London Happens

I get a little warm in my heart when I think of winter

nobody@vox.com(pebaline) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:50:58 +0000

Last night was the first time I actually had any time or motivation to pop out to take some photos as promised a while back. Actually, the film in my Holga 35mm needed finishing, which you'll be glad to know I did AND I also took the digital SLR out for a little evening walk in the cold winter night of London hence these few photos.

street lights

I really like cold crispy winter evenings in London. Mostly when I am indoors cuddled up nice and warm with a big cup of tea, so I consider last night some sort of sacrifice. :) Actually, it was well worth the little walk however cold it was. I caught some lovely moments last night.

blinds

I often plan to get the camera out at night time, but it never happens... funny that! :) There is something about the light and really the lack of it at night though. It's like taking another step further in the voyeuristic approach street photography has.

stairs

This year I feel like I have come to myself really when it comes to photography. I've found myself, my point of view really and confidence I haven't had before. There are moments I see and I'm able to capture them. I think that is one of the hardest things to do successfully as a photographer, but I hope other people "get me" a bit easily now. :)

two stories

I often talked about the ease of taking street photos earlier this year, there really is something that seems to have clicked for me along these past 12 months. There has been a long break between last night and when I last purposefully went out to the streets of London with a camera in hand - yet it felt like it was only yesterday. It's a lovely feeling and I really wish I'd have more time and energy to do more street photography than I've had time especially the end of this year.

skating

After work I was out at Liverpool Street meeting a friend with a coffee earlier in the evening and was a bit early, so I managed to grab some of the photos above whilst waiting. It really was cold, but so gorgeously wintery.

gents

Not having had enough of the skaters at Bishopsgate I came home via Somerset House, which is my favourite place this time of the year. The skating aside the whole setting is so gorgeous, yet all I have to show you is this very romantic photo by the toilets! :D

elefantten

Oh look - more winter romance! :D Actually this is my favourite photo from last night and I'm very pleased with it. I saw the family, knew where I wanted to be, walked there, turned around and took this photo. Bingo. ;)

intermission

The Old Vic has some gorgeous lights going on as well. No Christmas trees this year though, which I'm surprised about. They usually have them on top of the title roof and they look so pretty. The credit crunch has robbed us of a lot of beauty I tell you!

mattress

Another nice moment which is very London. People just leave the most amazing stuff on the streets sometimes to be discarded. That looks like a good mattress that, or is that the credit crunch me talking...

back seat emergency

Also, I caught this for the little back seat series. I should work a little bit more on these photos actually. The series has a lovely feel to it, but who knows when I next will be around with a camera in hand. There are the black&white Holga photos to be picked up and scanned (I forgot today after work, oh the shame!), so you're not going without some more stuff before the end of the year. But I do feel a bit bad that I've not been a good blogger these past few months... I feel like a New Year's resolution coming on... Oh dear! Better end here before I say something I'll regret! :D

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hiatus

nobody@vox.com(pebaline) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:19:45 +0000

Drops

Hello pumpkins! I haven't forgotten you, I swear! It's just been an odd end to the year and I have been having a bit of a hiatus from photography - wedding and street-wise. It was much needed, but what can I say - I have now started to have a lovely tickle to actually want to lift a camera up and start taking some photos again. :) So, watch this space, as the film is in my Holga 35mm and I'm back on the streets of London!

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London/Berlin

nobody@vox.com(pebaline) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:57:32 +0100

stop here

About a year ago I collaborated with my good friend and a fellow street photographer on a little double exposure project. Exactly a year later we have another roll of film multiple exposed and developed! Yay! I shot a roll in London earlier this spring and shipped it to Berlin where the roll was shot through again and the photos developed over last weekend. Unfortunately this time the roll only had about four great double exposures, but more so quite weird and wonderful in their coincidences.

ghost dogs

We agreed both times to give as little as possible in guidance of what the other had shot on the roll to maximise ... weirdness, I suppose. It's quite odd to see some of these photos and what we have caught in the images. This one above in particular is very ghost-like for me.

cash/camera

Or what about this one? How funny that the two images would be a slot machine and this logo. If I was superstitious I'd be quite freaked out by these photos by now. :D

the trees were like people

This one is my favourite one from the roll. The trees of The Green Park embossed on the people and street life of Berlin - just lovely! :)

Looks like I am posting a lot of film at the moment as well. This is of course not a bad thing at all.

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more Holga goodness

nobody@vox.com(pebaline) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 20:51:10 +0100

upwards

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's another roll of film developed from my Holga 35mm! Wow! And not that long ago since my last one. ;) There were some more shots left from Covent Garden (see previous post) on this roll so I took the camera out again this week with me to finish it off.

blue

It's always a nice surprise to get something developed after a while from actually taking the photos. None of this instant gratification of the digital era for me, I say! Just good old fashioned film, negatives and prints. The Fuji Superia 800 never fails with its colours on a sunny day out with the Holga either. It's a shame I'm a bit lazy to clean the dust off these scans properly, so please, just turn a polite blind eye to that fact and enjoy the colourful lounge wear! :D

one shoe two shoes

Sometimes it still amazes me how close I can get to some people to take photos and for them not to care or notice. This couple had such nice mirroring positions and odd shoe arrangements I dared to step closer and I didn't even get them to turn their gaze at me. A lovely moment I wish happened every time I wanted to document something odd going on around me. :)

centre point

And here starts the "new" half of the roll (yes, he was yawning!). I went over to my favourite place of quiet reflection on Thursday this week. I have spoken about the beauty and meaning of the British Museum to me before, so I won't bore you with the philosophy of it all today. Just enjoy the moments I had whilst visiting one of my favourite places in London.

front and sky

The Superia really is superior for colour on gorgeous sunny days, don't you think? There is no editing on photoshop on the colours here. I swear! Just look at that intense blue of the sky. Good enough to eat, right?

shadow

Early morning is the best time to visit to get the best effect of the Great Court and see the play of the shadows the ceiling throws across this vast architectural space. A truly inspirational place to be standing in. And to think I remember the time there was no Great Court to admire when I first moved to London! Where would I be without it now? :)

lost in great court

Ah, and an old series creeps up on me... As a nice "lost" moment below me unfolds, literally. The best view of the Great Court is actually from the West Wing (no pun intended). Just take the first set of great stairs up from your left when you enter from the main entrance and go all the way up. From a small viewing balcony to your left at the top you're able to see the whole Great Court in the best light if you come first thing in the morning.

profile

Like these shadows! I have taken photos in from this spot before, I know. I just can't resist the play of the people, the shadows and the architecture of those stairs here. And yes, this is a colour photograph (no more Superia gushing I promise!).

breakfast meeting

These tables at the cafe are usually more full, but for some reason there were only these two men, deep in thought, over their papers that Thursday morning. Nice light, nice posing. Shame about my scan quality. :)

In other (good?) news; there should be more blogging and street photography coming your way this autumn as the wedding season draws to a close and I can focus on some more personal projects. Next time I'll be out and about with the digital cameras, I'd think. Oh and I have been drooling over the new Olympus E-P1 cameras online. It's neither healthy or wise, but they look so gorgeous... Let's see how long I last before I cave in and get one! :D

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take back the city

nobody@vox.com(pebaline) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 19:11:03 +0100

Hello chaps! Remember me?! :D Well, here I am after a lovely London Saturday on the streets of London after a long while. It's been aaaaaages since I've had a Saturday off and felt like picking up a camera, but today there I was. Armed with my trusty 35mm Holga, film and late August sunshine to spur me on I wandered about Farrindgon and Smithfields during lunch time.

la cucina

Actually, it was early lunch time, as you can see and I was on my way to get my hair cut. (I wanted a change and I sure got one!) ;)

fruit

What a peachy Saturday it has been indeed. I get my hair cut at the Glass hair salon (site under construction by the looks of it) at Barbican, a skip and a jump away from Smithfields, so it was a lovely walk back for me showing off my new do. :D

sneeze

Hope this wasn't a case of the old swine flu... She didn't look too well or too happy to be out and about today.

On a side note: Taking the Holga 35mm out with some film was so lovely. It's been ages since I shot anything on film and it was great. I had my prints done in SnappySnaps this afternoon though and they messed them up (again). So, I had to put the negs through my scanner and my Canon scanner has issues with film higher than 400iso. Perfect, as these Fuji 800ZPro prints come off nothing like the punchy colours they should be. (I called the lab and they are reprinting my film as they did 80% of the roll off frame *sigh* Labs just aren't what they used to be...)

hide

Just couldn't wait for the reprints to show you these, so I'm posting these anyways. There were so many great moments going on today. I loved this guy hiding from me when he saw the camera. Really nice moment this.

princess news

Sometimes I wish I could zoom a bit with the Holga, but alas, this is also still quite nice. If the scan wasn't so crappy you could actually see the "Love" ads more properly at the front of the newsagent, just have to point them out for now... ;)

dad

Dad's are great, aren't they? :D What a safe crossing for the little ones. I wish I caught some traffic in this, but the cars were too quick and so was the daddy. You can barely see a shadow of the traffic passing in the bottom left hand corner.

A true photographer always finds the best angle. She certainly had the right idea for her tourist photos. :) Blackfriars is undergoing some major works at the moment to get ready for the crossrail to come (for the Olympics of course). The traffic is bad, but it also provides a nice backdrop even on Saturdays.

life's too short

There are also a lot of workmen around in their high viz gear around all over Blackfriars Bridge all the time. Not sure what he was supposed to be doing, but what he was actually up to was quite photogenic. Look at the lovely London clouds as well. Perfect August day today, really!

legs

All the legs and shadows caught my eye in this. And then there's that ad up there pulling a nice oops-face as a bonus. Damn SnappySnaps, if I could only show you the prints from all these photos...

couple

... this one especially. The scan does this no justice, but what can I do. This was actually my last frame before turning the film in for processing. It's a a hip shot from walking across the road. I saw this couple, aimed, shot and this is what I got. A nice photo for my ongoing couple series, don't you think?

It really was lovely to be out there again to be shooting, I can't say that enough. And of course on film. I really have missed my Holga(s) and good analogue action, but the weddings are still going on thick and fast and I am really enjoying shooting them as well. You can see my SusieShoots gallery for updated wedding goodness (in the gallery section) and I do blog over there now as well. This far 2009 has been an amazing year and I really have enjoyed it. Let's hope it can only get better. :)

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visual diary - leaving

nobody@vox.com(pebaline) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 11:32:59 +0100

evening

Before I knew it the last days of the holiday was drawing to a close, the summer days over and I was yet again packing. Living abroad certainly has its benefits, but being in two places can sometimes be quite hard. I am glad I am able to enjoy two countries, two cultures, two separate ways of living in my life though.

blue skies

The home sickness and melancholy don't hit me usually until I am above in the skies looking down to my home country. It's a funny feeling of deprivation flying. For me it's like a teleport between two lives between where I am from and where I belong.

on the plane

Planes are also often very melancholy places that I don't get to photograph, so I'm glad I brought my digital SLR with me on my holidays this year. It made the ease of documenting and capturing moments very organic for me. I have some lovely memories to go with all photographs this year as well. But this lovely diptych my friends also brings my visual diary in this blog to an end. For now it's back to the weddings, events and the occasional street photography! :)

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visual diary - home is where the heart is

nobody@vox.com(pebaline) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 19:30:04 +0100

grass

Finland is a beautiful country in the summer. And one of the best things is that even in most larger cities you have to walk less that 5 minutes and you are in the middle of some kind of greenery, forest or a park. I miss the nature dreadfully sometimes in London and often crave for peace and quiet that in the big city is hard to achieve.

kaura

There is something magical about the light in the summer as well. Finland is one of the countries that has midnight sun, so the summer months are very light almost 24 hours a day. This photo brought me back memories of my childhood summers in the countryside when the fields turn a golden hue this time of the year and every day is full of sunshine.

strawberries

The summer fruit and veg are also gorgeous, and most things you can pick yourself, making everything automatically organic. One of the best tastes of the summer for me is slightly melted vanilla ice cream with fresh strawberries.

rusakko

Oh and being so close to the nature all round you also get to share the city with the wild life. This little fella was sharing an evening walk with mum and me one night. Not far from the city centre! :) I think I prefer the rabbits in Finland to London's city foxes to be honest, after having experience of both this year. :D

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visual diary - day trips

nobody@vox.com(pebaline) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 09:43:05 +0100

flower festival

During the days in Tallinn we took a few day trips. Part of one of them was a visit to the annual flower festival, which was by the old town walls. What a beautiful setting!

zoo

Another sunny day was spent in the Tallinn Zoo, which is HUGE! I always feel very ambivalent in zoos; it is great to be able to see all the different animals so closely, but at the same time my heart breaks for the captives. The polar bear was magnificent if not a bit hungry the afternoon we met.

vanalinn

The city centre is full of tourists from all over the world in the summer months. Some of them are cooler than others. ;)

on the road

But before we knew it the days had flown by and it was time to head home. The easiest way to cross the Gulf of Finland is on the ferry, with all the other travellers.

linda line

Tallinn is actually an easy day trip do from Helsinki, if you ever happen to that neck of the woods and thinking of something different to do. But for us it was time to spend some more time in Finland.

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visual diary - esoteric Tallinn

nobody@vox.com(pebaline) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 20:09:05 +0100

nikolai

Our apartment in Tallinn was opposite of one of the many beautiful orthodox churches. Sitting on the deep window sills was one of my favourite moments of the morning. It was lovely to start the day with a quiet, private moment with our new best friend Nikolai.

windows

I was often accompanied by a cup of fresh coffee, the daily paper and my holiday book (the very funny The Worst Date Ever by Jane Bussmann). The summer clouds and people passed by like in a film.

men with purpose

Our last night we actually went to visit the church. It was open to tourists and undergoing some major renovations, but the details visible were still very beautiful. There was a quiet, otherworldly atmosphere inside filled with the lovely scent of the beeswax candles lingering.

religious experiences

We couldn't have asked for better (and quieter) neighbours really.

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visual diary - Tallinn

nobody@vox.com(pebaline) — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 19:47:41 +0100

terminal

A day after arriving back home we were on the road again. Well, actually on water, as we took the ferry across to spend few days in Tallinn, Estonia. The trip across the bay is pretty quick, less than 2 hours, and Tallinn is such a beautiful city. Especially in the summer. Whilst waiting for my sister to join the party I snapped a photo in the ferry terminal as the light sifting in was so lovely.

bag ladies

Tallinn is a very popular holiday destination these days. Not so much about 15 years ago when we first visited, but it still has an amazing architecture and the people are so lovely. We stayed in the Old Town and rented an apartment this time. It was a great choice and brilliant location. Everything in the city centre is within walking distance, but feeling like really being part of the city was certainly better than staying in a hotel.

walls

Every corner you turn brings out something interesting to look at or touch. The Old Town has a very medieval architecture, but the city itself has some amazing buildings still standing and inhabited from all eras. And if you ever think about renting a place be it for one night or couple of weeks we can certainly recommend the Old House! The apartment we stayed in was gorgeous and the service perfect.

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