Posts Tagged ‘london’
Despite appearances, it’s cold out there
Fuji X100S, 1/4, f/2.8, ISO 3200
Above all the political analyses, the eulogies and the ‘ding dongs’, a plain but potent statement by the Bishop of London at the funeral ceremony spoke the loudest to me: ‘Lying here, she is one of us, subject to the common destiny of all human beings.’ It is a timely reminder that even the great cannot escape. RAF airmen line the procession route A Royal Marine band plays funeral marches as they lead the procession An RAF officer salutes as the gun carriage bearing Lady Thatcher’s coffin, drawn by the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery passes by Onlookers both young…
aka ‘Everything looks better in B&W’, born of a running gag between me and a photographer friend when we went to see the Genesis world premiere at the Natural History Museum. I had a free guest pass sitting in my wallet from years ago. Ten years ago maybe. It had gone flimsy and was frayed at the edges, looking like the piece of antique that it was. The staff at the exhibition counter refused it, explaining that he couldn’t take it for that would be like ‘accepting a fake ticket’. He advised me to try exchanging it for an exhibition…
As far as museum exhibits go, the Grant Museum‘s new(ish) Micrarium has taken the top place of honour on my list. It’s a wickedly wonderful place for the ‘tiny things’ that are my favourite things: the invertebrates that constitute an approximate 95% of all animal species. You won’t get that feeling if you walk into most, if not all, natural history museums. Vertebrates, especially large, charismatic, or extinct species, are grossly over-represented. Galleries of imposing dino skeletons, taxidermied mammals, birds with their wings of glory outstretched, life-sized models of Komodo dragons – that’s how to best inspire awe… right? The…
Had about an hour in the Camden Markets. Like the X100, the X100S’ leaf shutter is deaf silent, allowing me to get shots like these without my hapless subjects noticing. Unless I approach them from the front – only if they look friendly! I wasn’t quick enough with this one. Robotman here loves rushing towards cameras and I couldn’t step back in time to get an uncropped frame. Today saw the passing of Lady Thatcher and this bric-a-brac shop was quick to catch on with the ‘Iron Baby’ and her preferred read. They were none the wiser.
World Pillow Fight Day (whoever comes up with these things?) at Trafalgar Square. Silly good fun. Lovely weather. Difficult to believe that it was snowing just two days ago. My camera got bashed by an errant pillow while I was shooting, which made the screen hit hard against the bridge of my nose; for a while I was afraid that a nosebleed was forthcoming but the feathers I was breathing in probably saved the day! (There’s some colour inconsistency among the photos since I was shooting with two different cameras.)