Composition
Sometimes when I'm shooting I pay very particular attention to the composition of the shot. Is there a diagonal I can get into the frame somehow (I do so like a nice diagonal)? Can I get a colour match or clash between foreground and background objects? If I take this shot will I get arrested? That sort of thing. I say sometimes. I mean practically never of course. I'm just not that thoughtful when it comes to photography. This picture is a case in point: did I line up the shot so that the pavement ran from one corner to the other? Like hell I did! Did I notice that the umbrella colours matched the tiles on the road and the advertising board in the rear? You bet your sweet ass I didn't give it a second's thought! Did I wonder if the old woman would hear my shutter firing, turn around, attempt to strike me with the tip of her brolly, force me to defend myself with lethal force, and lead to the spending of the Christmas period answering probing questions in a police station? Briefly, admittedly, but that's true of almost every shot I take. Google+: View post on...
Smart Lunch
There's an art in picking out lunch. It's got to be tasty, not too filling that the afternoon becomes a struggle, not too little that time until home seems to slow just to spite your grumbling stomach. There's luck in finding a place away from the crowds to eat. Somewhere that you won't attract the birds, somewhere that you won't get bumped by the bustlers, and fate is smiling on you. And there's being smart. You make yourself a small target, you hunch over a little bit, you position yourself so you're not easy to reach, and you realise that you can't be looking everywhere at once so you get out your smartphone and keep an eye on it while you eat. And relax. Because now you're safe. He's trying to look innocent as he sidles up behind you but the Sarnie Thief is being monitored and he's in for a 200 decibel shock if he dares to make a move. Protect your egg and cress lunch with the No! That's My Sandwich! app available on Windows Phone and Android. #StreetPics Google+: View post on...
Moments To Live
He shouldn't have stopped. He shouldn't have let the adrenalin cascade through his system; the pounding, pounding, pounding in his ears that muffled the sounds around him and left him so much more isolated. He shouldn't have started sweating but no amount of willpower could prevent it. He should have kept moving calmly, breathing normally, looking straight ahead, and just, simply got out of there but he did none of those things. Their nostrils picked up the scent. Some animal sixth sense detected the wrongness nearby. And one-by-one they turned towards the centre, stalking, circling, hunting the prey fixed with fear. He didn't stand a chance. Google+: View post on...
The Snow Queen
I tried the natural shot but didn't like it. I tried black and white and didn't like it either. She's the Snow Queen – well, she's a woman in white on stilts walking around Abingdon but let's not quibble over semantics – and she demanded something a little high key. And you always do what a woman demands of you. If I've learnt one thing in life then it's that. Google+: View post on...
A Battle Of Wits
"What you do not smell is called iocane powder," I told the two ruffians spoiling for a fight over some perceived slight. "It is odorless, tasteless, dissolves instantly in hamburger meat, and is among the more deadlier poisons known to man." I turned my back to the two and slipped the toxic stuff into the fast food I was concealing, then offered them up for perusal. "The battle of wits has begun," I continued. "It ends when you decide and we all eat, and find out who is right… and who is dead." "I'll 'ave that one," said the shorter of the men quickly, pointing at the bun nearest him with a grimace. "Has that got cheese on it?" asked his friend pointing at one of the remaining items of food. "I'm allergic to cheese." "You're trying to trick me into giving away something. It won't work." "It makes me all bloaty," he carried on, looking to his friend for confirmation and receiving a brief nod. "It's not cheese," I conceded. "It's lettuce leaf. The colour is a giveaway." "Oh, right, yeah, yeah I see now. It must be the light." "You're just stalling now," I said with a slight smile. "You'd like to think that, wouldn't you!?" he replied forcefully, but I detected the tremble of fear in his voice. A minute passed in uncomfortable, near silence. "How about we all just forget this?" I offered. "Yeah, yeah, sounds good," said the taller man quickly. "So, er, where was the poison?" "In all of them," I said. "I'm forming a suicide cult and felt I could do with a dry run. You were almost it." "That doesn't really make sense." "Did you say you put that powder in all the burgers?" asked the short man. "Cos I just took a bite and it tasted okay to me." "Ah," I said with as much sadness in my voice as I could muster. "It takes a few seconds to…" I didn't have to finish the sentence as he dropped to the floor. The bun rolled away towards some pigeons. "Poor Jake," said the remaining ruffian. "He was okay. I guess there's gonna be a few less birds around here soon too," he added, nodding in the direction of the feathered gathering around the tainted meal. "No," I answered. "I've spent the last few years building up the local pigeons' immunity to iocane powder." "Why?" "I get incredibly bored at work." "I hear ya," he said, looking around and then down briefly at the prone corpse of Jake. "Oh well, see you around." #StreetPics #StreetPhotography #PhotoStory Google+: View post on...
The Thames Tunnel Ballerina
This week I and my wife popped up to that there London town for a couple of days break in order to take in a bit of culture. Monday started with a trip to the Victoria and Albert museum and culminated in a fantastic few hours at the O2 Arena where we caught the better-than-expected Marilyn Manson and unbelievably-incredible Rob Zombie in concert. We like to bridge all ends of the cultural spectrum. Tuesday then saw us wander around Greenwich where we looked over the Royal Observatory and the Cutty Sark and ventured in to see the Ansel Adams exhibition (I went in not really liking Adams' work and left with the same opinion; it's okay, it's just not really me). We also visited the William Klein and Daido Moriyama street photography exhibition at the Tate Modern; now that was much more to my liking and highly recommended. And one more thing: we walked under the Thames and spotted a tunnel ballerina. I've always wanted to see one in the flesh. Google+: View post on...
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