St Paul's

Spent a very pleasant, if chilly, time in Central London a few evenings ago. Took my tripod in, thought I'd try to capture St Pauls at night time - from across the Thames. Good location - outside Tate Modern. Made a few exposures - and attach one I liked here. I'll have to analyse this one (and the others from that evening) in more detail soon - I was varying the shutter speeds, f-stops and colour balance in order to achieve different results. That is one advantage (some may say only but thats another matter) of digital photography - tha camera automatically records the technical details of each shot, for subsequent analytical use - you dont have to write down copious notes at the time....



Here's a similar photo of St Paul's for comparison, taken from almost the same position, across the river from outside the Tate Modern - but this one was taken in daylight. Quite a difference ?

Fashion Show

Had a different but interesting Saturday last - I was asked to attend a Fashion Show and take photos of the event. I'd never been to a fashion show before, never mind photograph it.

Photographically, the lighting was was patchy on the cat walk, with the best light at either end. Given crowds milling around - punters as well as others taking photos - using a tripod was not an option. Tried using flash (an accessory on the camera hot shoe with adjustable head, not the built in rubbish) - but obtained poor results.
So had to revert to using the camera hand held.



Managed to get some pictures as the attached show. I've got plenty more, many of which may be described as "too soft". Not sure if they show the clothes off to their best advantage - presumably the purpose of the show. I guess some more experience at events such as these will improve my efforts.

lac d'Annecy

lac d'Annecy
Originally uploaded by Tawny042

Here is another photo, posted to my photostream some time ago - Oct 2005 - which has been achieving recent views (during the last week or so) in Flickr. Cant think why. I can understand another of my photos - "At Salem" - again uploaded to Flickr a while ago - getting recent hits - after all the subject matter is Halloween which is just around the corner, but a photo of boats on Lac d'Annecy ? As always, I'm sure there is a good reason. Annecy is candidate for a future Winter Olympic games perhaps ? Perhaps not, but as long as the hits keep on coming .....

3 Exhibitions and Some Footie

Busy weekend just gone - 3 photographic exhibitions to visit and a footie game to enjoy.

Visited the 1st Exhibition, "A Double Take on Photography" in the Garden Gallery within the marvellous surroundings of Osterley House, west London - to view Black & White and Infra Red photos. If you didn't make this exhibition, visit the web pages of the two exhibitors,

http://www.alanabercrombieimages.co.uk

and

http://www.phildrakephotography.co.uk

The 2nd Exhibition was the Jane Bown:Exposures 100 Portraits at the King's Place Gallery, York Way in central London and almost exclusively black & white pictures of the famous. Liked the photos from the sixties. How times changes, strange to see people allowing themselves to be photographed whilst smoking. Most of these photographs would have been taken on film, and this shows in the quality of the prints.

Exhibition #3 was London Independent Photography's 21st Annual Exhibition at the Cotton Centre in Tooley Street, again in central London, near to London Bridge, where there were both colour and black & white panels on display.

All three exhibitions are worth a visit - and even better in these recessionary times - free entry.

The weekend finished with a visit to Upton Park to see Arsenal throw away a half time 2- 0 lead and let West Ham score twice to earn a well deserved draw. Had seats in the Bobby Moore stand - behind the goal - and for once all the goals were at this end - in front of us - rather than the other end. Four goals, one penalty and a red card, an exiting match. Can't complain about that for entertainment. And even better news - THAT team from Manchester lost.

Spend a little time (probably would have been more if the activities on the pitch weren't so entertaining) watching the professional photographers in their goal line enclosure. Looks like they're all into digital cameras these days. There were 4 still cameras on small tripods placed behind the goal net during the 1st half - all on automatic exposure and wifi upload? All 4 should have had excellent views of both Arsenal goals during the 1st half. Only 1 remained in place for the second half. I wonder if they made it up the other goal? If so they missed 2 wonderful West Ham goals.

Halloween

My photo "At Salem" referred to in a previous post has had a few more hits in Flickr. Given Halloween is vast approaching I expect it will get a few more in the next few weeks. I've visited the Boston area many times over the years during Autumn (or the "Fall" as the locals call it) and so far find it my favourite part of the US especially at this time of year. You can take a chance with the weather - but while some days can be miserable, when the sun comes out it is glorious.

Anyway here are some more of my photos taken in Salem one October 31st a year or so ago. On looking at them again, I'd like return there and take some better ones.







I'm always amused at the differences between countries. Here in London, Halloween could quite easily pass you by - not exactly unnoticed but its not such a big deal. Over in the States - in Massachusetts at least - at this time of year its in your face, the stores are full of Halloween candy and costumes, the kids go trick or treating big time ....

Fouth Plinth

I see the One and Other/Fourth Plinth art project - where 2400 participants each spent an hour alone on the otherwise empty 4th plinth in Trafalgar Square - came to a close this morning. It first came to my attention back in July shortly after it began, when I was passing through the Square on my way somewhere else. The participant at the time didn't interest me - he was merely pacing up and down. What was more interesting then was the change-over - the new participant was driven up in a platform on a cherry-picker, lifted up to the plinth, change-over occurs and then the previous one driven away.

Since then I've made a point of passing through Trafalgar Square when in central London - around the time of the change over (usually on the hour) - to photograph it. And I've built up a small collection of photos, from which I'm posting a short sequence ....













From what I've seen, an eclectic mix of people on the plinth - some eccentric, some interesting, some boring, others forgettable. But Trafalgar Square will seem a little emptier to me now that the project is over. I guess the plinth will be used for something else ?

At Salem

At Salem
Originally uploaded by Tawny042

I was looking through my photostream on Flickr yesterday, only to notice that this picture - taken and posted some time ago - had registered another viewing - the first for a little while. How time flies, it is October already, Halloween is a couple of weeks away and beyond that Christmas, New Year and winter.

Looking at the picture, my caption (October 31st, Salem, Mass ...) and title ("At Salem") reminded me of several memorable vacations spent in Massachusetts at this time of year. The Fall colours are stunning and well worth visiting the area for this reason alone - and there are many other reasons.

Anyways - back to the picture - taken on Halloween in the town of Salem, of witch burning fame. Salem is just north of Boston, on the Atlantic coast.If you haven't got a car you can take a train from North Station in Boston - Salem in on the commuter line out to Rockport - on its way to Salem the train stops at Chelsea, and after that it continues to Manchester and then Gloucester - familiar names to a UK resident.

Salem seems to base its tourist industry on the fame (infamy ?) - with witch museums and so on (tacky for some) - but when I was there a year or so ago on October 31st, it seemed like a movie set with people moving around the streets dressed up in costumes and having some fun - and this was still in daylight.