Saturday at Spitalfields

Last Saturday I attended a street photography workshop at Photography Course London. The practical part of the day took place at Spitalfields, one of the places to be in London on a Saturday. We were asked to pick a theme and I started off with couples

I began quite well taking a wide view of what might constitute a couple - could be either friends, lovers or friends of the four legged variety.

Then I got kind of distracted by things or people I just found interesting

not normally a huge fan of back an white but this lady came already colour co-ordinated making it a no brainer!

I was also hugely attracted by people who were dressed slightly unusually or doing something out of the ordinary and really couldn't resist these fabulous ladies

or these guys

But back to the challenge, couples! A bit later I saw some different couples some of whose members were canine, like this pampered pooch here who travelled her own cushion.

But this was my absolute favourite couple

That's all folks, join me back in Italy next time!

Post Card from Chelsea - Two

Together with the show gardens the big draw was the Great Pavilion. Photography was, if anything, more difficult in here; not least because of the crowds who, like ourselves, had rushed in to avoid the rain. The pavilion is full of amazing displays of plants of all colours shapes and sizes. I particularly loved these aliums both on their own and with amazing displays of Amarylis (?)

Looking up was amazing

Not all the exhibits were natural however, with a ceramic tulip installation by Paul Cummins who was responsible for the poppies at the Tower of London last year (see previous post) His new collection Tulipmania references the rise of popularity of tulips in 17c Holland where they became a national obsession. The tulips are available for purchase on Paul's website

Also impressive was the large stand of carnivorous plants - especially to someone such as myself who went to see the Little Shop of Horrors only a couple of weeks ago. ( I now just call them all Audrey!) Here is a selection for your delectation.

I really think this lot are talking to each other!

Signing off with this image of some of our fellow flower show attendees - I think we may have been underdressed!

We're going to the Zoo - Butterfly House

“Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.”

— Nathaniel Hawthorne

Last Sunday I visited London Zoo, I hadn't been for a while, around 18 years in fact, when we took our son. The zoo has changed a lot over the years and I shall say more about that in a future post. For now I will just say that the reason I was at the zoo was because the visit was part of a two day travel photography course that was a birthday present from my husband.

The post gives you a quick look into the 'Butterfly Paradise' exhibition.

This photo was taken with my 55-250cm zoom lens but I soon changed to my 50mm prime lens having left my macro at home. Most of the other shots were taken at f1.8 for those who are interested in the technical details.

There were lots of brightly coloured platforms to attract the butterflies,

but I thought they looked best on a more natural background.

and this was one of my favourites, which is yours?

See you back here soon!

Putting on the Ritz

One of the gifts we were given for our 40th wedding anniversary back in October was a voucher for 'Tea at the Ritz', an eagerly anticipated treat. I thought I would book for sometime in February as this would serve as a lovely treat at the point we were getting fed up with winter weather. So in January I rang up to book and discovered that the first available Saturday (if you wanted to have tea roughly at tea time rather than 11:30 in the morning) was August! At this point we regrouped and agreed the thing to do would be to take a day off work and managed to book for the end of April a couple of days after my birthday for the 5:30 sitting - we were on!

Before going for tea we took in the David Bailey Stardust Exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, which I shall be writing about in a future post, Then we took the tube to Piccadilly Circus and walked along Piccadilly towards the Ritz Hotel.

We passed the Royal Academy at Burlington House, popping into the courtyard to view the fountains, then it was on to the Burlington Arcade which comes equipped with doormen

The Burlington Arcade is home to one of my favourite shops Laduree, home of the perfect macaroon. We first discovered them on holiday in Paris and we thrilled when a shop opened in London, they are an expensive and rare treat however! (and yes we did buy some)

How to choose? (salted caramel is my favourites)

Of course I couldn't resist a little street photography

This lot were trying to figure out where to go

Then we had arrived! The decor was pretty plush as you might expect, rather reminiscent of the Palace of Sans Souci in Berlin

The tea, which started with a glass of champagne, was as you might expect, delicious and there was plenty of it.

The service was, of course, excellent

and we had a wonderful time

Texture Time

Extreme weather seems to be the norm almost all over the world this year. Here in the South of England our problem is constant rain and gales, causing flooding both on the coast and inland. Many people have been flooded out for weeks, and major rail and road networks have been disrupted. I am lucky in that I have not been seriously affected by the flooding, but I am oh so sick of the constant wind and rain.

One of the effects of the weather is that it has been very difficult to get out and take photographs, so I have fallen back to playing with the ones I've already got, in photoshop.

With the help of some textures from 2-lil-Owls this box of flowers was transferred into this

And by adding textures and a filter the national gallery takes on a painterly look

Which do you like best? before or after?

Because of the weather I've spent more time painting and less time taking photos, but I am really enjoying taking photos of my art work and digitally enhancing them by adding texture, effects, or combining them with other pictures.

This version just has the usual Lightroom enhancements

This has had textures added and been combined with another photos

and this one has had a severe crop! which is your favourite?

This is one I finished painting today and have been playing with ever since!

The original with Lightroom adjustments

with a combination of bought and home made textures

Using different blending modes and a filter - this is my favourite, which is yours?

Finally one of the few pictures I managed to take this week!

The original and one with added texture and a Valentine's message from me to you!

Photo Heart Connection January

This month for the first time I am joining in with Kat Sloma's Photo Heart Conection. The idea is to 'Deepen the connection between your photos and your heart and soul by participating in this monthly review of your images, to find the one that best connects to your heart.' after much thought I choose this image of someone I saw on the tube in London.

I got on the train at the terminal ( where it is not underground) and noticed this man sitting in the corner opposite me - I thought he had the most amazing face somehow full of humour and wisdom. I reminded myself that my word of the year is courage and asked him if I could take a picture - he agreed and though you can't really see it ( I had my 50m fixed lens on) made a kind of Jazz hands gesture. In that moment I felt a real connection with this stranger here on the London Underground where our our paths intersected for a brief, (he got out at the next station), moment.

Exploring With My 50mm Lens

This week most of my photography times has been spent on class assignments for Kim Manley Ort's 50mm class. I was particularly excited by this weeks themes of street photograph and portraits. The former though is especially challenging with a 50mm lens as you really have to get up close to people, whereas normally I zoom in on people with my 55- 250 lens. In order to resist temptation I put this firmly in my camera case and left it at home.

The first part of the weeks assignment was around street photography. This was a bit of a challenge as I had a very busy week at work and not much time to take a break. On Tuesday however I had half an hour between meetings and rushed into town for 10 minutes intensive photography.

The first challenge was to get some interesting shots with in the time frame I had. The short time meant I couldn't go right down the High St where there were likely to be more people but had to stay at the top of town which is more sparsely populated. This caused another problem in that it was difficult for me and my camera to blend in to the crowd and it was pretty obvious that I was taking pictures of people. my first attempt at overcoming my discomfort was shooting through a shop window, in this case a nail bar / beauty salon.

Then I tried shooting from the other side of the street - what I most love about this image is the pipe, you don't often see them nowadays and it reminds me of my grandfather who was a great pipe smoker.

Finally from a bit of a distance away which meant I had to crop a fair bit, and even then I think if those two had been at all awake they would have noticed me!

That was it, time was up and I had to head back to my meeting!

My next opportunity came on Friday when I headed off to London - I had a bit of spare time so I headed down to the South Bank near waterloo Station to see what I could find.

I started off with a cafe shot

Then I found theses kids in the skate park, they seem to be practicing for some kind of show and were being filmed.

The next picture is a bit of a crossover between street and portrait - this guy was sitting opposite me on the tube I thought he had the most amazing and happy face so I asked if I could take his picture - happily he said yes!

Next was the portrait assignment and I was wondering how to find model in the short time I had available to me. I was beginning to think I would need to fall back on my husband which would have been OK but not ideal. Then I had a brainwave! I have my hair cut by the daughter of a close friend who has a hairdressing salon at a small department store. Her daughter who is a singer / songwriter often helps our when she hasn't any other work on, so if she was there maybe she would model for me.

She was there and agreed so once my foils were on we repaired to a stairwell at the back of the shop where there was natural light and not a lot of people. As well as having a fabulous face she has a lot of fascinating tattoos and I couldn't resist taking some closeups

Her eyes are also particularly dramatic

but my overall favourite is this one which shows off her lovely smile

Deck the Halls

“Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly”

— Anon

I love Christmas decorations especially lights, so it was a treat to go up to London last week and have the opportunity to see some of the street illuminations and store displays.

I arrived at Waterloo Station and looking down on the concourse from the new shopping level I was struck how Lowryesque the scene was and couldn't resist adding a filter to emphasise this look

Then it was off to Oxford Circus for some Christmas shopping, I was particularly struck by these robins in Carnaby Street

Where this shop looked a veritable Aladdin's cave

Then it was on to Liberty's which has been my all time favourite shop since I was a child - you may still be able to catch the documentary that's just been shown about it.

This year their decoration theme was the successful family musical 'Matilda' although I have to say I couldn't always see the connection!

The windows were a bit less glittery than last year with fewer rich colours than usual but the decorations inside were fun.

Then out into Regent Street where it was getting dark by now - difficult to get a good capture without getting mown down by a passing bus!

Having said that I love the lights reflected in the bus windows

Fun though these are they are not the most important decorations in my life, those are on our own tree and have been built up over the years. Some decorations remind me of a particular year, place or event like these pewter mits that I bought while visiting relatives in Norway about 15 years ago.

This nativity in a seed head was given to us by my Austrian Exchange visit friend - we are still in touch after nearly 50 years!

I will be signing off now until after the festivities but very much hope you will

Barbara x

South Bank Saturday

Last Saturday found us on London's South Bank. We were up to go to the theatre, twice! Once at the Young Vic and once at the National, great performances but maybe something for another post.

We arrived in time to have a wander round and for me to practice my newly found street photography skills.

To give a bit of context for those of you who haven't visited, London's South Bank is a huge arts centre with the National Theatre, Royal Festival Hall, Hayward Gallery, British Film Institute and more huddled together next to Waterloo Bridge. The first buildings including the Festival Hall were erected to celebrate the Festival of Britain in 1951 which was supposed to cheer everyone up in the face of ongoing post-war rationing and shortages. Researching the Festival of Britain I came across this mini documentary that was just delightful and I would urge to to give it a try. It's interesting to compare the visitors then and now!

This is an edited version of the 1952 film in which Sir Hugh Casson and Patrick O'Donovan look back to the Festival of Britain on London's South Bank. We have cut descriptions of the architecture and how it would help design Britain's new towns.

Looking out over the river from the South Bank you get a wonderful view of St Paul's

There are always lots of people at the South Bank on weekends

people chilling, eating, out with their dogs.

Even more than usual because of the Christmas Market

I have a soft spot for anyone with pink hair for obvious reasons!

People are dressed in a variety of styles, there are families

and couples.

And around the back of the Festival Hall away from the river, a 'Real Food' market

Something for everyone on the South Bank on a Saturday afternoon!

Street Photography the Hows, Whys and Wherefores?

Last Thursday I went on a street photography workshop run by Photography Course London - it was fab. The day started with a review of the history of street photography and some tips on staying safe and legal - then we were out on the street!

Luke the tutor gave us lots of hints and tips and succeeded in making me see things / people / places in a different way. In particular, I began to notice things I just wouldn't have noticed before, like people's faces lighting up as they entered little patches of sunlight.

This guy was beautifully framed by the shadow

We also looked at the possibility of developing series of images - I saw an awful lot of people with mobiles!

Another possible theme was people through steamy windows - I took a few, this was one of my favourites

And this one with the legs - had a bit of a play in Photoshop here too

Some pictures have more of a story than others

and I wonder where people's journeys will take them?

In amongst taking all the photographs I have been pondering the ethical issues of street photography. Should you ask permission? I have sometimes, but the downside can be that subjects may start to pose rather than look natural. Most of the photos I took on Thursday were of subjects walking towards me. Sometimes they were aware I was taking their picture, sometimes not, it certainly didn't seem appropriate to stop them in their tracks and ask them if they minded. Maybe intention is a key issue? Is there any intention to exploit in any way? absolutely not! The final question I asked myself was would I mind if someone took photos of me and put them on their blog? I really don't think I would unless the photos seemed disrespectful in some way , which I hope none of mine are. Anyway I'm going for it!

Introducing Week of Sparkles

“The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.”

— Henry Miller

Today I'm trying out what I hope will become a regular feature on my blog 'Week of Sparkles', where I share with you some of my sparking moments of the week and would love it if you would share some of yours in the comments section. Anyway, here goes!

Film

I have been watching an amazing documentary about British photojournalist Don McCullin. It has been hard to watch as he has documented some terrible atrocities, but what gives the sparkle is the way in which his soul and his integrity shine through the horror he is capturing and the fact that someone has had the courage to record what has happened gives hope to the world in the long term.

“I don’t just take photographs, I think”

— Don McCullin

I saw this on the BBC as part of the Imagine series, so it is probably available on iPlayer, otherwise you can get it from Amazon.

McCullin [DVD]

Starring Don McCullin

Discovery

Stuff about the demise of google reader had been all over the net this week with various people suggesting replacement programmes. I didn't use google reader and to be honest I wasn't sure (and still don't know) exactly what it did. I have never been really good about keeping up with other people's blogs and always felt vaguely guilty about it, mostly reading the few that were delivered into my in box. So I decided to give Bloglovin' a try and I'm really lovin' it! It works brilliantly. especially when using the app on my phone or iPad, and makes it quick and easy to keep up with everyone's blogs. You can find it here or by clicking on the Bloglovin' button on the sidebar of this page.

Books

As always I have more than one book on the go, but this weeks sparkle winner is 'Life is a Verb' by Patty Digh. I love the way she interweaves the stories of her life with her quest to live 'each individual, glorious day with more intention', though I have to admit I haven't been doing the exercises, something to go back to perhaps?

Life Is a Verb: 37 Days to Wake Up, Be Mindful, and Live Intentionally

By Patti Digh

Photography

Limited opportunities here this week but I did go to London for an appointment and afterwards got my camera out on the walk between Oxford Circus tube station (having learned that getting the camera out of its bag helps immeasurably with the process of taking pictures!) and one of my favourite clothes shops. These are my favourites of the pictures I took.

I really wanted to see this couple sitting at this cafe!

I loved the fabric on this bag that someone was carrying!

I was intrigued watching this guy prepare the mixture for the bubble pipes outside a Moroccan cafe ( you can catch a glimpse at the right hand side of the bike photo) - I'm sure there is a whole terminology surrounding this, but I have no idea what it is.

I love reading the blue and in this case green plaques on the London buildings. I especially love the idea of a 'Man of Science' even though I have no clue as to who he was. I was getting my husband to proof read this and he was horrified by my ignorance as his college science society was named after him as an alumnus.

I thought this new cafe looked really cool with its iPad on every table and a lovely condiment tray.

These were some of my sparking moments of the week - I would love to hear about yours

A Different Kind of Workshop

On Saturday I went on a photography course in London - it was different. the first difference was that it was focussing on using a particular piece of equipment , my new flash gun, the second was that we were working with a live model. This was something completely new for me and something I didn't feel entirely comfortable with, having strong views about young people, body image and size 0. Our model Mina was, of course delightful, but I still found the process strange and challenging.

After some basic instruction about our flashguns we set our iso to 100 and began to experiment with different shutter speeds and aperture as well as modifying the strength of the flash. It was interesting to notice what effect all of these settings had on the depth of shadows around the model.

Next up was our introduction to 'ghosting' a technique where you combine the use of your flash gun with a slow shutter speed. In general I found directing the model odd and difficult and initially I was unsure about what to ask her to do during these shots.

Off to the great outdoors next - or as good as it gets in this corner of north east London on the first sunny saturday in April. I was amazed at the number of people picnicking and barbecuing on a relatively small green space. We were there to practice using our flash guns for backfill however so limited opportunities for sun worshiping!

Finally as we were on our way back to the studio to finish up, one of the other participants was experimenting with releasing the shutter at the same time as zooming in on the subject - this was my attempt, it was really hard to get the timing right, but a look to play with maybe?

What next? practice, practice, practice!

Stop Press - Amazing Discovery!

Stop Press - amazing discovery! In order to take pictures you have to get your camera out of your bag!

I was in London yesterday. I had an appointment in the morning then planned to have lunch and go for a photo walk. But you know what, it was pouring with rain, not a hundred percent of the time, but kind of 15 minutes wet, 10 minutes dry - you know the kind of thing.

After lunch it was dry so I wandered aimlessly around the shopping center near the Olympic Park looking for inspiration. (This is not where I had planned to go but had the merit of being mostly under cover). I have taken pictures here on several occasions and the shine had rather gone off. I really couldn’t see anything worth getting my camera out of the bag for.

Then I spotted some Rosemary bushes in pots outside Jamie’s Italian, not terribly exciting but the most interested thing I’d noticed. I got out the camera and took a few shots and leaving the camera round my neck wandered on. It was as if the sun had come out (it hadn’t) suddenly I was aware of all sorts of interesting things to capture.

I was drawn to the window displays

The lovers

The bike racks

And, in particular, to this little boy chasing a red balloon

I honestly don’t think I would have noticed any of this if my camera had still been in my bag. The act of taking it out seems to have been the catalyst for really opening my eyes to what was around me.

Photography on the Hoof! or Making the Most of your Opportunities

On Tuesday I had to go to London for a meeting. The person I was meeting suggested we meet in the members area at the Royal Festival Hall which was very convenient as it is only a five minute walk form the mainline station and doesn't involve getting on a tube. I debated about taking my camera as I knew I wouldn't have much time to take photographs, but in the end decided to take it anyway - this turned out to be a good decision.

I was a little early for the meeting so took these photos on my way in to the RFH, I just loved how the colour of the pansies brightened up a grey January day!

I arrived on the 6th floor via the singing glass lift - which I wasn't expecting and rather freaked me out as it not only sang but went very fast.

This next picture was taken in the members area on the 6th floor of the RFH. Obviously lots of people choose to have business or other meetings there, or just go there and work with their laptops.

The views are absolutely stunning both over the river and over Westminster - I took the first of these photos through the window on the 6th floor, and the second from the balcony one floor down

My final picture is of Hungerford Bridge, the rail bridge between Waterloo and Charing Cross stations - if you look carefully you can see the white roof of a train going across. I love the juxtaposition of the trees and the bridge struts in this picture, they seem to come together to form a forest

taking these picture probably took about 15 minutes and in no time and all I was back on the train heading for home.

Lightroom and Christmas Street Decorations

If you aren't interested in my adventures in Lightroom, page down to get to the Christmassy Pictures!

I have this week at last begun to get to grips with Lightroom. I got it back in the summer prior to signing up to Kim Klassen's Round Trip course - then the problems began. I had started to use it just for organising my photos and had imported my Photoshop Elements catalogue. Then I realised my hard disk was amongst completely full and that I need to find a solution quickly. Panic! delete a few photos and realise this isn't going to cut it. Next step was to buy an external hard drive and then panic again about transferring the photos without them becoming disconnected from the Photoshop and light room catalogues, or worse still losing the lot!

After extensive research we found out that you needed to transfer the files from inside the programme so I had to choose which to keep connected. In the end I choose Elements as I was more familiar with the programme and felt altogether more comfortable with it. So we spent a day transferring the photos in batches and to my great relief it all worked - I had space on my hard disk and at least I could still use elements!

Next to tackle Lightroom - in theory this wasn't too difficult; delete every thing in the catalogue and then re-import the photos from the Elements catalogue - it took several days before I managed to make myself bite the bullet in case it all went horribly wrong! Then success, I was able to start using lightroom and start on the Round Trip course which I had bought extended access to my this time!

The photos I am sharing today have layouts done with the Lightroom print module - my first attempt and very much a work in progress Enjoy!

These two are taken at the iconic Conran shop in Chelsea. I loved how they decorated their windows and the the pink delivery bike was awesome.

The Chelsea Conran shop is in an old Art Decco building that used to be a Michelin garage and is absolutely stunning!

I love Christmas decorations and the pictures above were taken in St Christopher's Place just behind Oxford Street, I think all the silver balls and reflections are just wonderful!

This final set of photos are window displays from shops in the streets just off Oxford St and Regent St. I adore the rich lush colours and textures

A Sense of Place

No sooner back from Call of the Wild Soul than I was off on another workshop, this time in London, with the wonderful Kat Sloma. You can find out more about Kat here.

This workshop ‘A sense of place’ based on Kats successful e-course took place in Hampstead for the classroom session, followed by a photo safari in the Spitalfields / Brick Lane area of East London. The course also took place on my 39th wedding anniversary but I was given dispensation by my husband on the basis that I let him go to a Grateful Dead concert on our anniversary in 1981 (I didn’t like the Dead at the time I do rather now!)

Having introduced ourselves it turned out to be a small world. I already had a connection with Justine through a photography based Facebook group I belong to, and it transpired that Kat and Fiona had met some of my fellow Wild Souls at an art retreat in Yorkshire last year where Flora Bowley was also teaching. It was also great to meet the other group members Alyssa & Becs.

The morning was spent looking through the workbook and thinking about what a sense of place means to us individually. The time raced by and after lunch it we headed over to the East End for the photo safari.

I have made a couple of trips to the Spitalfields / Brick lane area recently (here is a really good art supply warehouse there) and taken quite a few photos. There is always something different to see, however, and I had previously only been on a weekday when it’s rather quiet with no food stalls or pop up markets. Also it was really interesting to notice what my companions noticed / were attracted to that I wasn’t and vice versa. All the picture in the post were taken on that Saturday I haven’t included any that were taken on my previous visits.

The first thing that caught my eye was this old fashioned looking that seemed to be in its own private time zone

Next I was attracted to this window with its colourful lamps

Then we were into the main drag of Brick Lane itself full of sounds smells and colour. I wished we hadn't just had lunch, the food looked and smelled wonderful!

Some of the restaurants had very interesting decor!

Another feature of the lane was the fascinating graffiti which was everywhere - I rather liked this one which was more of a collage - is that Patrick Moore in the centre?

I also really liked this sign in a book shop window

Finally as we were heading back I was struck with the wonderful colours of this display of shoes

the whole day was fab - many thanks to Kat and my fellow photographers

September on the Blog

Hello

Welcome to September on the blog. The news is that I am suspending the Friday Five for the month. This is because I will be in France without much in the way of internet access for two of the Fridays and at my first art retreat on the 4th Friday - so excited about this - find out more here. I will be attempting to post via my iPhone while I am away but haven’t tried it out yet - so watch this space!

In the meantime enjoy this quote from Henry Ford inscribed on a colourful flight of steps on the Southbank.

Saturday on the SouthBank - Episode One

New course on blogging started today 'reflection of you behind the scenes' I wonder how I will be blogging differnetly by the end of it? Inspired by my look at Xanthe Berkley's blog I am making this entry more of a photo journal so stand by for lots of pictures!

We arrived at Borough High Street around 11.30 for an early lunch and look round the market before going on to a matinee at the National Theatre.

Walking from the car park to the market we passed the Chooclate Factory - now an arts venue