Thursday, December 30

Cold Day | Warm Reception

I was out in West Dulwich the other day as I had hoped to go to the Norman Rockwell exhibition, unfortunately the Picture Gallery was closed as Tuesday was a bank holiday. So instead of turning about and going straight home I took a walk with my friend and camera to the local park.

Dulwich Park was quite busy considering how cold it was, quite a few young families with children riding tricycles, some runners jogging on what looked like a sand path for horses and dog walkers were ignoring the polite notices that asked them to keep their dogs on short leads. 

As I knelt down to take this photo an older couple who had seen me failing to take photos of birds in flight earlier stopped to ask if I had taken any good shots, I hadn't and told them as much. They were kind enough to suggest that the view and light through the rushes around the pond in the park might make a good and 'cold' photo. 

Here's a view of the park which I think is as beautiful as the people there are friendly. I hope you enjoy it.

Posted via email from stephen walrond

Stand Behind The Yellow Line

"I'll tell you a riddle. You're waiting for a train. A train that will take you far away. You know where you hope this train will take you, but you can't be sure. But it doesn't matter. How can it not matter to you where this train will take you?"

- Mal 

 

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Snow Foxes

Made from chicken wire and snow. Found in West Dulwich Park. Cute aren't they.

Posted via email from stephen walrond

Wednesday, December 29

Peeping & Eating

I went to Soho today and picked up a book by Gayla Partridge, who specializes in female portraiture in burlesque or pin-up styles. The book is called 666 Photography and is an example of the kind of photography I enjoy but have no desire to take personally. Without a wardrobe the size of a house full top to bottom with costume, a studio and a lot more skill than I possess, pin-up photography looks like amateur pornography... yuck!

Talking of "yuck", here's a picture of a seedy dude poking his head out of a peep show entrance, a typical Soho sight I guess.

Not so typical are the Patrick Cox Fairy Cakes that I bought today. I found Patrick's cake shop a few months back and have meant to go back to take photos of the shop ever since, and to sample the goods of course. I went back today and was too nervous to ask if I could go wild with my camera and just shoot everything I wanted, but I did find the courage to ask if I could take a photo of these three cakes... I found the courage after buying them that is... the most expensive (and delicious) I've ever taken. I hope you like them.

Posted via email from stephen walrond

Friday, December 24

Season to be Grateful

Something we forget in the run up to Christmas is that we already have so much. Our health, our friends, our family. I hope this doesn't sound too trite, but sometimes I feel we need to tune out the demands for toys and trinkets, tone down the garish lights and tinsel and have a quiet moment considering what we couldn't be without.

These photos are of a friend of over a decade and her daughter, both of them a blessing to me and each other. 'Tis the season to be grateful'.

Merry Christmas.

Posted via email from stephen walrond

Thursday, December 23

Wonderland

"What's the point of being a writer or an artist anyway? Herman Melville wrote f#*kin' Moby Dick, he was so poor and forgotten by the time he died that in his obituary they called him Henry Melville. You know, like why bother? They're just going to forget our f#*kin' names anyway."

- Joel (Adventureland, 2009)

 

Posted via email from stephen walrond

Monday, December 20

We're All In This Together

"Do you ever feel like we should have migrated for the winter?"

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Feels So Distant | Rules To Follow

Remember summer? Those halcyon days of yore where we all seemed care free, jolly and gay? I remember, but the picture of balmy, warm sunny evenings and bright sun tempered by cool breeze is obscured by the snow storms of the tundra we face ahead of us. 

Ice cold toes, wet-through trousers, pained fingers and wind stung (brave) face do not a happy-snapper make. But this sight made me smile. A reminder of that distant past and a reminder that beneath the dusty white snow lays a verdant lush field in wait for my picnic basket and blanket.

I just need to survive a few more months, just a few more. 

Posted via email from stephen walrond

Saturday, December 18

Tis The Season | Forget The Mistletoe

It's party season and the season to be merry. So there are a lot of parties to attend, lots of wine to be consumed, loads of gamey meat and winter veg. Did I mention that I went to a party in the struts of Tower Bridge? I'm sure I mentioned it. 

Anyway, the last Christmas thing I had to attend was in North London at a pub called The Alma with cheerful food and miserable staff, they obviously didn't get the memo about the season, I guess.

All this partying means that although I've been snapping away, I've got very little to share, unless you want snaps of drunk people being merry. However, here's one photo I wanted to share.

Cheers!

Posted via email from stephen walrond

Friday, December 10

I Would Prefer My Fingers | The Meh-Lenium Bridge

It's far too cold to be out with a camera pointed at a bridge and cathedral that has been photographed several bazillion times before, far, far too cold. So, of course, when I was invited to take photos at the German Fair on Southbank, I suggested that we stop and take photos of said bridge instead, because I'm a genius and a masochist. 

I got one shot off before realising that I hadn't charged my batteries and then the camera died, so all in all it was a totally pointless endeavour that produced this one derivative and dull photo.

Join me in hating this - I call it The Meh-Lenium Bridge:

Posted via email from stephen walrond

Thursday, December 9

Future Musings | Queens Walk

Did I mention that I went to a party in Tower Bridge? I meant to mention it... a party, in Tower Bridge, yep, yep, cutting the rug over the Thames, it was fun. The view weren't that bad either. 

It looks like The Future doesn't it, a future in which we have an infinite and renewable source of energy so we never have to turn lights off, in fact in this future turning lights off is frowned upon because it makes things look ugly and makes them hard to photograph (even at 3200 ISO).

Hope you enjoyed the photo and my little utopian musings. More photos soon.

Posted via email from stephen walrond

Wednesday, December 8

Untitled

I always forget my tripod, I forgot it yesterday after swearing that I would definitely remember it because I had forgotten it the day before. Oh well. Where a tripod is needed, often a bin will suffice. So here is a perfectly straight bridge with a slant.

I hope you like it.

Posted via email from stephen walrond

Tuesday, December 7

The Sights You See Without Your Tripod | London by Electric Light

Office party last night. So I went armed with my camera in the hope of capturing some candid shots of my colleagues doing something incriminating. I got those shots. I also got some shots of the city. Here are two of them, a few more will follow.

Posted via email from stephen walrond

Thursday, December 2

Looking to the Past | Fizzy Phones

I was asked the other day why do I use my iPhone so much for photography and will I be taking 'proper' photos again at any point soon. I answered that I really enjoy the effects and treatments that apps like Hipsarmatic and Instagram add to photos and suggested that this may be because I have never had a collection of photos with that kind of feel to them, that seemed like they were from a particular period of time.

Photos from my mother's albums or my grans all have an unreal quality to them, like looking through a filter that blurs and discolours them but also unites them through a common 'feel' in a way that a skilled photographer would unite their photos in a particular style.

Of course that supposition, that I liked the aforementioned apps because they hark back to a halcyon time when photos were automatically united with idiosyncrasies and quirks, which appealed to me because I missed this time myself, is probably incorrect. It would be more truthful to say that as a child of the 1 hour lab and the compact 35mm camera, I'm used to not quite framing correctly, not knowing immediately how a photo is going to look (now I have to wait an agonising 10 seconds for a Hipstamatic 'print') and I'm used to the permanency of my efforts.

What my apps offer me is surprise, nostalgia, fun and of course off kilter images. Using an app is a different discipline but it can still produce 'proper' photos as well as eliciting skill and attention from it's user.

 

The above photo was taken using a Canon 400D and not an app, and then the effect was created through post processing in Photoshop. I was going for a retro look, inspired by the subject, but wanted something of higher quality than the files produced by an iPhone. It's an unfortunate restriction that Hipstamatic is bound to a subpar camera and I'm looking forward to the day that Cannon, Mamiya, Nikon et al have App Stores and bespoke camera apps too. Imagine if, instead of RAW and JPEG you could choose RAW and Hipstamatic, wouldn't that be cool?

Posted via email from stephen walrond

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