London Storybook

That's a wrap

2010-10-22T12:18:00.000+01:00

After three and a half years in London, the time has come to move on.

I'm heading back to Australia for the summer. As much as I love the change of seasons here in the UK, the change into winter is always a particularly tough one!

Living in one of the biggest and most exciting cities in the world has meant a lot of ups and a few downs. But it has always been an amazing place to take photos.

I plan to leave this blog as is, to provide a photo album of my time here. And hopefully to inspire anyone else to come and visit or live here. Just bring some warm clothes!

My neighbourhood #2

2010-10-21T06:39:00.002+01:00

Some more photos from my other neighbourhood: West London. I've only lived here in Chiswick for the past six months, and West London for around a year in total, but its undoubtedly my favourite part of the city.

It's leafy and has enough parks and open spaces by the river to satisfy the Australian need for the great outdoors. But there's enough going on not to need to come into town on the weekend for adventure and excitement.

The pubs around here are among the best in the world. A big call, but an afternoon spent at the Roebuck or the Angelsea Arms is a very enjoyable experience indeed.

Fullers Brewery

2010-10-20T13:14:00.002+01:00

One of the last things I wanted to do before leaving London was a tour of the Fullers Brewery.

I'd often jogged and ridden past it on the river and was never sure if it was a proper working brewery. I mean, it looked so picturesque, so historic. Wasn't beer made in industrial parks in the Midlands these days?

Turns out the site in Chiswick has been brewing beer for over 350 years. On the two hour tour we learned that the men that used to shovel the malt from the vats drunk beer continuously throughout the job. And a daily beer allowance for Fullers employees was still in effect up until the 1980s.

A highly recommended and very enjoyable way to spend an afternoon in West London. You can book your own tour here.

My neighbourhood #1

2010-10-01T10:00:00.014+01:00

Some photos from the neighbourhood I've worked in for the past 3 years: Whitehall.

It's a place of two halves. In one, the tourists mill around Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the Palace, 10 Downing Street and the other famous landmarks that stand in such a small area.

For the workers, its a place of huge government buildings, some faceless like the 1960s-era Department for Business, others majestic and historic like the Foreign Office. And on the streets scurry the civil servants, politicians and journos, rushing between meetings, Starbucks runs and trips to Pret a Manger.

OccasionallyI have to remind myself to look up and enjoy the view.

Some people have saved up thousands of pounds to come here and see these buildings. And I'm fortunate enough to walk past them every day.

West London

2010-09-17T12:55:00.002+01:00

Kent day trip

2010-08-22T21:34:00.001+01:00

Deal jetty, 1.06pm

Brighton

2010-07-26T09:51:00.002+01:00

A day trip to Brighton to celebrate my birthday. I took along a Holga medium format camera I've been borrowing to shoot some of the faded seaside grandeur this place does so well.

Devon

2010-06-28T22:18:00.001+01:00

Croyde Bay, 11.08am

I'm in the West Country for four days enjoying the sun, sand and cider that this part of England does so well.

More photos and stories at my travel blog Backpack Storybook.

Dorset weekender

2010-06-13T00:00:00.000+01:00

Hengistbury Head, Dorset 12.49pm

World Cup

2010-06-06T23:46:00.000+01:00

The World Cup has arrived in London. I arrived home one weekend to find the place adorned with English flags. There was flags on each balcony railing, bunting flying high above and flags stretching across the entrance gates.

I wonder what the French couple above us made of it. Or the Spanish family living next door?

First XI

2010-06-05T21:51:00.004+01:00

Chas, Vice Captain

For the past two or three summers I've been lucky enough to play cricket with a fantastic bunch of Englishmen. Their stroke play is incredible. All flashing blades and well placed shots.

I just wish they'd work on their sledging and their fielding! Sometimes I think they could benefit with a season out in Australia. They're too nice.

The highlight of the season is the annual grudge match at the Old Alleynians ground in Dulwich, a leafy suburb in south London. This year we played on a top notch grass track and won by a comfortable margin.

The Wicket (real turf too!)

A comfortable win

The skipper, Sam

The tunnel

2010-05-16T22:31:00.000+01:00

Ravenscourt Park 1.24pm

Narrowboating

2010-04-20T19:01:00.000+01:00

Somewhere on the Kennet and Avon Canal, Devizes

Spring

2010-04-17T23:15:00.000+01:00

Gloucestershire, 12.04pm

Wat Buddhapadipa

2010-04-11T22:59:00.001+01:00

I visited the Thai Buddhist temple in Wimbledon, south London, recently.

It was to see a friend who had spent the past six months in Thailand studying as a buddhist monk. His return had coincided with songkran, or Thai New Year, celebrations at the temple.

With the aromas from the food stalls, picnicking Thais and tranquil gardens it reminded me of my time in Thailand in 2006/07. Back then, encountering these sort of ornately decorated wats was almost a daily occurance in Thailand and Laos.

So it was slightly surreal to be photographing a wat in the middle of the leafy suburbs of south London!

Lomo store

2010-04-05T22:56:00.000+01:00

Carnaby Street, 4.11pm

Cambridge on film

2010-03-06T18:11:00.000Z

Punting on the Cam, 3.34pm

At the wharf

2009-12-17T00:27:00.006Z

I got up early(ish) on Sunday morning to stroll through Canary Wharf, hoping to get some different angles with a Yashica film camera I'm borrowing.

Unfortunately, I chose one of the coldest mornings in London this winter. It was freezing! These photos are shot with my Nikon, the film is still in the camera.

Fast cars

2009-11-26T22:31:00.001Z

Williams F1 car

More auto action, this time at the Williams F1 facility in Oxfordshire.

I was there to shoot a photo call with a Government Minister for work. As usual, it was at a hectic pace with only a couple of minutes in each spot to grab photos. Luckily, afterwards I got to hand around and grab a couple of frames of the car in the spotless workshop.

I don't know what impressed me most: the car itself or how neat the whole workshop was.

November update

2009-10-29T00:28:00.010Z

Royal Institution, London

I haven't posted much here lately, but that's not to say I haven't been shooting a bunch of photos.

I was in France for two weeks earlier this month, surfing and exploring the towns of Capbreton, Bayonne, Biarritz and San Sebastian. You can check it out at my Flickr page here.

And I've also been doing a lot more corporate work with my day job, which has included visits to colleges, conferences and events around London.

Goodwood Revival

2009-09-25T22:10:00.001+01:00

Historic F1 cars from the 1960s

The Revival at Chichester is something I've always wanted to attend, even before I moved to London. Somehow I missed the past few years' events, but I finally managed to get down there this year.

I took both my D80 with a 70-210mm zoom and a borrowed Holga film camera, loaded with Kodak Portra 12o film. The shot above is with the digital on the main straight. I've yet to organise scanning the film but I'll post the results here if I do.

For more shots, see the Goodwood Flick album here.

Le Mans Series

2009-09-11T08:18:00.000+01:00

Silverstone race track, 2.14pm

Bristol

2009-08-29T22:44:00.003+01:00

By the River Avon, 3.59pm

Return to The Oval

2009-08-24T21:42:00.004+01:00

The Oval

Almost two years and week previously I visted The Oval in Vauxhall, south London, to watch India play England in an inconsequential test match.

It rained on and off and my sister and I decided to leave halfway through.

This year I lucked into a ticket to watch Day three of the final Ashes test - Australia versus England. I watched almost every ball and as I relcutantly left with the crowd in the sunny evening I had the feeling that not even Australia could chase down 500-odd runs on a deteriorating track.

Still, it was a great day in the sun and the English spectators surrounding us were remarkably polite about the thrashing they were giving us.

On the hill

2009-08-09T22:12:00.000+01:00

Primrose Hill, 7.45pm

Cornwall

2009-08-09T10:19:00.003+01:00

St Ives harbour

Last week I escaped London and spent a couple of days camping down in Cornwall - my first trip to that part of the UK.

Check out my Backpack Storybook blog here for more words and pics.

Studland

2009-07-04T22:56:00.000+01:00

Old Harry's Rocks, Dorset

Night sky

2009-07-04T00:46:00.000+01:00

Christchurch, Dorset 9.41pm

Wimbledon dog track

2009-06-30T00:34:00.000+01:00

James, my partner in crime

Six dogs, short odds

The grand stand

Gate 19

2009-05-31T23:53:00.000+01:00

Stansted Airport, 10.57am

Taken while waiting for my flight from Stansted Airport to Spain.

Day by the seaside

2009-05-25T22:58:00.004+01:00

On the beach

I took advantage of the sunny, warm weather (what a rare combination) this Bank Holiday to visit the seaside with my friend.

We headed south east from London to the town of Whitstable on the Thames estuary. If you were in the market for a bowl of oysters there was no shortage of vendors to choose from. If, like us, you wanted something a bit more varied or substantial, you were probably out of luck, like we were.

We tried three places for lunch. All were over-run by fellow day trippers so much that the kitchens had run out of food or queues ran out the doors.

Instead we settled on a Fawlty Towers-style cafe on the main street, where one customer was told her prawn and avocado sandwich would be a few minutes longer because the prawns were being defrosted in a sink of hot water. Yum.

4

2009-05-19T21:45:00.002+01:00

Channel 4 statue

Back in March I attended a conference at Channel 4 for work. The building is actually on the route I ride home so I've always looked at it and thought it would make for a great photo one day.

While shooting photos at the conference, I noticed the grey clouds had cleared momentarily so I dashed outside and shot a few frames of this giant '4' on the forecourt.

Cambridge

2009-05-10T23:24:00.004+01:00

Queens College, 12.48pm

New digs

2009-05-09T21:50:00.002+01:00

Clapham, 6.06pm

I swapped rooms with my flatmate last week. I've gone from a little 3m x 4m cell to a great big front room with bay windows and afternoon sunlight.

G20 Protests

2009-04-02T00:06:00.005+01:00

Sir Fred Goodwin effigy

I took a couple of hours out of work today and rode over to The City to take part in the G20 protests.

I decided to shoot with my 50mm lens because it's very compact, a consideration since I also had to walk around with my bicycle. I was able to shoot crowd scenes and pick out a few peoples' expressions while also walking and generally staying out of trouble.

When the protest march arrived at the Bank of England the police began blocking all exits. Luckily I managed to squeak out before they totally surrounded the marchers for the afternoon.

For more photos, see my Flickr album.

CCTV man

2009-03-22T08:14:00.000Z

Brick Lane, 2:37pm

Deck chairs

2009-03-21T18:07:00.000Z

St James Park at lunchtime.

Wandsworth Road

2009-03-20T17:25:00.003Z

First pic with a borrowed Nokia N95

Snow day

2009-02-02T15:19:00.006Z

My street

Proud as punch of my stunted snowman

Wandsworth Road

London from above

2009-01-30T18:37:00.002Z

The City

Had to link to this set of photographs by Jason Hawkes. It really captures the different rhythms of London at night. Incredible.

Neighbourhood

2009-01-25T22:26:00.006Z

Wandsworth Road

New Covent Garden markets

Battersea power station

I went for a walk in my 'hood recently on a rare, sunny winter's day. In the space of a couple of kilometres I passed train tracks, a power station, a teeming market, the river and countless off-licenses.

Autosport International

2009-01-14T22:16:00.008Z

Historic Formula 1 cars

The list of exotic places I get to travel to for work continues to expand. This time I visited the Birmingham NEC for the world's largest motorsport show: Autosport International.

Because the UK is considered the home of motorsport, its not surprising there was a great range of historic cars, from F1s to Porsches and Astons and Ferraris. I spent more time at the historic stands than I did the new cars.

In fact, I wonder if that means you're getting old if you can't recognise the latest model cars and complain that "they all look the same"?

Meeja interviews

Car girls...and hoodies

New Formula 1 car

Elephant & Castle

2008-12-14T22:17:00.001Z

New Kent Road, 2:14pm

National Gallery

2008-12-13T18:45:00.000Z

Trafalgar Square, 2.50pm

Storm clouds

2008-11-23T18:55:00.001Z

Brighton Marina, 1.21pm

November links

2008-11-04T22:24:00.003Z

Bogus blog
18 year old Morgan from California was in Hawaii recently for the start of the winter season. He's got some awesome water shots of big, moody Pipeline. A shame he couldn't stay and document December when the pros arrive.

Flemming Bo Jensen
Copenhagen native gives up several weeks of annual leave to travel to Australia and photograph the Kimberly with his Canon 5D, necessitating waking up before dawn and enduring 40C heat and mosquitoes.

Flickr Folio
Promises to turn your Flickr photo stream into a professional-looking portfolio site. Still in testing.

Using the SB800

2008-11-03T20:33:00.002Z

Mike, loading up one of the many pizzas we baked

I bought a SB 800 speedlight a couple of months ago, but apart from documenting a conference for work it hasn't had much use.

For a friend's going away party recently I said I'd take the photos so he had something to remember the night by. With the low, white curved ceiling it was really easy to get quite impressive looking photos by bouncing the flash. I'm not even close to understanding everything about the SB 800, but already it's producing great shots.

Andy, heading home

Mind you, I still like the effect of shooting with the 50mm 1.8 in available light too.

Back on board

2008-11-02T16:15:00.001Z

Since my day trip up to Manchester in September my life stepped up a gear in October, hence the lack of posts here.

I was in Istanbul in Turkey for a long weekend in late September. I was lucky enough to be there for the last few days of Ramadan and the excitement of the Muslims each night after the evening prayers were a sight to behold. After fasting all day they flocked to the nightmarket stalls and restaurants around the Blue Mosque. There was a real buzz about the place.

As for going from London to Istanbul for four days? Don't do it. I spent two days in transit and was exhausted when I got back. I got some interesting photos though, despite the rain. See my Flickr gallery here.

Following Turkey I went surfing for two weeks in the south of Portugal. Photographically it was a lot like back in Australia where the big blue sky and awesome sunsets made it easy to get great shots. The Portugal Flickr gallery is here.

Now I'm back in London and after the clocks have been wound back I'm finding it tough to be motivated to shoot anything after work in the dark and cold.

Man U

2008-09-17T22:46:00.004+01:00

Old Trafford, Manchester

My tour of the UK's football grounds continues.

Following visits to Coventry City FC and Chelsea, this week for work I visited Manchester , which included a tour of Manchester United's hallowed Old Trafford stadium.

I stood up in the stands. I walked through the labrynth of tunnels inside the stadium. And I walked down the tunnel the players take out onto the field. Coming out of the tunnel into the stadium itself is really something. It must be such an ego boost to run on to the pitch with 70,000 fans cheering you on.

Now all I need to do is attend a Premiership game and watch some actual football.

Regents Canal

2008-09-14T19:30:00.010+01:00

Mile End, at the start of the walk

Gas works Near Victoria Park in East London

Miranda Jane narrow boat near the London Zoo, West London

One of the many hiden gems in London is the network of canals. I spent a warm, sunny autumn Sunday with a friend following the Regent Canal.

It's a 12km route from the Limehouse Basin by the Thames in east London up through Hackney, across Islington and Camden and into Little Venice near Paddington in West London.

(I've sketched a very rough route map using Google Maps here).

On the way we saw the massive gas works in East London. The route also took us past Kingsland Road, where we stopped for super cheap Vietnamese. Pushing on, we tussled through the busy Camden Lock markets and strode out for the finish through Little Venice (which was slightly disappointing after the real canals of Amsterdam).

Liverpool

2008-09-11T23:02:00.004+01:00

Albert Dock, 5.23pm

Read about my weekend in Liverpool here.

Fotografia

2008-09-02T22:50:00.001+01:00

The author in FOAM

Just back from a weekend in Amsterdam. Sure, I did the red light thing and rode bikes everywhere and drank Heineken (you can read all about it here and here)

But I was also really impressed with the number of photograhy exhibitions and galleries around town, particularly in the Western Canal and Jordaan districts.

I visited:

FOAM (5 euro)
This had a really cool exhbition of Amsterdam photographer Kors van Bennekom documenting typical family life, his family, in the city.

Fotografia (free)
Interesting photo shop in Jordaan

Hug Gallery for International Photography (free)
This was closed on Monday but I could still look in and see the awesome still lifes in macro. Great space.

Huis Marseilles (3 euro)
My favourite. Again, a great space but the the library stocked with photo books and the reading room with dozens of photo magazines were two highlights. Spent hours here.

Moorgate

2008-08-28T08:20:00.001+01:00

Through the windscreen of a red bus, 12:27pm

Tools 100 metres

2008-08-26T00:02:00.000+01:00

Near Brick Lane, East London, Sunday 2.35pm

British Museum

2008-08-20T19:19:00.006+01:00

Outside the Great Russell Street entrance

Statue in the Egyptian hall

The Great Court

I ticked off another museum on my long list a couple of weekends ago - the British Museum.

Even though I arrived just 20 minutes after it opened on a Sunday morning, it was packed with people. There was a real life paparazzi scrum around the Rozetta Stone. I even got bashed on the head by an excited Italian chap who filmed the entire text of the stone - one line at a time - with his video camera.

Manor Street

2008-08-15T18:20:00.001+01:00

Manor Street, Clapham, SW4

Roll down

2008-07-26T20:05:00.006+01:00

Meesha sends one down

The gang

Me and my bowl

It was my birthday recently and to celebrate I organised a few friends to come down to a bowls club in Wandsworth for a social roll down.

I got lucky with the weather. Perhaps a bit too lucky. It was almost certainly the hottest day of the year - around 31C. Doesn't sound too hot by Australian standards, but when you're in the middle of a huge city miles from the coast the heat seems to surround you.

We sweated through a dozen or so ends, I lost in a tight game and then we headed straight for the shade to pluck ice cold cans from the esky.

Airshow

2008-07-17T18:51:00.001+01:00

Inspecting the hardware, Farnborough

I went down to Farnborough in Surrey earlier in the week for the big Farnborough Airshow.

Apparently its the biggest airshow in the world but its only held every second year, so I was lucky that work required me to go down there.

I saw the big Airbus Superjumbo, various jet fighters, helicopters and some strange looking pilotless spy planes owned by the US Airforce.

In fact, the more I walked around the more I had this uneasy feeling that the show was one big aeronautical arms fair. There was a lot of money being splashed out on trade stands and corporate hospitality suites. And no doubt a lot of money being spent on missiles and war planes, judging by the models and brochures of such things all over the place.

Rambling

2008-07-13T23:21:00.000+01:00

Jimmy, somewhere near Haslemere

I escaped inner London for the first time in ages this weekend. Two close friends and I caught the train down to Haslemere in Surrey, about 50 minutes outside of London.

In mid-July the countryside in Surrey is incredibly green. Almost tropical.

We chose a walking trail from random earlier in the week from the web. All we had was a blurry map and some detailed directions. Only problem was, once we missed one turn off, we were completely lost.

Still, it was good fun to tramp around through the woods. Even if it did take us three hours just to complete half of the four hour walk.

Clapham

2008-07-06T23:14:00.000+01:00

As seen from my house. 4.36pm

Summer evening

2008-07-03T22:28:00.001+01:00

Howzat!

2008-06-29T18:56:00.005+01:00

Aaron and Neil walk out to open proceedings

I was invited to play in a 25 over cricket match in West Dulwich recently.

I prefer to think it was my terrififc hand eye coordination and calmness under pressure that got me the call up, but in truth I think it was just because I was Australian and they hoped the national team's prowess would somehow rub off on me.

It was a great day out in the June sun and I learnt alot about cricket culture from my English team mates. We golf clapped anytime anyone walked out or was dismissed. We clapped the fielding team when they came in for tea. We especially clapped when we ook wickets, which fortunately was often.

Photo taken with borrowed Pentax Optio E40 point and shoot.

Radiohead

2008-06-24T22:22:00.001+01:00

Radiohead rockin' out in the East End

Back in 1998 I had the chance to go and see Radiohead when they played in Perth during the Ok Computer tour.

Unbelievably there were tickets still available on the night of the concert, for just $35. Being a poor student at the time I wasn't that keen. I had also just bought the Ok Computer album and was still getting into it. I didn't know then that it would become the soundtrack to my whole uni life.

Fast forward to 2008 and when Radiohead announced the dates for their latest tour, I made sure I didn't miss out. I went out to Hackney in East London with a bunch of friends after work and grooved along to their 90 minute set under the stars.

Photo taken with borrowed Pentax Optio E10 point and shoot.

Sailboat test

2008-05-14T19:57:00.005+01:00

Philip, going with the flow of the Thames

My colleague invited me down to Putney Embankment in west London recently to watch him launch his wooden sail boat. It was its first outing after being fully restored.

Coventry

2008-04-30T22:51:00.002+01:00

Thrust 2

I spent a couple of days in Coventry in the UK's Midlands recently for work. This apparently once pretty town was bombed into oblivion during World War II. If this wasn't bad enough well-meaning architects destroyed it a second time with acres of concrete and tower blocks.

But it did have a few gems. One was the Transport Museum, which housed an original Back to the Future Delorean as well as this car (pictured), the Thrust 2 former land speed record holder. Very ugly, but also damn fast.

More photos at my Flickr gallery here.

Thames sunset

2008-04-28T23:02:00.002+01:00

As seen from Embankment, 9.09pm

Victoria Station-ary

2008-04-12T22:35:00.002+01:00

Victoria Station, 8.30am

Big Ben

2008-04-11T21:41:00.000+01:00

Top deck of Bus 24 to Leicester Square, 5.30pm

Single speed

2008-04-07T21:51:00.003+01:00

Simplicity

I borrowed a friend's single speed racer for two weeks and immediately fell in love with it. It was fast, silent and light.

The frame was perhaps a little long for me so it felt like I was practically laying down to reach the handle bars.

With just one speed it was quite hard to accelerate from a standing start, but after a few cranks I was flying. I don't think I got overtaken on the ride to work once.

Snow...in April

2008-04-06T22:23:00.002+01:00

Snowman and friend

Confused by the white stuff

Talking Tate

2008-03-23T11:49:00.007Z

Skylight silhouetteTurbine Hall

Canteen

View to St Pauls

An early mark from work before the Easter break gave me a chance to re-explore some favourite London galleries before the weekend crowds hit.

I started at The Photographers Gallery in Covent Garden, headed down to the river to Proud Gallery at Embankment and then over the Millenium Bridge to the Tate Modern. By this stage it was really raining so I was happy to spend a few hours in the Tate snapping away. I still don't have a decent image of the building from the outside though.

W1V

2008-03-10T22:43:00.003Z

32 Carnaby Street

I finally got organised and headed off to the famous Carnaby Street for a look around last week.

I was so determined to beat the Saturday crowds I made sure I arrived on the stroke of 9am. Then I realised none of the stores opened until 10am, with some not even bothering until midday!

So I had an hour to kill in the backstreets around West London with my camera. Not a bad way to spend the morning.

When the stores did open I checked out a few independent boutiques in the backstreets stocking the sort of mod fashion that made this street internationally recogniseable. Sharp suits, pointy shoes, Ben Sherman target logos. Much more interesting than the mainstream shops on the main Carnaby strip.

South east

2008-03-02T23:00:00.003Z

Atlantic Road, Brixton, 7.28am

Brixton is virtually the next suburb over from Earlsfield. But where E'field is a leafy, nappy-valley type of place with a high street filled with real estate agents and bars, Brixton is the real deal.

Boarded up apartments. Smashed windows. Clubs still pounding with the sound of dance music at 7am. Some very shady looking characters walking around. And here's me in my bright blue cycle jacket with a huge camera around my neck sticking out like a sore thumb.

But Brixton isn't Harlem the whole time. It's got a good sense of community and a kick arse market scene. Want a bunch of plantains, or a halal chicken, or dried catfish? Brixton is the place to go.

Sunset

2008-02-18T21:31:00.003Z

Wandsworth Common, 5.58pm

Amazingly, there is now still some light around in the evenings when I set out on my ride home from Westminster. It's a great feeling after three months riding in the dark.

Today I happened to have my camera in my bag after I was asked to take a portrait of one of the Government ministers that I work with. I only had my 50mm attached, which is really too long for landscapes. Plus I had left my tripod back at the office. So a big, expansive landscape shot was out of the quaetion. Instead, I used the 50mm to pick out this tree to give some interest, while stil getting the colours of the sky behind it.

Walkers in the mist

2008-02-11T21:28:00.002Z

Clapham Common, 8.17am

A week of fine days and cool, clear nights has resulted in some fantastically picturesque mornings. My cycle route to work takes me past Wandsworth Common and through Clapham Common, which both look enchanting in the fog as fellow cyclists and walkers appear and disappear from view.

Surrey

2008-02-10T23:40:00.000Z

Denbies Vineyard, near Dorking

On the Mole Gap Trail

Jacq and Rhys, just happy to be in the sunshine

It's funny, but after two winters in England 14C is positively tropical. That's why we decided to make the most of the sunny weather this weekend with a trip south into the Surrey countryside.

We followed the Mole Gap Trail, a 10 kilometre walk from Leatherhead to Dorking past the North Downs.

Night excursion

2008-02-09T23:16:00.000Z

Albert Bridge, West London

Trying out my Christmas present, a Calumet travel tripod, for the first time.

Museums

2008-02-05T22:25:00.000Z

Natural History Museum

I've finally given in to winter. There's nothing for it but to spend my weekends indoors. Expect a lot more photos of museums, galleries and other indoor locations in the coming weeks.

The Caff

2008-02-01T22:30:00.001Z

The Regency Cafe, Pimlico

I was taken to the Regency by some work colleagues for my first authentic British caff experience. The Regency is a grand old place that hasn't updated its look since it was built in the 1950s.

It's a bit of an institution among the Whitehall civil servants but you've got to be on your toes. Form a queue, order your food, secure a table from the throng and be prepared to spring up to the counter the minute your order is called - or face humilation by the large voiced Italian running the show.

Australia Day

2008-01-27T22:24:00.000Z

Breck, cooking up a storm (outside temp: 6C)

Barbecuing under the cold, overcast skies in the southern suburbs of London is a little different to the Australia Days I am used to. There was no swimming or backyard cricket this year, but there was still plenty of cold beer, Aussie flags, Icehouse on the stereo and a great wacking pile of meat straight off the barbie.

Launderette

2008-01-22T21:49:00.001Z

Downtown Tooting Bec, London.

Parklife

2008-01-12T21:28:00.000Z

Richmond Park

In the middle of London's south western suburbs is a park so big you almost forget you're in one of the biggest cities in the world. I saw a herd of deer grazing on the thick grass, ducks paddling on the numerous ponds and horses enjoying their weekend exercise on the many trails.

Orient Express

2008-01-11T20:32:00.000Z

Orient Express engineer

I ducked out of work at lunchtime to watch the Orient Express steam train pull out of Victoria Station.

The engineer even let me stand on the foot plate for a couple of minutes before they departed. It was quite warm in there next to the open hatch of the firebox. But this is winter. He said in summer the temperature reached 60C.

Flower markets

2008-01-06T17:04:00.000Z

Flower seller (Lomo)

Busker and fan

A morning spent down at the Columbia Road flower markets in London's east.

New Year's day

2008-01-02T20:46:00.000Z

The author and bicycle, near Clapham

New Year's day. Resolutions to be made and plans for the year ahead mapped out. After a hearty meal in one of the only greasy spoons open for business, Jacq and I tooled around the Clapham back streets and found this great wall to shoot a few frames of each other with our bikes.

2008

2008-01-01T21:28:00.000Z

London Eye fireworks, from Vauxhall Bridge

Christmas whirlwind

2007-12-17T06:48:00.000Z

Oxford Street, 7.32pm

There's talk of an economic recession around the corner for booming London town. But after seeing the millions of dollars flowing through the city recently in the form of unrestrained Christmas shopping, I reckon that recession has been delayed by six months or so.

I'm not a fan of shopping at the best of times, but joining tens of thousands of other shoppers in London's big daddy of the high streets - Oxford Street - is equal parts terrifying, disgusting and enthralling.

Every department store is crammed with people. Dance music thumps from the speakers at 140beats per minute. And surly store assistants are even less enthusiastic about serving customers. It's total madness.

Estates

2007-12-15T05:10:00.000Z

The Barbican estate

The Barbican is a large estate in the inner east of London almost right next to the City. It's quite famous for its Brutalist architecture (yes, it's an official term apparently). Out of curiosity Jacq and I made a pilgrimage over there recently to check it out.

Winter wonderland

2007-12-11T19:08:00.000Z

Night markets
The Gang, Hyde Park

It's hard to put a finger on it, but celebrating Christmas during a long, cold winter just seems so right.

I love the Aussie barbecue and the Chrismas morning surf. But somehow, here in the northern hemisphere, the mulled wine, night markets, roast dinners and Christmas lights make sense. It feels more...Christmas-y.

Photos from a recent trip to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park with friends.

Winter

2007-12-07T06:55:00.000Z

St James Park

Westminster, UK - Winter has well and truly arrived. The last of the autumn leaves are falling. The walk to and from the train station to work is made in the dark. The streets around Westminster covered in black clad, hunch-shouldered worker bees. Bright beanies and scarfs the only colour on cold, grey days.

Red door

2007-11-26T02:00:00.000Z

Clapham Junction, Sunday 3.52pm

Westminster photo album

2007-11-18T21:02:00.000Z

Looking east from Vauxhall Bridge

Rememberance Day crosses at Westminster Abbey

For all

Earlsfield train station - my local

Looking down Millbank towards Parliament

The weather has turned. No more riding to work. Dark by 4.15pm. Eating hearty meals and spending most of my time indoors.

As I haven't been on any exciting travels lately and haven't yet started to visit the museums and galleries on the weekend (a real winter activity if ever there was one) I thought I'd put up a couple of images I've shot around London lately.

Walk to work

2007-10-27T05:26:00.000+01:00

Peak hour in the pedestrian lane

Coincidentally, after riding the London Eye recently my new route to work takes me right past the big fella each morning.

I've heard a saying that London is the world in a city and sometimes it's easy to see why. There are world famous landmarks around each corner, even during a 'boring' old walk from the train station to work.

And the train itself takes me through suburbs home to people from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and yes, even Kiwiland.

London eye

2007-10-26T02:31:00.000+01:00

About the best photo I could manage"Erm, I think that's Embankment over there."

Jacq in the pod

Hot tip for all you future London tourists out there.

Definitely, definitely make sure when you pay £13 to ride on the London Eye that the weather is going to be fine.

Or at very least, not raining. Otherwise, as Jacq and I found out, you might not see very much at all. And therefore spend 30 minutes in a glass pod with a bunch of bored kids and exasperated parents.

Freewheeling

2007-10-25T19:42:00.000+01:00

The main straight, St James Park

London's Mayor, big Ken Livingtone, is a bit of a bicycle fanatic. During his watch there's been a big increase in the number of people cycling. something like 100% since 2000. There's more bike lanes. More bike parking areas.

On the weekend just gone he put on the London Freewheel event, which saw main roads between Buck Palace in the west and London Bridge in the east closed to traffic all day. More than 30,000 cyclists turned out to reclaim the city for a day.

Funny thing is, I've since learnt Ken doesn't even ride a bike. Something about an incident when he was younger. The challenger for the upcoming mayoral elections, Boris Johnson, does ride. But his bike is constantly getting stolen. I think he's up to bike number seven at the moment.

Autumn

2007-10-22T18:21:00.000+01:00

Autumn leaves

If there's any good to come of England's slow, inevitable march into winter, I suppose I would reluctantly suggest that the change of seasons here is pretty spectacular.

The enormous trees in the common up the road from our house have finally turned yellow, orange and red after a summer of stunning deep green.

I made myself get out of bed early on Saturday morning (it was still dark at 7am) put on a couple of layers, my gloves, jacket, mask and helmet and cycled up the hill to shoot a few frames of the colours of autumn.

Carnival!

2007-09-28T21:04:00.000+01:00

Notting Hill CarnivalThe crowd

This weekend it was the Notting Hill Carnival. Everyone I'd talked to that had been before said they were glad they went, but that they wouldn't go back in a hurry. It's that sort of day.

We arrived bang in the middle of adults day on Monday of the Bank Holiday. A spicy fog of barbecuing jerk chicken hung in the air. Reggae beats boomed from the (often home made) bass bins of the infamous sound systems on every second corner.

Freaks, weirdos, rastas, tourists, middle class gawpers, home boys, white boys and police rubbed shoulders along the many side roads. Entire streets of shops were boarded up with plywood like they were expecting a hurricane. Which they were, of sorts. A storm of people.

Clapham 3:01pm

2007-09-19T00:32:00.000+01:00

Not so Reliant eh?

Touch action

2007-09-05T20:47:00.000+01:00

Nick, aiming for the try line
Team Canada

I won a free team registration into the TNT Magazine Touch Rugby World Cup this week. So I put together a motley crew from the people I play touch in the park with each Saturday and away we went.

Jacq came down halfway through our four games and shot some of the action with the 70-210mm zoom lens.

Massing in London

2007-08-31T21:00:00.000+01:00

Soho, London

My friend James

It's the last Friday of the month, it can only mean one thing: Critical Mass.

Earlier this summer, before I had a bike of my own, a good friend organised for me to borrow one to take part in this 'organised coincidence'. Every last Friday of the month a couple of hundred cyclists meet near Waterloo Bridge in South Bank and at 7pm ride off into peak hour traffic of central London.

After my first Mass I promptly went out and bought a bike. Since then I've been riding to work most days and tooling around town on the weekends too. Beats the hell out of catching the tube or train.

This month's mass was a pleasant ride through the heart of London. Past Holborn, down Tottenham Court, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus and beyond.