London

vans

Image | | andy townend

Having arrived at Heathrow this morning on a red-eye from Lagos, and finding myself unable to check in to my hotel for several hours, I took to the streets like any other self-respecting homeless person, by which I mean no disrespect to actual homeless persons, it is of course no laughing matter.

I had two main goals, one was to find breakfast (which I did, and I must have looked particularly hungry as an additional slice of bacon was added to my bacon roll and coffee), and the other, that was to walk along the South Bank to the Tate Modern. My plan being to spend six hours or so in quiet artistic contemplation, before the hotel would throw open its portals (or at least activate a smart card) to me and my battered luggage.

I also had the foresight to bring my camera with me, my Fujifilm X100F, which has now has become my constant travelling companion.

Continue reading…

Heritage

Image | | andy townend

‘Call me (call me) on the line
Call me, call me any, anytime’

Call me – Blondie

For WordPress weekly photo challenge – heritage

*Shot near Chiswick Park underground station, Fujifilm X100F with fixed 23mm lens at ISO200 , 1/400s and f/5.6*

Remember a time? A time before mobiles, the internet? Remember when the only way to call, was this?

frame

Image | | andy townend

That’s rule number one for a photographer, isn’t it? Fill your frame?
― David Cronenberg, Consumed

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For WordPress weekly photo challenge – frame

*Shot with Nikon D700 and AF 80-200mm f/2.8 D lens, ISO200, 200mm f/2.8 1/5000s, edited in Lightroom CC and Analog Efex Pro 2*

See also my contribution  on salamancastreets

 

shard

Image | | andy townend

“I don’t wish to be the symbol of anything. I’m only myself”
― Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead

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All images shot with Nikon D700 and Nikkor AF 80-200mm f/2.8 D lens in manual mode at ISO200 and various combinations of shutter speed and aperture.

built (environment)

Image | | andy townend

A doctor can bury his mistakes, but an architect can only advise his clients to plant vines
― Frank Lloyd Wright

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f/16 1/40s

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f/16 1/60s

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f/1.6 1/6400s

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f/1.6 1/8000s

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f/16 1/30s

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f/16 1/60s

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f/10 1/25s

I felt inspired this afternoon and so I rounded things off by shooting one of my favourite locations in London, the Tate Modern, and more specifically the new extension tacked on to the back.

*All shots taken with Nikon D700 with Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.4 lens with ISO200 in manual mode, some of the settings I like to claim to be ‘creative’, or maybe it was that Mexican beer?*

poetry | 101 | rehab | smile

Image | | andy townend

There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

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blue eyes
that
hold, no
lies

sparkling smile
that
holds, no
wile
(nor guile)

words
softly, spoken
not, just
words

what lay,
inside

all
those
years

it is clear,
to me

now

smile

This week, my poetry prompt is simple, it’s smile. Why not?

narrow

Image | | andy townend

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness
― Mark Twain

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Wandering the streets of London, taking a break from working, I found my road blocked by the Prudential RideLondon Classique, apparently the richest women’s one-day race in professional cycling and awarded UCI WorldTour status by the world’s governing body for cycling, the Union CycIiste Internationale (UCI), the race was taking place on a spectacular 5.5km circuit in central London.

And, as luck would have it, I had my camera with me. In manual mode.

For the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge – Narrow
*Shot with Nikon D700 and Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.4 g lens at ISO200, f/1.4 at 1/1600s*

perspective

| andy townend 
“windows are the eyes of the soulless”
 ― thomas ligotti, the nightmare factory

how big was your bonus?

could you afford this week’s groceries?

on whom is the onus?

to ease,

their miseries?

(for justine’s eclectic corner)

*shot with nikon d700 and nikkor 70-200mm f/4 lens, irony lost*