Highgate Road with Lens Flare

When the light is bright and the air is clear, almost anything is photogenic. 

Well, maybe not the entrance to Archway station. Some things can't be made to look pretty.

I took this in the approved style, by holding the camera at arm's length with one hand, framing in the viewer. Came out nice.

Hampstead Heath North Side

Until the other day I had never walked on the part of Hampstead Heath that is across Spaniards Lane from the main part of the Heath. Neither are really '"heaths", more like "untended forests" with paths that can turn I've-just-got-a-load-of-mud-on-my-shoes within a couple of steps. The sky was brilliant blue, the sun was brilliant yellow, and it was b****y cold.

I have joined the band of proper grown-up camera-owners, by trading in the 35mm lens I originally bought for the hard-to-obtain 27mm pancake lens that makes the X-E4 almost a pocket camera. It's 40mm-equivalent, which gives just a slightly wider field of view than the 35mm (53mm equivalent) but does not go all fish-eye.

Cuba Street, Isle of Dogs

Cuba Street is a narrow road that runs from the old West India Pier into the Isle of Dogs. This is that view.

It did not look like that when I was using the RiverBus to get there more than thirty years ago. It was all pretty derelict. The cream building on the corner was there then, but it was an old-school pub and I think scruffier. Go to the river end of Cuba Street, and look up what is known in the trade as the Limehouse Reach, and that view has not changed for almost forty years. Which is probably why I find it so restful(!). 

Autumn in Regent's Park

No further comment needed.

Canary Wharf - Security

I think the area within the North and South Colonnades, which has the the Underground station in the middle, is patrolled by security officers and may well be owned by the Canary Wharf people, and therefore private land. I was approached by a friendly security officer, who explained that their concern was people taking photographs of entrances to buildings, security camera locations and the like. We parted with a handshake and I carried on.

He meant an entrance like this...

Outside that are I didn't see any security at all. I suspect the use of a tripod within that area requires permission from the Estate management.

Canary Wharf Towers

I went to Canary Wharf the other week. The first developer in there was a Canadian firm called Olympia and York. In Canada, it's so darn cold and the snow is so darn deep that the shopping centres of many larger towns are actually built underground. Not all of them, but certainly Toronto, where O&Y came from. The O&Y buildings have their shops below ground, and may other developers have followed this lead of doing nothing at street level. 

Another way of saying this is that there is no "street" at street level in Canary Wharf. "Street" should mean shops, cafes, restaurants, cars, taxis, buses, signs, lights, fly-posted adverts, and so on. At ground level. Flats, offices and light industrial ateliers from the first floor up. There are a few coffee and food trucks and some buses, but that's about it. 

The City of London is an industrial estate, but it has a variety of architectural styles and various eateries and drinkeries at street level - while Cheapside and Princes Street / Moorgate have actual recognisable retail outlets. But Canary Wharf is just a collection of high towers with some "architectural" gimmicks that only ever looked decorative in the architect's sketches. Metal-and-glass is metal-and-glass no matter how you angle it - it does not have the texture of stone or brick.

The Looming Walkie-Talkie, Fenchurch Street

 

It looks like some weird Photoshopping, but it is what the camera sees. It looks just like that.

30 Fenchurch Street

 

Does what it says on the tin.

60 Great Tower Street

They were the only two who came into the office that Friday.

 

The One With Reflections In The Window

 

I like a good reflection shot. The original has some awkward perspective issues, so I dug out DxO Perspective and corrected it. 

The One With The Girl Standing In A Doorway

 

Yet another staple of street photography. Nice scarf.

Portland Hardware

Yet another one of my dead-pan photographs. What's notable about this is the amount of detail inside the store by tweaking various shadow / brightness / contrast variables. The original does not look that clear.

The Many-Coloured Railings Picture

I got through the I-have-to-sit-in-the-chair-to-sleep bit after a couple of nights, but since have just not been feeling like rushing out of the front door. "Weak as a kitten" about does it.

The Steps With A Turn Picture (Maryon Park)

Time to play catch-up again. I came down with a god-awful cold at the end of August, and have been recovering ever since.

Another Bench, Another Tree-Shaded Path (Abbey Wood)

Abbey Wood is at one end of the Elizabeth Line, and is next to the very little remains of Lesnes Abbey. The Wood is reached by going upstairs from the platform, crossing the road, turning right and taking a left turn into a small park. Walk along the bottom edge, down the narrow path, and you’ll see the Lesnes Abbey bit. The wood is all the green stuff behind it.

The Geometrical Kit In The Playground Picture

This was taken around midday. In the school holidays. The park was empty. Sensible people were wandering round air-conditioned shopping malls. Or in air-conditioned cinemas.

The Path Leading Into the Distance Picture (Maryon Wilson Park)

It’s still hot. I went out to the Big Smoke yesterday and even though the temperatures were 10F lower than last week, I was still beat by about 15:00 and had to retreat to a shower at home.

The Empty Park Seat Picture (Maryon Wilson Park)

It’s been hot, and I can’t take the heat like I used to be able to. I’m not so sure that 80+F temperatures were even a thing when I was a young lad. I was in no fit state to move the day after this trip.

Empty park seats are one of those subjects that photographers are drawn to: Geoff Dyer has a chapter on it in his book on photography The Ongoing Moment. So that’s all right then.

London From Shooters Hill

 The Met Office changed its mind about Tuesday being sunny and decided Monday was going to be, so at the last moment Sis and I set out for Falconwood and points towards Greenwich. We found ourselves at the top of Shooters Hill - a high point on the old A2 - and saw this view over London. I may go back with a telephoto lens, but until then, cropping will have to do. Open up the original and zoom in on it. There aren’t many places where the whole length of the town, from Canary Wharf to Westminster appears in one panorama.

Cafeteria

 

Charing Cross Road. Do not ask the price of egg and chips and a cappucino. It's not 2015 anymore.