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Sunset over Paddington Rec, Maida Vale

December 9, 2010 Leave a comment

Categories: London and the UK, Photography Tags: , , , , , ,

Photos from Bruges, Ghent and Brussels

December 3, 2010 2 comments

Last weekend we took a short city-break to get away from London for a bit and managed to find somewhere even colder to go in late November: Belgium. We spent a positively brassic 3 days and 4 nights in Bruges, Ghent and Brussels. I must say that due to the weather I never really felt like I got into my photographic groove – when it wasn't (below) freezing and overcast with dull winter half-light, it was heaving down with snow or gale-force winds. But I managed to get a few shots anyway, and a couple of them turned out to be decent. 

Bruges
Ahh, Bruges, the chocolate-box, over-touristed town of a thousand clichés and contradictions, at once beautiful and twee, mentioned in breathy tones by most people of a certain age until they actually go and remember that every other shop either sells chocolate or lace, and that the 300-beer tavern you remember from that backpacking trip when you were 20 is still, well, full of 20 year old backpackers with braying, twangy voices, comparing the chocolate and lace they have only just then purchased. Oof. Still, we drank well and ate very well, we managed to crack off a few shots and I even managed a panorama on the 2nd night before the weather set in and I was forced to abandon the night's shooting due to a sudden blizzard. I revisited some shots I'd first taken as far back as 1994, but with an added digital element this time round. 

I was happy to get the following panoramic shot of the classic Bruges canal / belfry shot. This was achieved by shooting 4 vertically-oriented shots using my Canon 17-40mm F4L at around 35mm and then stitching them together with Photoshop when I got home. The result is almost pin sharp, and I have a feeling this one may end up on my wall…

Eventually the ever-increasing hordes of tourists combined with a Belgian-beer-inspired hangover drove us out of Bruges and we fled east to Ghent through the snow-shrouded Flemish landscape…

Ghent
After the madness of Bruges the calm streets and canals of Ghent seemed almost deserted in comparison. But we really liked this slower pace and felt that it was a more "authentic" place, whatever that means. 

In Ghent we came across an alleyway almost entirely given over to graffiti: tagging mostly but a bit of street art in the mix. 

Brussels
For the final night we repaired to Brussels so we could be in place for the Monday morning Eurostar. We had fun in the Christmas Market in Place St Katherine, including going up on the massive Ferris wheel….

All in all a fun little weekend outing. 
Categories: Europe, Photography, Travel Photography Tags: , , , , , ,

A somewhat motley collection of London photos from the past few weeks

November 16, 2010 Leave a comment

Sometimes I get too caught up in the day job and I forget that I don't have to go abroad to use my camera. I have a lot of London shots in my archives and so sometimes it can feel like I am treading over old ground, but then again I am always a slightly different photographer in a slightly different mood with that little bit more experience, or less patience, or more inclination to shoot people today rather than landscape…

More to come, at some point.

In the meantime we have booked a nice little long weekend in Bruges, Ghent, and Brussels, and as it's my fourth time to Bruges I know I will be coming back having done some serious shooting. Must remember to pack the tripod, Bruges all lit up at night is fantastic, especially if you luck into a calm windless night and the canal water is still. Can't wait. 
Categories: London and the UK, Photography Tags: , , , ,

New York City in photos – Sept/Oct 2010

October 13, 2010 Leave a comment

After a relaxing few days in Cape Cod, we headed down to New York City, staying 3 nights in Manhattan and 2 nights in Brooklyn with my sister. As it was my girlfriend’s first trip to NYC, we did a whole lot of walking (and a fair bit of eating and drinking, too) – and it was a good excuse to do a couple of touristy things I had never gotten around to doing, such as go up the Top of the Rock. 

Below is a selection of some of my favourite shots from around Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. Yes, some of these are cheesy, but they’re mine and I like ’em. 

I also managed to do a few decent-quality panorama shots while out and about, even getting one off the Staten Island Ferry that I wasn’t sure was going to turn out.

Bizarrely, after all of that intensive photo-taking – I came back with 1200+ shots from NYC alone – it was only on the very last day, in the last few minutes of free time, that I might have gotten the shots of the trip. As we were returning to my sister’s apartment in Brooklyn in a mad dash to collect bags and head to the airport, that we noticed this intense sunset over in the direction of Manhattan. I couldn’t resist and grabbed my camera bag, running up to the roof. I knew the car was waiting so didn’t have time to unpack the tripod, but I still managed to grab some fairly sharp frames of this extraordinary skyline. I have done a little cropping and some minor saturation adjustment, but this is pretty much as we saw it. A special moment for sure. 

These and more shots can be found in my New York City 2010 set on Flickr. 
Categories: North America, Photography, Travel Photography Tags: , , , , , ,

Photos from Cape Cod

October 8, 2010 Leave a comment

In the first instalment of photos from our recent trip to America, I will share some shots I took both around Cape Cod and in the ocean immediately north of the Cape, where we were very privileged to go whale watching. 

Cape Cod – Chatham, the National Seashore and Provincetown

Whale Watching with the Dolphin Fleet in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary
As I mentioned, we were extremely privileged to be able to go on a whale watching boat, not only spotting 12 individual humpback whales, but feeling very lucky to see several whales breaching (leaping out of the water). Seeing bus-sized animals leaping out of the water is not something that one will soon forget…

There are more shots to be found in the Cape Cod 2010 Photoset on Flickr.

Still to come: the post-edit of my New York City shots. And I have some serious work to do….
Categories: North America, Photography, Travel Photography Tags: , , , ,

My Photos of Bestival 2010

September 16, 2010 Leave a comment

Last weekend I and 50,000 or so other people boarded ferries, hovercraft or other conveyances and set sail for the Isle of Wight, wherein Rob Da Bank's eclectic music-nerd-fest Bestival was in full swing despite reports of possible unsettled weather on the way. This did not deter me nor the other punters, who bravely incorporated wellies into their obligatory fancy dress costumes and sallied forth. Speaking for myself it was a grand time – although I didn't see that many "checklist" bands, the sheer quality of music that pervaded every nook and cranny (and Drambuie bar) of the Bestival site meant that it was one continuous potpourri of fantastic music all weekend. 

But never mind all that, here are some shots I took over the 3 days…

Categories: Festivals and Concerts, London and the UK, Photography Tags: , , ,

My Carnival photo awarded Gadling.com “Photo of the day (9.2.10)”

September 3, 2010 Leave a comment

I was happy to see one of my photos from the recent Notting Hill Carnival featured on Gadling.com’s “Picture of the Day“.

Photo of the day (9.2.10)

by Meg Nesterov (RSS feed) on Sep 2nd 2010 at 5:00PM

 

Each year around American Labor Day, the elaborate costumes and street partying associated with pre-Lenten Mardi Gras or Carnival celebrations are taken outside in several cities too cold to parade in February. Brooklyn’s West Indian Day Parade is one of the largest in the world, drawing several million spectators, with a population of local West Indian residents to rival that of the Caribbean. This photo by Flickr user Luke Robinson taken at West London’s Notting Hill Carnival in England (the largest street festival in Europe) captures a father and son who look like they’ve enjoyed the revelry but might be ready to call it a day. With 20 miles of parading, music, and food to cover, it’s no wonder the little boy looks a bit tuckered out. I just hope that’s not a vuvuzela he’s carrying. Other Caribbean Carnival events take place throughout the US, Canada, and UK this fall.

Take any great festival photos? Upload them to our Flickr pool and we just might choose one for another Photo of the Day.

 

Filed under: Festivals and Events, Photos, Europe, United Kingdom, Photo of the Day, Caribbean

via gadling.com

 

Categories: Festivals and Concerts, London and the UK, Photography Tags: , , ,

Notting Hill Carnival 2010 in Pictures

September 1, 2010 Leave a comment

This year we once again walked down from our homes in West London and converged upon the riot of colour, sound, taste, and smells (mainly jerk chicken and spliff) of the Notting Hill Carnival. I love Carnival for the experience and the shooting, and I have learned over the years how best to approach it so as to avoid hassle – basically, I stay around the edge of the route and don’t go into big crowds if I can help it. 

Day 1: Sunday August 29th (Children’s Day)
We approached Carnival on Sunday with a mixture of excitement (at the return of Carnival) and trepidation (at the gloomy weather). The weather was mostly cooperative, except for a quite fierce shower that hit in early afternoon. But overall it was not as cold as we had expected and we even managed to get a bit of sunshine here and there. We managed to get into Good Times in the afternoon only by running the extremely-crowded gauntlet of Sancho Panza. Not sure I need to do that again!

Day 2: Monday August 30th (Main Day)
Today there were just two of us walking down from Maida Vale, slightly dazed from a post-Carnival pub session the night before, and we were after a low-key, chilled Carnival experience that was highly dependent on zero hassle. So we basically stayed on the canal edge up by the Trellick Tower and drifted around. But what a day! The sunshine was out in full force and it actually felt like summer. This meant that all the dancers and all of the crowd up this way had giant smiles plastered all over their painted faces, and the Vibe was Good. We hung out by the parade route for some time as the Burrokeet crew stalled out in front of us, and I took the opportunity to get a few closeups of the mas dancers and the crowd. The Burrokeet MC also donated some free beer to us, which I thought was kind. 

As always there are more pictures over at Flickr in my Notting Hill Carnival 2010 photoset…. 
Categories: Festivals and Concerts, London and the UK, Photography Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Last Weekend: Kew Gardens and Richmond

August 5, 2010 1 comment

Last Saturday, on the way to meeting friends in Richmond, we hopped off the train at Kew on a spur-of-the-moment impulse and made our way down through the leafy village streets to Kew Gardens, where we enjoyed the myriad of flora on display, boggled at the rain-starved brown lawns, sweltered in the tropical Victorian greenhouses, and climbed the stairs to walk amongst the treetops at the Xstrata Skywalk. We ended our journey at Richmond Green, to enjoy a pint or two in the sunshine. Ah, summer.

(Geek note: These are all taken with my Canon S90 prosumer compact, which I have been railing against for its poor low-light performance. However it does bear up nicely in daylight, especially when shooting RAW)

Categories: London and the UK, Photography Tags: , , ,

A weekend in London

July 27, 2010 Leave a comment

Last weekend I had occasion to shoot along the Regent’s Canal (again) and around the East End (again) and South Bank (again). I like to think returning to the same locales over and over again means I am improving my technique, but it’s probably just laziness. At least on Saturday we got a dab of culture as we visited the Whitecross Street Festival, which was a showcase of street art, food and a little music. More here…

 
 
 
 
Categories: London and the UK, Photography Tags: , , , ,