very much like to return sometime. The side streets were quaint and pleasant to walk around but everywhere there were stalls selling the usual maps, books and souvenirs. The people seemed happy to have their photographs taken and many are dressed in traditional costume.

This was one of a series of stalls built into the old city walls, they seemed so incongruous, selling warm woolly clothes in the middle of a hot summer, as you can see she wasn't doing much business.

However this shop, the Rizzla stall was doing very well, there was quite a queue to purchase all kinds of tobacco.

A Few Days in Southwold

As mentioned on my Project 52 page last week I spent a very pleasant few days away in Southwold with my daughter. Camera in hand I tried to capture some different shots of a well photographed town. I decided, when I returned, that I would edit them in a similar style and used the Fractalius plugin, followers of my blog...all two of you - sorry I exaggerate ;) - will know that I have used this program several times over recent months, sometimes it is successful in improving an image but sometimes it is just a gimmick, I hope these are the former rather than the latter! I hope to produce a painterly effect, apologies to those who have just seen some of these on the Project 52 page, there is some duplication.

Then of course there are always those candid shots - couldn't resist this one!

The Demise of the Norman King

Whilst away on our holiday the historical Norman King pub was destroyed by fire, arson is suspected.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKovVVRGKE4&feature=related

The Norman King was built in 12th Century during the reign of King Henry I. It formed part of the estate which included the Priory Church opposite and the Old Palace Lodge next door.

The Norman King before the fire on 10th August.....

....and afterwards.

There is a strong groundswell of feeling within Dunstable and a desire to raise funds to restore the building. I will record any progress here, so watch this space.

Holiday themes

Number One - The Women of the Baltic

I would like to say that I planned a series of themes to focus my photogrpahy, sadly it was really a case of looking back and realising that I had several images along similar lines.
The first is a series of images taken of the women of the Baltic, mostly but not exclusively, St Petersburg.

A woman in Nyhaven, Copenhagen collecting
empty bottles to sell.

                                                                                                      

Street sellers in Nyhaven

   In the Hermitage museum women watch over the artifacts and treasures. At one point our guide caught the sharp edge of one woman's tongue as one of the tourists sat on a windowsill. You really don't want to mess with these women,

In St Petersburg brides visit famous sites to have their photographs taken. This bride was in the park next to the Church of Spilled Blood.

Woman on the decorative metro.                                          Street seller

OK so not exactly a woman but this little girl was playing with the playing with the pigeons in the middle of St Petersburg.

This young woman looked so out of place, one can only guess at her thoughts as she gazes through the gate.

The following images were taken inside a local market. Some funny looks coming my way meant I was taking very quick, from the hip type pics.

Sunny Day on Dunstable Downs

Finally today, after what seems like ages, I have been out with my camera for a photo jaunt. I did have a mission from my husband who wanted me to photograph some radio masts for a catalogue he is producing at work. My first port of call was a radio mast in a small lane close to the Downs.




A relatively easy shot as there was a field next to the lane with easy access and I could get close enough to photograph some of the details as well as the full sized mast.









The next stop saw me trying to track down a mast I could see the top of, but could not find. I finally found it in a copse on the Downs, well hidden and very difficult to photograph due to the foliage all around. Finally managed this shot...number two in the bag.











I had my IR camera with me and decided to try a bit of an experiment. I had spent the morning so far trying not to include any of the surroundings, focusing entirely on the masts, this pic was an attempt to add a little context. It turns out that this is the star pic, without knowing it fits perfectly into something else my husband wanted a pic for.

Having got my 'commission' in the bag I turned my attention to my more usual subjects. IR, landscape and close ups.

By this time I was thirsty and rather hungry so I made my way to the very pleasant visitor centre, I will add a pic one day, for a much needed cup of coffee. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-dunstabledownscountrysidecentrewhipsnadeestate

Dunstable Downs is a very popular spot for kite flying, what I hadn't realised until today is that formation kite flying is a serious competitive sport. I spotted a small group practising, it was delightful to watch and I started to snap a few pics. Very soon a gentleman arrived, told me all about kite flying, the different types of kites for different weather conditions and suggested I get in much closer to get some better pics, he said nobody would mind, so I did. In this day and age I tend to assume people will view somebody with a camera with suspicion, it's not always the case.

A very pleasant morning, followed by an afternoon watching the Wimbledon final.

A Weekend Away

I don't usually post pics of friends, in the assumption that if I do they may not stay friends for very long. However a few weeks ago I spent an enjoyable weekend away in Suffolk, at an old mansion house. It was great fun and we enjoyed ourslves and so here are a few highlights. The pics will not win any prizes but sometimes its nice to take photographs to record an event without worrying about the technical side of things. So this post is just for fun, I hope you enjoy.

Saturday morning saw us getting all competitive on the go karts...of course the girls team won!!!

We took along our very own Grumpy Old Man to cook the BBQ...notice a male domain!!!!!! PS He is not at all grumpy!!

We tried an experiment with marshmallows cooked on the BBQ and soon discovered it didn't work, it created some rather sticky faces and I don't just mean amongst the children.

And finally a few random pics snapped during the weekend.