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London times – taking in the streets of Islington and Shoreditch

by Damien Walmsley Posted on
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024

London is an ideal place for urban photography as it offers so many different places that offer variety.  There are several large-scale cityscape vistas which sit with the smaller scale scenes taking in street art and street photography.  The start of my recent photo walk with colleague Peter Thompson was the Angel, Islington and from here we accessed the Regent’s canal. A link to this part of my photo walk is below.  Leaving the canal we moved around Shoreditch taking in some of the street art and catching people interacting with their urban surroundings.  Architecture was another focus of my lens.  Finally we finished off at Horizon22 which is also covered in a separate blog entry.  So sit back and be prepared for a roller coaster of pictures from my walk in Shoreditch. (All pictures taken on my Fujifilm x100v)

Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Two is company, three is a crowd. (Street scene in Islington)
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Street Market, Islington.
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Love those old Toby jugs.
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Telephone boxes
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Broken telephone boxes
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Inside a telephone box.
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Street art with human interaction.
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Transport catches up.
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Taking time out.
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Scary.
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Conversation at the traffic lights.
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Bull in a China shop.
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
I do like this one!
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Powerful street art.
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Incredible architecture.
Two churches and one bridge Start at Birmingham Cathedral and take pictures inside then move down church street towards the pedestrian bridge over Queensway then make our way up Bennett's hill to St Paul's church and pictures inside the church there. I will see if we can get access into both places. What do you think? Based on the following. Andy Street says. "I’m pledging to launch an international architectural competition to build a NEW BRIDGE connecting the Jewellery Quarter & Colmore Row . The link between two of Brum’s best areas isn’t good enough, we have to deliver an accessible link that celebrates the city’s heritage." https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/competition-fix-rickety-old-city-28913191
Little Red Riding Hood.
Two churches and one bridge Start at Birmingham Cathedral and take pictures inside then move down church street towards the pedestrian bridge over Queensway then make our way up Bennett's hill to St Paul's church and pictures inside the church there. I will see if we can get access into both places. What do you think? Based on the following. Andy Street says. "I’m pledging to launch an international architectural competition to build a NEW BRIDGE connecting the Jewellery Quarter & Colmore Row . The link between two of Brum’s best areas isn’t good enough, we have to deliver an accessible link that celebrates the city’s heritage." https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/competition-fix-rickety-old-city-28913191
Light and shadows by Liverpool Street station.
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
A lone figure in Liverpool Street station.
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Bishopsgate
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
More views of Bishopsgate.
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Decisions, decisions.
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Reflections and a selfie.
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Happy hour.
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Icing sugar window.
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Cash only.
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Street art.
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Street car.
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Elephants.
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Where does it all go?
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Not happy.
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Black and White Cityscape.
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Colourful buildings.
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Colourful railings.
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Watching.
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Sunglasses in Brick lane.
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Picture perfect.
Walking the streets of Shoreditch, London, March 2024
Pictures on a wall.

You made it to here and your reward are links to my other recent London Times postings.

London Times – The London Horizon from Horizon22
Walking the Regent’s Canal – the Shoreditch stretch
Categories blog

Photographing Little Venice

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

I have occasional meetings in London and I always plan to get down early and plan a photographic walk. I have never been to Little Venice so I jumped onto the tube and made it to Warwick Avenue. From here I got on the canal. It was a beautiful morning and the light was just pouring out of the sky. Reminds me of one of my favourite songs “The light pours out of me” by Magazine. There was a wonderful haze around the canals. I had my wide angled lens with me which I find pulls in all of the scene into the camera. I moved through Little Venice into the Paddington branch where many people where moving around on their way to work.

Little Venice
Onto Paddington
Hazy sun

Bridges and people

Lines of lights
Buildings and water

Looking down the canal

There was plenty of opportunities to take pictures where water, people and sun interacted. When I got back home, I immediately converted them into black and white and found that I had captured much more than I had hoped. I will be back to visit again in the future.

Little Venice in Colour
Categories blog

Aston Hall

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

It is always good when my diary has the free space for an Igersbirmingham instameet and I was lucky as this one coincided with Birmingham Heritage week.  The venue was Aston Hall a place that I had not visited since my daughters were young.  I expected changes to the layout of the Hall rooms but also, I was excited to visit the Long Gallery which is one of the major attractions of this grand house that is steeped in history.  I will not elaborate much further on the history of the Hall as it can all be found on the Birmingham Museums web site

http://www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/aston

This visit was organised by Igersbirmingham who once again excelled at ensuring we had a worthwhile time with our cameras.  We arrived an hour before the official opening and this allowed us the time to browse around the rooms and take photographs of the interesting places.  I brought along my fisheye lens as I was hoping that this would provide a different view of the Long Gallery.  I also worked with my Canon 5D and the 24-70mm and 70-200mm lenses.  I do get very excited about taking part in photographic events such as this one and it takes a while for me to settle down and concentrate on achieving good pictures. There are many different views and the Long Gallery view with the fisheye came out how I imagined it which was fortunate.  However, I am always surprised on how others view my pictures and the Igersbirmingham team selected the picture of the chimneys on the roof for their blog on the meeting

http://www.igersbirmingham.co.uk/aston-hall-instameet

Many thanks to the Igers team of Beth, Fraser and Martin for their work and enthusiasm in running these Instameets

Aston Hall

Igersbirmingham ready to go and take some photographs.

Aston Hall welcomes it visitors

Such sharp teeth you have

Art work of a flat camera on a tripod

Some of the Characters in traditional costume

Staircases make for interesting photography

Out taking pictures

Thee Long Gallery through a fisheye

Sir Thomas Holte entertains

Detail from one of the rooms

Looking up

Chimneys and lots of them

Outside Gardens

Church of St Peter and St Paul (seen from Aston Hall)

Lovely Sky behind Aston Hall

 

Categories blog

Photographing London Docklands

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

There was a conference in London Docklands at the Excel centre.  London in July is normally hot but with the current heatwave the temperatures were reaching 32 degrees Celsius.  Travelling by Tube and DLR to Excel was exhausting.  The conference was not bad and there was a lot to learn with many networking opportunities.  Having my camera with me always allows me the opportunity to catch the early morning or late evening pictures.  I carry a Sony DSC-RX100M5 with a 24-70mm F1.8-2.8 zoom lens with me at all times and it proves to be a highly versatile camera.  Some of the pictures were taken with my iPhone as well.

First sight of the Sun over the Excel centre

Moon rays over the Spillers building on the Royal Dock

Yellow Sail across the water

Looking down from the Royal Victoria Dock Bridge

Surreal view of the inside of the Excel conference centre

Framing the sunrise over the docks

The Golden Hour of a Sunrise

View of the O2 arena from the Gun

Canary Wharf at night

Sunrise and clouds reflected over the docks

Looking Eastwards with London city airport to the right.

The last chair at the conference

So many lights and reflections

The path to dreams

Clocks – Canary Wharf

Categories blog Uncategorised

Sand, Concrete and Steel

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

Dubai is a fascinating city and there is a great deal of sand, concrete and glass.  There are beautiful buildings punching upwards towards the sky. The Burj Khalifa tower is the tallest building in the world and its design is complimented by the also impressive Jumeirah Emirates towers.  In the morning, there is a haze as the sun rises and the buildings look like marooned giants searching for their way home. 

During the day the sun burns out the structures and it was fortunate that I brought along my UV/polarised filter which helped cut down the glare and bring colour back to the pictures.  You also are not able to stay out in the heat for too long either as it saps your energy.

Jumeirah Emirates towers during the day

View from the Emirates Towers

The Skyscrapers look like needles.

As the sun sets the colour returns and the buildings reflect the reds giving a warm glow to the concrete and steel.

Sunset over the towers

It is fleeting as dusk followed by the night arrives.  However the neon takes over and there are many opportunities to take night shots.  I visited Wafi where the buildings have an Egyptian theme and there is an evening light show.

Wafi

View of the Raffles Pyramid

 

Future site for Phase 2, The University of Birmingham. Just Sand at present.

My visit was part of my work with the University of Birmingham so many of the pictures were taken when the opportunity arose during the day. It is an exciting city and look forward to seeing how the University of Birmingham develops there.

Categories blog

Shadows and Light

by Damien Walmsley Posted on

The new Dental School and Hospital at Pebble Mill offers many photographic opportunities.  The sun rises and sets into the atrium providing various lights and shadows during the day.  I have posted many of these on my Flickr site but cannot resist adding a few more.

It is just not me that likes the building as it has won an award from the West Midlands Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).  It came first in the category “Innovation through Design”  The judging panel liked the functionality and layout of the building. They highlighted the welcoming atrium, the open clinics and the world class research laboratories.

The Birmingham Dental Hospital & School of Dentistry will now go forward to represent the West Midlands in the national RICS Grand Final on 2 November 2017, competing against other projects from across the UK.

Meanwhile enjoy the pictures.