Week 11: Paddington Station, London

Details: Nikon D80 with Tokina 18-200 lens; ISO 800; 1/8 s, f/5.6 with -1.33 EV compensation (highlight control :-)

This was the week that I was really suffering from a lack of inspiration. Then I was asked to meet some clients for dinner in London and I figured that maybe there was a chance of making something from nothing. So I set myself a 30 minute challenge at Paddington station to try and capture some of the vitality that exists in a train station when the commuters are on their way home.

I was on one of the passenger bridges at the exit end of the station, looking towards the main passenger entrance, when I noticed this train starting to leave. Hand-held shot, balanced on the infrastructure of the bridge, and then post processed to open the shot out a bit.

Week 10: A Touch of Spring

My wife and I went for a walk in the nearby "Linear Park". A beautiful day with sunshine and a general air of Spring. While walking I happened to spy these daffodils and decided that they are a great proclaimer of the rebirth of the land.

The sad thing is that a major land developer is trying to install a whole new community not too far from Linear Park, which is likely to have an adverse effect on the park and its wildlife. Their first attempt to get planning application for the development approved was defeated but, with the drive for profit seeming so high, they are planning another application. Looks like there is more to come.

Weeks 8 & 9: India

I spent the last two weeks on a business trip to India and the experience was almost life changing. The sights and sounds of India – combined with the contradictions that make India what it is – threaten to overwhelm your senses and sensibility but instead seem to envelop you in some kind of exotic wrap.

I spent the first week in Noida, just outside of Delhi and got to spend Saturday itself in Delhi. This picture is from the Red Fort and attempts to contrast the old while looking through to the new. I tried to capture the spirit of Old Delhi, perhaps with a western sensibility. There is a definite “something” about Old Delhi that is at once timeless and “off the day”.

As I was there for two weeks I have also included a second picture, this time from Mumbai, the second city I visited. I did not manage to get out and about very much in Mumbai as I was attending and speaking at a conference. However, I did manage to get this shot of one of the many impromptu “shanty towns” that seem to appear almost anywhere. This one was on the beach that lay about 100 meters from the hotel where I staying, paying $300 per night while the folk who lived in this shanty town probably do not earn that in a month.

As to the traffic... well, that is another story, as told here.

Week 7: Gasworks By The Thames & Kennet

Details: Nikon D80, Nikon Nikkor 50mm f/1.8, focal length 52mm, 1/80 second -1/3 EV @ f/7.1, ISO 100

Walking along the Thames at the start of the week as part of an attempt to get more exercise and reduce stress I came to the point where the Kennet becomes its own river. Situated at this point is the Reading Holder Station, where there are several gasometers and a lot of supporting pipework and plant. What struck me about the site was the real mixture of the old and the new, the plant being a strange mixture of Victorian-style heavy engineering and more modern constructs.

The site is exposed and what caught my eye was the amount of rusting superstructure on the site. This shot tries to capture that sense of metal decay in the midst of what is still a working environment, a feeling of the forgotten and the overlooked.

Week 6: Snow, Swans and the Thames

Details: Nikon D80, Tamron 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3, focal length 52mm, 1/120 second @ f/14, ISO 200

The first snow of the year fell on February 8 and I slipped out at lunch time to see what photo opportunities existed down on the Thames, where I was last week with the canoes. As it happened there were a couple of other photographers with the same idea and I would guess we all took many of the same pictures. I wonder what the collective noun for photographers is?

The swans were making use of the grass revealed by folk making snow men and these three obligingly lined up for me. It was the first time I had shot in snow with the Nikon so I added a circular polarising filter to my zoom lens to see if the glare and highlights could be better controlled - and I think it did help. Anyhow, this picture was subject to limited post processing in Bibble Pro, a really good RAW processing tool that I am beginning to get to use properly.

Week 5: Two Views of the Thames

Travelling to and from a client's workplace I tend to drive near to the Thames so this week I thought I would try and capture the magic of the river. However, having taken a few very different shots I could not decide which one best captured my feeling for the river, so I am posting two contrasting views.

Details: Nikon D80, Tamron 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3, focal length 42mm, 30 seconds @ f/16, ISO 200

This first shot was taken from the bank of the Thames at Pangbourne, opposite the Swan pub. Pangbourne is a place I like as the "vibe" feels good any time of the year. I used to have an office in the village and felt it was time to capture something of the feel of the place. Taken at night on the way home from work, I had planned to take a quick shot before meeting some friends and an hour later I was still looking at the view and getting cold!

Details: Nikon D80, Tamron 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3, focal length 125mm, 1/125 second @ f/7.1, ISO 200

The second picture is much closer to my company's HQ just to the East of Reading and on the same campus park as Microsoft and Oracle. There is a watersport centre on the bank of the thames and the pile of canoes on the opposite bank reminded me of my canoeing experiences many years ago. So, feeling nostalgic, I desaturated the image to take it - and me - back a few years.

Week 4: Chepstow Race Course

Details: Nikon D80, Tamron 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3, focal length 28mm, 1/50 second @ f/18, ISO 100

Seems strange to take a picture of a race course and no horses but my wife and I were there for a a rock and gem show and were just captivated by the scenery. This shows the view from near to the finish post up the final straight towards the last bend and you can see the 1 furlong marker n the middle distance.

I only got to see this glorious part of the countryside a couple of weeks ago when I went to Monmouth and drove down the amazing Wye Valley, sadly to collect my ill daughter and then to get her car. Given the circumstances, I had no opportunity to take any pictures as I was running to a tight schedule but I am hoping to go back there sometime soon with camera and tripod to capture more of the place than just the glimpse from the race course. Tintern Abbey is one of the places in the Wye Valley that I glimpsed from the car midday and when the Abbey was lit up in the early evening and one place that my camera seems to be drawn towards.