Lux Fine Photography: Winter

Showing posts with label Winter. Show all posts

Wednesday, 13 April 2011

Reworking No.2

I think I like this version better than the other version of No.2. I just like all the detail - similar to what you get when you take the time to look at a Pollock.

Tuesday, 12 April 2011

I love visiting the Tate Modern - I admit it is my favourite British Museum. I had just finished looking at one of the exhibitions and was walking past the balcony and saw these two admiring the view of the Thames, St Paul's Cathedral and over the Millennium Bridge. I snapped the shot and left them admiring the view and none the wiser.

Tuesday, 5 April 2011

Gare du Nord, Paris

I just liked the way his coat moved.

Friday, 25 March 2011

Flutterbies, Natural History Museum, London

They were just kinda cool. Because some things just are.

Friday, 18 March 2011

Southbank, London

The Southbank is full of things to do and places to be, including being eyeballed by the friendly merry-go-round guy. The Southbank is touristy, but when the Thames is lit up like a christmas tree its very pretty! They do good Italian food as well, even if the wait was excessive.

Sunday, 13 March 2011

Blarney Castle Guard Tower, Co. Cork

Sometimes just looking up gets you a good picture. This is me standing in the middle of the guard tower of Blarney Castle, Co. Cork, and looking up. I had dodge the drizzle but that was all good - not so good for weather for wearing jandals though.

From Wikipedia:

"Blarney Castle (Irish: Caisleán na Blarnan) is a medieval stronghold in Blarney, near Cork, Ireland, and the River Martin. Though earlier fortifications were built on the same spot, the current keep was built by the MacCarthy dynasty, Kings of Desmond, and dates from 1446. The noted Blarney Stone is found among the machicolations of the castle.

The castle originally dates from before AD 1200, when a wooden structure was believed to have been built on the site, although no evidence remains of this. Around 1210 A.D. this was replaced by a stone fortification.[1] It was destroyed in 1446, but subsequently rebuilt by Cormac Laidir MacCarthy, Lord of Muscry.

The castle was besieged during the Irish Confederate Wars and was seized in 1646 by Parliamentarian forces under Lord Broghill. However after the Restoration the castle was restored to Donough MacCarty, who was made 1st Earl of Clancarty. During the Williamite War in Ireland in the 1690s, the then 4th Earl of Clancarty (also named Donough MacCarty) was captured and his lands (including Blarney Castle) were confiscated by the Williamites.

The castle was sold and changed hands a number of times before being purchased by Sir James St. John Jefferyes. Members of the Jefferyes family would later build a mansion near the keep. This house was destroyed by fire however, and in 1874 a replacement baronial mansion - known as Blarney House - was built overlooking the nearby lake."

Saturday, 12 March 2011

Royal Festival Hall, London

The way this building and others on the South Bank were lit up was very cool. I just liked the pretty colours in the night sky. The South Bank is pretty touristy even on chilly nights. Still the lights passed the time while waiting for the bus to arrive.

From Wikipedia:

"The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected (in April 1988). The London Philharmonic Orchestra performs the majority of its London concerts in the hall.

The foundation stone was laid in 1949 by Clement Attlee, then Prime Minister, on the site of the former Lion Brewery, built in 1837. The original plan was that Arturo Toscanini would conduct the opening concerts, but he was unwell, and the inaugural concerts were conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent and Sir Adrian Boult. The hall was the venue for the 1960 Eurovision Song Contest, hosted by Katie Boyle. The first general manager was T E Bean who contributed greatly to the early success of the Festival Hall.

The hall's design is unashamedly Modernist, the Festival's commissioning architect (Hugh Casson) having taken the decision to appoint only young architects. It was designed by Leslie Martin, Peter Moro and Robert Matthew from the LCC's Architects' Department; Martin was just 39 when he was appointed to lead the design team in late 1948. Martin designed the structure as an 'egg in a box', a term he used to describe the separation of the curved auditorium space from the surrounding building and the noise and vibration of the adjacent railway viaduct. Sir Thomas Beecham used similar imagery, calling the building a 'giant chicken coop'.

The building was substantially altered in 1964 by adding the foyers and terraces to the river side of the building and more dressing rooms to the rear. Alterations to the facades facing the river removed the playful Scandinavian Modernism of the building's primary public face in favour of a plainer and hard-edged style. The building's original entrance sequence was much compromised by these changes and the later additions of raised concrete walkways around the building to serve the neighbouring Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and The Hayward, built in 1967/8 and also part of Southbank Centre.

The building underwent a substantial renovation between 2005 and 2007 led by Allies and Morrison Architects aimed at improving the poor acoustics (which Simon Rattle said made performers 'lose the will to live'), production access and flexibility of the auditorium and the general quality of fabric, entrance spaces and cafe and the layouts of the foyers. The interior of the concert hall space was almost entirely intact until this re-modelling, which saw its stage canopy and walls rebuilt in plainer more rectangular forms. This was carried out in the face of opposition from conservationists, led by the Twentieth Century Society. While musicians report improvements in their own experience of the acoustic from the stage perspective, some audience members report disappointment that renovations have failed to improve the acoustics of the hall, largely due to conservation imperatives which are noted by the acoustic developers."

Monday, 7 March 2011

Place de la Concorde, Paris

We had ran to catch a hop on hop off bus and spent the last hour roaming around Paris on it. Because we were late to the bus we were waved up to the top floor and told to pay when we came down. When we came down we went to pay, only to be told 'no I have finished for the day', and briskly walked off the bus. And then there was a lovely vibrant sunset over the Place de la Concorde and all the surrounding areas.

From Wikipedia:

The Place de la Concorde, is one of the major public squares in Paris, France. In fact, in terms of area, its 8.64 hectares (21.35 acres) make it the largest square in the French capital. It is located in the city's eighth arrondissement, at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées. The Place was designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel in 1755 as a moat-skirted octagon between the Champs-Élysées to the west and the Tuileries Gardens to the east. Decorated with statues and fountains, the area was named Place Louis XV to honor the king at that time. The square showcased an equestrian statue of the king, which had been commissioned in 1748 by the city of Paris, sculpted mostly by Edmé Bouchardon, and completed by Jean-Baptiste Pigalle after the death of Bouchardon. The stone is made of a combination of lime and blue stone.

At the north end, two magnificent identical stone buildings were constructed. Separated by the rue Royale, these structures remain among the best examples of Louis XV style architecture. Initially, the eastern building served as the French Naval Ministry. Shortly after its construction, the western building became the opulent home of the Duc d'Aumont. It was later purchased by the Comte de Crillon, whose family resided there until 1907. The famous luxury Hôtel de Crillon, which currently occupies the building, took its name from its previous owners; it was the headquarters of the German High Command during World War II.

During the French Revolution the statue of Louis XV of France was torn down and the area renamed "Place de la Révolution". The new revolutionary government erected the guillotine in the square, and it was here that King Louis XVI was executed on 21 January 1793. Other important figures guillotined on the site, often in front of cheering crowds, were Queen Marie Antoinette, Princess Élisabeth of France, Charlotte Corday, Madame du Barry, Georges Danton, Camille Desmoulins, Antoine Lavoisier, Maximilien Robespierre, Louis de Saint-Just and Olympe de Gouge.

The guillotine was most active during the "Reign of Terror", in the summer of 1794, when in a single month more than 1,300 people were executed. A year later, when the revolution was taking a more moderate course, the guillotine was removed from the square. The square was then renamed Place de la Concorde under the Directory as a symbolic gesture of reconciliation after the turmoil of the French Revolution. It underwent a series of name changes in the nineteenth century, but the city eventually settled on Place de la Concorde.

Thursday, 3 March 2011

No. 7

A day or two this side of spring 2011 on wander to the train station we passed the All Saints with Holy Trinity Church. We stopped for a minute and noticed the ravens jostling for position on the tower. It had a great atmosphere.

Friday, 25 February 2011

London Town

Just another London Town scene - it was just two people saying Hi and Bye but when you look at the picture a whole different story develops. Photographic story telling is fun! The site is close to the Burough Market - a fabulous food market - with to die for coffee! It can be a hard thing getting a good cup of coffee in the UK - you have to savour it when you do come across good coffee.

Saturday, 19 February 2011

People on the Move

Kings Cross has just a lovely buzz and hum about it - a sea of people, vehicles and lights - fabulous. This is a shot from a quick trip to see the British Museum and the wander back to St. Pancras. I like the movement and the stillness of the buildings, and the obligatory cctv camera.

Thursday, 17 February 2011

Balls, Balls, Balls

Just before Christmas last year in the middle of a very cold snap and lots of snow we visited Edinburgh, Scotland. Once you got over it was very cold and got the knack of walking on slushy snow without embarrassing yourself it was rather lovely. This shot is from the German Christmas Market which I am told is a yearly event. It was nice, it had sausage and christmassy goodness. I even brought a delicate wooden christmas tree decoration which unfortunately didn't survive the very long trip home. It got squashed at some point along the way.

Friday, 11 February 2011

Nottingham Canal

The canal runs close to the Nottingham railway station which you cross to get to the station. I grabbed a filled roll and went for a walk, and this made me do a double take. I like reflections and interesting buildings.

From Wikipedia:

The Nottingham Canal was a 23.6 kilometres (14.7 mi) long canal between Langley Mill in Derbyshire and Nottingham, England. It opened in 1796, and most of it was closed in 1937. The southern section is now part of the River Trent Navigation, and the northern section is a nature reserve.

The idea for the canal first rose in 1790. The opening of the Cromford Canal would favour coal transport from Pinxton over pits nearer Nottingham. Moreover transport to Nottingham itself was by the circuitous route down the Erewash Canal and along the River Trent. It was also felt that the canal proprietors would exploit their position.

In 1791 the charter group called in surveyor William Jessop, who had experience with the successful Cromford Canal. Jessop himself was ill at the time and employed James Green of Wollaton to carry out the actual survey, with Jessop preparing the report and assisting its passage through Parliament. The canal would begin at the Cromford Canal, just north of its junction with the Erewash, and proceed to the Trent at Nottingham with a branch to the river at Lenton. In 1792 the canal was promoted through Parliament, opposed vigorously by the Erewash owners who were fearful of possible loss of their water. Jessop proposed a reservoir at Butterley, which would provide a sufficient supply (not mentioning that it would alleviate his own problems at Cromford).

At first, the canal was praised by the citizenry, who saw shipments of building materials, coal, and agricultural tools come in to the area. However, the canal owners' tolls soon became excessive, and led to mass discontent. When the first railways arrived in the 1840s, a number of shippers quickly abandoned the canals. Throughout the 19th century the canal was in continuous decline as a transport route, and it was finally abandoned altogether in 1936.