The East Finchley Open (EFO) is a new voluntary group of visual artists and craftspeople who work independently in East Finchley, North London.

Our first event is a series of exhibitions showing and selling our members’ work at local venues, homes & studios.

If you want to know more about us, get our catalogue or come to our stand in Cherry Tree Woods at the East Finchley Community Festival on the afternoon of Sunday 27th June.

My interest in this event is entirely selfish, as I’m one of the artists who is exhibiting their work :-)

Website: East Finchley Open

A few final images from Holland.

I didn’t have the opportunity to take many photos during my recent visit to Holland, as I was sitting rather gingerly on a bike saddle for most of the 4 days. We did a brief walking tour around the old part of Amsterdam on the final day - I will definitely have to go back for a longer stay.

I’ve now returned from my 3-day, 300km cycle challenge from London to Amsterdam to raise money for Mind, the UK mental health charity. Despite having a rather sore posterior and tired legs, I really enjoyed it - the other 30 people on the trip, the weather and Holland were all great. I will be posting some photos during the next few days.

Website: MIND

Tuesday was a sunnier, warmer day with blue skies and wispy clouds, perfect for another lunchtime stroll with the Canon G3. This time the swivelling LCD of the G3 proved essential, as it meant that I could point the camera up towards the sky and still accurately compose the photo. I don’t think I could have taken the first photo in this series with my Canon 10D or any camera with a fixed LCD screen.

You can click on each image to view a larger / better quality version over on my personal website, markgoldstein.co.uk

You can also view the Spring album of 12 photographs

A few more shots from my recent lunchtime venture into the country (well, just up the road from where I work anyway). The G3 seems to be working it’s magic as I’ve been out a few times to use it when normally I would just sit at my desk - kind of the reason why I bought it…

You can click on each image to view a larger / better quality version over on my personal website, markgoldstein.co.uk

You can also view the Spring album of 12 photographs

Plants, macro and still-life aren’t really my main photographic interests, but the recent purchase of a Canon PowerShot G3 and a spare lunchtime made me go for a short walk near where I work. An hour later I had walked about 500 yards and taken 71 photographs :-) Composing via the LCD screen will take some getting used to, but so far the G3 has impressed me.

You can click on each image to view a larger / better quality version over on my personal website, markgoldstein.co.uk

You can also view the Spring album of 12 photographs

I’ve just returned home unscathed from a weekend of mountain biking in the Afan Forest, South Wales. So normal service has been resumed here on PhotographyBLOG, until next weekend when I will be at my friend’s stag night extravaganza :-)

On a cycling-related note, at the start of June I’m undertaking a 3-day, 300km cycle challenge from London to Amsterdam to raise money for Mind, the UK mental health charity. In addition to all of the training that I’ve been doing, I also have to raise ?1000 in sponsorship.

So if you would like to show your support with a pledge, I would be very grateful :-)
You can a make a donation via this website:

Website: My Personal Donation Page

I’ve included some information below about some of the work Mind does and what my sponsorship money can help to fund.

Mind is the leading mental health charity working with the one in four people who experience mental health problems, which are common and can happen to anyone. Such problems can have a devastating effect on all aspects of life.

The MindinfoLine is a lifeline to many thousands of people in crisis. It offers immediate, free and confidential support to people who might have nowhere else to turn. The scale of the problem is daunting and Mind is committed to increasing services, to helping everyone who needs Mind’s help.

Sponsorship from just one London - Amsterdam cyclist could pay the running costs of the MindinfoLine for two working days, during which time Mind can help 200 people in distress.

Website: MIND

Thanks very much for your support!

Tuesday 27th April was Freedom Day, commemorating the 10th anniversary of freedom in South Africa. Crowds gathered in Trafalgar Square, London, to both remember and celebrate. Here are a few candid portraits.

You can click on each image to view a larger / better quality version over on my personal website, markgoldstein.co.uk

You can also view the Freedom Day album of 34 photographs

Tuesday 27th April was Freedom Day, commemorating the 10th anniversary of freedom in South Africa. Crowds gathered in Trafalgar Square, London, to both remember and celebrate.

You can click on each image to view a larger / better quality version over on my personal website, markgoldstein.co.uk

You can also view the Freedom Day album of 34 photographs

This is the final part of my St. Paul’s Cathedral series. For some people that may be a bad thing, for others it may be a relief! I’ve learnt the following things from posting these particular photos:

1. I should really calibrate my monitors - quickly!
2. I need to find a converging verticals Photoshop tutorial.
3. There are a limited number of views of St. Pauls, and they all seem to be cliched.
4. Despite that , I still like these photos :-)
5. You can’t please everyone all of the time…

You can click on each image to view a larger / better quality version over on my personal website, markgoldstein.co.uk

I bought my Canon EOS 10D digital SLR camera exactly 1 year ago, and in that year I’ve taken nearly 10,000 photographs with it. To help celebrate my first anniversary of ownership, I’ve selected 24 of my favourite images from the past year and presented them in chronological order. There is no commentary or technical information, just the bare 24 photos to look at and (hopefully) enjoy.

Article: Canon EOS 10D: A Year in Pictures

Well, after yesterday’s mixed reaction to the first part of my St. Paul’s Cathedral series, here are 5 more photographs from the same shoot. I’m curious to know if the shadows in these images look “blocked” or not on your monitor? These are the first photos that I’ve edited on my new LCD monitor, which compared to my 3-year old CRT monitor displays a lot more detail in the shadow areas. Having two monitors running side-by-side has made me question which one is showing the “true” colours (if there is such a thing). I think I’m going to have to invest in a monitor calibration device…

You can click on each image to view a larger / better quality version over on my personal website, markgoldstein.co.uk

An impromptu visit to St.Paul’s Cathedral on Friday evening resulted in some great photographs (even if I do say so myself) of one of London’s most famous landmarks. The beautiful early evening spring light lit up the dome of the cathedral, whilst casting the surrounding buildings into shadow. Despite part of the cathedral being shrouded in cloth due to repair work, I think these photos are some of the best that I’ve taken for a while (with more to follow in the next few days).

And all because of the light…

You can click on each image to view a larger / better quality version over on my personal website, markgoldstein.co.uk

Signs are everywhere, telling us what we can and cannot do, where to go, what to pay. But how many do you actually notice and digest? And do they make good photographic subjects? These 6 different signs form the last part of my local high street series.

Almost everyone would walk past these inconsequential everyday objects, located in a quiet residential side street. Even I would walk past them most days. Do they make good photographic subjetcs? Are they even interesting? I’m still not sure…

The part of London that I live in only has a relatively short high street with less than 75 shops, but nonetheless there are some intriguing shop fronts. A pub with a stag on its roof, a designer dentists and the local Geneal (sic) store are just some of the local attractions on offer.

After over a month of posting Tenerife photos (I still have a couple of days worth to sort through yet), I’ve returned home with these shots of my local high street. It’s amazing what you can find just yards away from where you live, if you put your mind to it. An hour of walking up one side and down the other produced some good (if not particularly noteworthy) pictures, although the grey overcast sky didn’t really help.

A few more shots of the Nifu Nifa musical clowns to help brighten up your Easter Sunday :-)

There was very bright sunshine during the Nifu Nifa performance, so most people who bought a programme ended up using them as sunscreens. Only one person that I could see was actually reading her copy.