Woohoo… Exhibition at the Underdog Gallery SE1
I entered a competition through @IdeasTap ‘Team London Bridge: Photographic Exhibition’ and three of my photographic works will be displayed as part of a two-week public show at The Underdog Gallery
They were only suppose to pick out one image from each entrant to the competition so I’m doubly chuffed, or should that be triplely chuffed? Is there such a word… nope just did a google and got nothing. HA… well I’m still really pleased about it all.
I will be attending the Launch Event next Thursday (23rd May) with a couple of friends and it will be interesting to see the work of the other entrants and the archival images of the London Bridge area.
London Bridge on Camera – Underdog Gallery SE1
All prints featured (not sure if this applies to the archival images though!) will be on sale too.
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Battersea Park
Despite having a backlog of images I tend to take my camera with me most places… I went for a walk on Thursday around Battersea Park and took a few more photos – I just can’t help myself!
I do like just turning up somewhere and casually taking images to see what comes out at the end… sometimes I ‘see’ exactly how the image will look once I’ve processed it but others are just to ‘play’ with and I find it helps if stressed or have a lot on my mind (also away to procrastinate from all the things I should be doing ha!)
Clouds seen through a Barbara Hepworth Sculpture in Battersea Park.
I would love to know what these are called – they have flowers inside flowers!
I used to know plants and flower names but I really have forgotten them all except the real obvious ones… daisies lol!
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Watery bits… and Somerset House
I seem to be into watery elements right now (not that I’ll ever tire of clouds and skies!)
I got to visit the Sony World Photography Awards at Somerset House, London last Thursday with a friend.
After what seemed like hours of eye strain looking at some great work of professionals and amateurs (amateur level is scarily high!) we sat outside enjoying the sunshine… and the water spouts.
Last time we were at Somerset house there were many many metal flowers but this time water spouts that went through a cycle of lowering/rising, stopping and starting etc so I tried taking some photos… I ended up with a rather wet leg.
These were taken in Henley-on-Thames – another part of the Thames or any river for that matter, always draws me close!
I came across the weir at Hambleden Lock which had some interesting flowing of water… from rapid flows to shallow and flowing over steps…
I kept the colour is this one as the green is a great colour…
I have a lot more photographs from the visit but I have a backlog in personal photography projects right now.
It is very frustrating… I do like to go through any images I’ve taken straight away but when you have work and other things to do it can be awhile… then of course you take your camera out again and end up with even more images!
oh well… it does mean I can get to play with older images too… but then that makes me think of all the analogue film negatives I have in a storage box – dating back 20 years… I would like to re-scan and look at them through the eyes of someone with more knowledge and history than what I had back then… which was none of either. Taking images back then was a lot easier, naivety does keep things simple.
There was a flash hail storm while working back to my niece and nephews flat and after several shots to get the woman with the umbrella in a good spot, I managed this image…
I just worked on these images yesterday but it was taken when visiting the Sony Photography Awards.
and this was after the Photography Exhibition and I did my usual wonder around the South Bank… (some halos around the tree branches which need sorting or reworking on?!) I try not to work too much on my images… just convert to black and white – dodge & burn etc)
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SkyScapes
Wispy bits…
With the weather changing and finally blue skies are above, I can’t but help look up and admire the wispy streaks of clouds in the sky…
I love black and white photography as it can create new ideas/forms from what would be obvious if you saw the same images in colour – clouds in the sky!
But I can’t help but like the colour versions too!
I was thinking of doing more sky shots and look for abstract patterns etc.
I do have a fair amount of images that concentrate on the sky more than anything that comes from the ground and after working for several photo libraries, I know that they too have a huge collection of sky photographs so it may seem pointless… but everything has been done before but… not by me!
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Feathery Tree Tops
Feathers or Mountains?
That’s what comes to my mind – the first image of an old tree in Camberwell Cemetery that has a rather mountainous shape and the following two images make me think of a trio of feathers.
Maybe I shouldn’t partake in any of those ink block tests!
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Is it Summer yet?
Summer Snow!?
It snowed in London on the day that Summer is ‘supposed’ to start… ok, it rarely does start that actual day or week but snow is not the usual feature.
As I had to drop off and collect some work I did my usual walking home but took a different route. I finally walked around some south London parks that I’d not been to before.
I started off cutting through Camberwell Old Cemetery which has some very old graves which are apparently unstable… I stuck to the pathways just in case. I then went to Dulwich Park, which was packed with kids on half term, riding on hired bikes but behaving themselves rather well. Ice cream truck sat by the side of the park but still a little cold for me for ice cream!
Belair Park was next which features a rather lovely grand Beauberry House and is surrounded by sports grounds and golf clubs – the Dulwich Picture Gallery was close by but looked closed.
While listening to a dog getting all excited over some geese I realised that you can see the Elephant & Castle’s Strata Tower and the Shard from Belair Park – it should surprise me as I’ve see the Shard from High Barnet!
I was thinking that instead of my usual black and white gritty images I’d try something floral or summery – it proved to be a challenge.
But this one makes me think of Autumn!
I have more images to come but these are the most floral and different from my usual style.
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Ansel Adams, Greenwich Maritime Museum, Thames21 and me!
Photo Walk at low-tide
The Greenwich Maritime Museum is showing the Ansel Adams Exhibition until the end of April 2013 – I visited back in November last year (see blog post here).
It’s slightly awkward getting to Greenwich from where I live but I seem to have visited the area rather a lot recently and I do get to ride (at the front) of the DLR Train.
I’ve been twice to travel on the Emirates Cable Car which is rather fun and then I went along to a photo walk with Thames21 – a charity that educates and help clean up the Thames.
Thames21 is one of the country’s leading waterway charities. We work with communities across Greater London to improve our rivers, canals, ponds and lakes for people and wildlife. (click to visit their webpage)
They run several groups and I attended one of their photo walks at low-tide – Woods Warf which is next to the Cutty Sark.
Here’s some of the images I took that day.
Shortlisted!
Out of 250+ entries I got shortlisted with 20 other photographers to show along side the Ansel Adams Exhibition at the Greenwich Maritime Museum.
This is my entry that got through:
Private view on Thursday 4th April 2013 for the shortlisted.
Ray Wise – 2nd place runner up collects his prize. (main pic) Ben Fenton gives a small speech before hand (Thames21 Organiser – 2nd pic)
My Entry at the top (main pic) Ben Fenton in the right bottom image (Thames21 Organiser)
Books – I love books!
The last time I was at the Museum I brought Adams book:
I have these three already -
and I couldn’t help myself by buying the Exhibition version at the Museum shop.
The shortlisted entries will be shown next to the Ansel Adams Exhibition until the end of this month and after this they will be at the Millers House Cafe in Bromley by Bow.
See all of the shortlisted entries on the Thames21 Flickr group if you can’t get there (with all the snow who knows but it’s worthy trying!).
Here’s the Thames21 blog post about the Competition winners - here
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The Shard – looking down across London
I finally got to go up The Shard – “The View”… well it blows the London Eye out of the water… sorry!
The London Eye is overpriced – if it was lower then I would go up there more but I think I’ll just plan to go up the Shard instead.
£24.95 for advance booking of tickets online (tip: if your print off ticket has a barcode at the bottom you don’t need to use the giant ticket machine which is up the first stairs as first entering the building – which is underneath the Shard itself – don’t go in the main Shard entrance as that’s for the offices).
£29.95 for on the door tickets – kids tickets are a five pounds less than the adults.
Looking up out through the ‘Shards’
I looked up through the ‘Shards’ which are exposed to the elements – the top viewing platform is only ‘open’ at the corners and quite high up. Did get some hit with some snow whilst viewing the South London side! A few people noticed that I was taking photos upwards and did the same… you can’t but help look downwards to see the little London town toys moving around!
The lower viewing platform is enclosed and I did hear several people say they felt more secure than the London Eye in terms of being scared of heights. (why do I always know people who fear heights… it means I have to go up things on my own!)
Looking up even when I reached the top!
Lots of piping and cable ties in the Internal structure of the Shard’s spire and radiator floors.
View from floor 72 of The Shard
If you can take a polariser filter to help get rid of reflections in the glass and if the sun is out then that will also add more glare.
Looking up through the ‘Shards’ that are exposed to the elements
Another Photographer looking up – it is a beautiful structure!
View from floor 72 of The Shard
Tiny Town! well actually it’s huge – Paris feels tiny compared – I will have to go up the Eiffel Tower again next time I visit my Brother and baby Niece.
Everyone is a Photographer!
Everyone stands in this same position – camera, compact, DSLR so expect lots of images to come from the top of the Shard – it will be all over flickr too (including mine 
)
I definitely recommend the Emirates Cable Car and The Shard – I’ve just realised I didn’t blog about the time I went on the Cable Car – will do that soon.
I have lots more images but I have a long queue of work to do – freelance, friends engagement, Scotland and the rest from today… I HAVE TOO MANY IMAGES!
PS: don’t buy the official guide book from The Shard’s shops as not only do you pay £2 more than the selling price (£9.95 in the shop but under the sticker it says £7.95) but Amazon also sell it for half the price!! Cheeky as just paid for the actual ticket but bump up the price in the shop?! oh well… I do know better than this usually!
They do sell the little Fox plush toy though – a fox lived in the Shard for two weeks.
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Visit to Edinburgh, Scotland
I finally got to visit Edinburgh for a few days – I now have a strained knee from all the walking!
I’m not used to hills and slopes as London is fairly flat.. .plus if you go somewhere rural and at night then remember to take a torch… sounds obvious but I managed to forget and didn’t realise my iPhone has a torch function until I’d got back to a road! oops.
I will be posting more work soon… I have freelance work, portraits of a couple and all the images from Scotland to work on – and I visit the Shard on the 14th February (Valentines day… gargh… didn’t realise that when I booked it!) so I will be glued to my Mac for the rest of the week… night and day (probably a good thing compared to all the walking I did).
Excess being burned off in Fife meant that a night light gets left on in Edinburgh and surrounding areas… gives a nice effect
Night Flare.
The Mossmorran NGL (natural gas liquids) fractionation plant is part of the North Sea Brent oil and gas field system located on the outskirts of Cowdenbeath, Fife. (info from Wikipedia)
Forth Bridge, Scotland
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A walk in the other direction…
I tend to walk the same route along the Thames and I thought I’d better try the other side (rather than just the South and to the West rather than East… ie: South Bank towards the Design Museum – Westminster to Wandsworth Bridge, North Side).
There is a point where you really can’t buy a coffee along that route and I didn’t realise this until I was desperate for the loo & coffee (typical) so I was relieved (literally) when I found a Sainsburys with toilets right next to Wandsworth Bridge… yay! (I’m sure this will be useful info for anyone who decides to walk that same route 
)
I would have kept going past Wandsworth Bridge except for that reason… weird but I guess I was slightly irritable so crossed over the bridge and walked back along the Thames until I got home – 13.5 miles – I didn’t mean to walk that far but seeing parts of the Thames that I haven’t been near for many many years, proved to be interesting.
The thing with London is that you find derelict homes/estates and roads/streets etc and if you turn around or look over the road you’ll find some very expensive shiny apartments sprouting up everywhere.
I do wonder who has the better deal – the view out of the apartments (except the River facing windows) will only see a crumbling council estate outside their windows whereas the council tenants get a shiny expensive building? Guess the former can jump in an expensive car and drive somewhere else.
Chelsea is close by with it’s own harbour which has the Design Center which I will have to visit again soon.
(image below shows the Council/Housing Estate named “The World’s End” in the distance behind the barge – just a few yards away you will come across the huge apartments shown in the above photograph)
Here’s a link to a handout given on tours of the Estate : page one and page two which was attended by the “Brutalism and Booze Blog” group – the Estate has a ‘walkway’ in the sky which links all the buildings!
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The Squirrel infestation in the Houses of Parliament…
Runners dressed as squirrels have been jogging past London landmarks to publicise the Royal Parks Foundation Half Marathon. They were off to St James Park after this. (click image to view a few more pics via my flickr photostream)
you do get to see weird stuff in London – I saw a giant chicken (advertising a chicken restaurant chain) the other day… it looked very dejected and couldn’t eat his sandwich!
Londoners expression never changes when they come along such sights but that’s the way we are!
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Soggy and Cold
Today’s walk was a lazy one in that I just did my usual route – the London Eye was closed and the staff were having a snowball fight – I would have gone up as I would like to see London covered in Snow.
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I’m not a paparazzi photographer!
Just walking along the South Bank as usual and wondered what a group of people where ogling at… well Donny Osmond, Linda Robinson and Carol Vorderman had been filming at ITV for Loose Women.
I managed to grab a couple of pics but not great photographs though. Paparazzi eat your heart out lol.
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Vauxhall Helicopter crash into St George’s Tower
I live about a mile and half away from Vauxhall and walk past there a lot – I’ve taken images of this building and surrounding areas so I’m shocked that it wasn’t even worse for the time and place!
I heard about it around 10am but didn’t walk up there until after 2pm … I don’t like to get in the way – most of the roads were still closed but the station and buses were operating.
I’ve lived in London for years but I’ve always managed not to see anything terrible – for which I am very thankful for!!
Helicopter crashes into Crane fixed to St George’s Tower in Vauxhall, London.
click to see gallery of images which can be downloaded for editorial use.
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20% OFF Coupon/Discount Code for ‘ready to frame’ Photographic Art Prints at my Etsy Shop
Hoorah!
That’s the code… HOORAH :-) for 20% off my ‘ready to frame’ photographic prints – order before the 18th December (if you want them to arrive before Christmas)
Remember to put the entire word in capitals when you go to your ‘shopping cart’ where it says – ‘apply shop coupon code’ – might seem obvious but sometimes it’s easy to miss the little things
I’ve included images that help you visualise what the ‘ready to frame’ prints look like in a frame. These are prints only and either come in a rigid (front/back) envelope or rigid postal tube. (depending on 10×8″ or one of the larger sizes.
my Etsy shop thumbnail
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AMPS – Photographic Exhibition at Photofusion, Brixton
I have an image showing at Photofusion’s Annual Members Photographic Show
The private launch was last Thursday and it was packed to the point that a lot of people had to queue… I missed the speeches but managed to squeeze myself around the room to see all the work – mine is on a monitor slideshow and I got my friend to pose in front of it… he looks slightly awkward lol. (iPhone pic)
Will standing next to my image at the Photofusion show.
Exhibition Continues: 7 December 2012 – 18 January 2013
17A Electric Lane
London
Brixton
SW9 8LA
A better clearer version of my image – Foster’s Curves.
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Today’s walk
Went to work to pick up and drop off work so I have a load more scanning to do for next week.
It looked cold out but I was rather warm but I did walk for an hour or so with a giant long coat on
Sunset over Peckham Rye Park.
Aura Court, Nunhead seen from Peckham Rye Park, South London.
Sunset over Peckham Rye Park, South London.
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A Tram ride… and a great show…
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I like to sit at the front of the DLR because I’m a big kid!
I was going to ‘clean’ these images up but have decided that I like the ‘dirty’ look (ooh er!). The window at the front of the Train obviously gets all the pollution and dirt thrown at it so the glass was covered but I think it adds atmosphere!
I was so busy taking photographs that I missed my stop by two… so ended up in Deptford – I was aiming for Greenwich to meet up with my friend to see the Ansel Adams Exhibition. I brought the book “Looking at Ansel Adams” by Andrea G. Stillman (don’t you just hate it when Amazon sells a book cheaper than the one you paid for!) Sillman worked as his assistant and was a close friend.
I’ve Only just started reading it but it does feel like confirmation in regard to the fight over ‘in camera’ and post-processing – Adams’ is all about bringing out the beauty of the image in the darkroom… I use darkroom techniques in photoshop – which is obviously a lot easier and quicker but I do have actual experience of dodging and burning a print, then developing the print itself… I loved holding that ‘just processed’ 10×8 print. I could never print anything smaller as that size is ‘perfect’ (for me). I do msss that chemical smell
I never knew about Adams when I first got into photography – actually I never even knew any single person who had a camera as a kid unless it was one of those that cut people’s heads off, so I do wonder how I became interested in the subject – even schools do classes on darkrooms developing and pin hole cameras nowadays; I had to teach myself… still learning.
But I loved black and white imagery with high contrast… and the sky… and clouds… I lived in Brighton so the sea was a source of drama but most people want women to create ‘pretty’ images and anything else is just not allowed. Unfortunately, my family are not the type to encourage anything (actually the opposite) so I got on with working long hours but I kept finding myself back in the Photography area (photo libraries). I guess I just can’t help myself… I’m planning on going over the zoning method again as my memory seems to have gone all vague on the subject and will be useful for the box brownie camera that I brought on ebay
I wonder if I can get my darkroom kit back from my neighbour? hmmmm….
oops nearly forgot…
my own image was exhibited next to Ansel Adams DDD
ok… fine…. not really… well sort of
I was Invited to join the Flickr group “Ansel Adams at the National Maritime Museum” as they are showing a digital display as part of the exhibition, to show how other photographers have been inspired by his work. #rmg http://www.flickr.com/photos/runnycustard/8045110320/ I hope I got more than 2 ‘likes’ 
actually it’s rather light in this image (back lit screen – apologies for the dodgy iphone 4 pic.) the actual image is darker and the print is on Etsy as a 18×12 inch print if you fancy having this on your wall the thumbnail sized image on Etsy is rather pixellated and will definitely not look like that on the print itself.
My Photograph at the Ansel Adams Exhibition, London
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My Niece is getting bigger…
and cuter!
these Photographs have been printed (A4) and framed – at this rate I’m going to run out of wall space – by the time she’s five I’ll have to put her photos on the ceiling!
Sola is already a european traveller as she’s been to London twice (both these images were taken in Vauxhall) and Switzerland to visit her other Aunt and Uncle. She’s off to Japan soon to visit her grandparents and other relatives… lucky girl
Sola at 6 months 2 weeks.
dimple alert!
Sola at 6 months 2 weeks.
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lots of work is good for the soul!
Recent Freelance work…
I’ve been working freelance for Moviestore Collection Ltd again – scanning 35mm, medium format and prints of old movie stills which I then research the film and add names, keywording etc to then upload to the company website and other syndicates – whilst it’s nice to work from home it does mean that you need to get out of the house so I tend to go on long walks around London – obviously I take my camera with me… really keep meaning to take my tripod but I tend to just carry it around and give myself back ache… oops.
RunnyCustard’s Recent Projects
I love the baby images – there were a lot more but these are for the parents eyes only – there were also two older girls who I got to jump around on a bed. I then photoshopped a fluffy sky into the background so it looks like they are ‘leaping’ into the sky… bit of fun
I also went on the London Emirates Cable Car which was great fun and hope to do it again soon… just a shame there isn’t that much to visit the area for – I’m not a fan of the O2 Dome’s ‘contents’ … the Dome itself it a nice structure, I just hate the shops/entertainment types places it has… very fake and expensive.
I’m selling prints on Etsy (ready to frame), from my main website and Fine Art America and Redbubble
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Central Saint Giles and Centre Point…
last Friday’s walk…
I came across a rather nice colourful collection of buildings called Central Saint Giles where Google London hold their offices – The buildings were in Red, Yellow and bright green and just around the corner from them you can see Centre Point.
It was only the other day that I realised that I have never taken a picture of Centre Point yet I’ve walked past it a millions times and everyone ‘raves’ about it – I’m not that keen on it myself yet it does have a nice shape and graphic elements so I’m not sure why I don’t view it in high regards ?!
- Central Saint Giles
A Corner of Central Saint Giles
a view from Waterloo Bridge
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Two Photographs from my walk today…
Gritty and dark drama … controlled by me!
I did take more but after spending all day cleaning old 35mm positives I’m a little tired of sitting in front on my computer so I need a break!
Vauxhall Bridge, Lambeth crossing over the Thames showing the Tower on the right and M16 on the left.
Vauxhall Bridge, Lambeth crossing over the Thames showing the Tower on the right and M16 on the left.
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visualise….
How do you know what my Photography will look like in a frame?
It’s difficult visualising how art work will appear on your own wall let alone what frame and mount will enhance your living space.
I created a page with visuals with different frames/sizes/mounts etc to help this – difficult to view the white frames though so I may have to replace those with a darker background or shadow.
I also want some images from nice houses that can show my photography on their walls but that will take awhile as I have several other things to do first. (click image below to go to the gallery)
Photographic Prints framed on a wall – visual aid – click image to go to gallery
let me know if you want to see any other images of mine in a similar setting.
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Promotional ‘Thank you’ cards…
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In my previous post the photographs I took of their sons’ birthday party the parents wanted to give out some cards or prints to the other guests with my details on the back – I decided to try and create a layout for a thank you card and get that printed.
As I’m currently working for my old company, freelancing retouching/scanning work I thought I’d save time and find a digital download – plus I’ve been wondering how these work as I’ve seen lots of adverts for digital downloading of card/blog/scrapbooking/general layouts that people can use to help layout their images… to save them learning a complex piece of software like Photoshop.
I brought a basic layout and opened it up – the blurb said you can resize the template but I noticed that they just had grey boxes on separate layers… and that was it? I paid money for boxes on layers????? They weren’t even vector shapes so saying you can resize them means the edges (curved) would all be pixellated and look terrible… so I had to re-create the whole thing.
Thank you /Promotional card - front & back viewed side by side.
NO saving of time or money… actually a waste of both… sooooooo I might sell the template I made for myself (which is a completely different layout and design) which will also feature adjustment layers, vector shapes (so they can ACTUALLY be resized without destruction) and MORE YAY!
I just need to write up the instructions that will make sense to a photoshop newbie and then get someone to test it for me. I already have an Etsy.com shop so maybe in the next week or so you’ll see it appear. I just have a lot of other work to do first… and I have a family portrait/baby session on Saturday.
