Somerset House ice rink in central London gets quite crowded in the evenings, making it difficult to pick out individual skaters from the crowd. This photo was the best one from around 40 frames. The look of concentration on the girl’s face and the watchful eye of the woman behind her combine to make the image what it is.

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Trafalgar Square is often at the centre of many London events; carnivals, parades and more often than not protest marches. At the moment the traditional Christmas tree (donated by Norway) and the lighting up of the National Portrait Gallery has turned it into an altogether more peaceful place.

View more Brightening Up London photos

As part of the Brightening Up London campaign, Evening Standard readers were asked to vote for their favourite image from 3 choice; Peace, Charity and Hope. The winning image, Hope, was projected onto the National Portrait Gallery on December 19th, and is I think a fitting image for what has been a turbulent year internationally.

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Every year the courtyard of Somerset House in central London is turned into an ice rink, complete with floodlights and Christmas tree. The House itself forms the perfect backdrop to an enchanting winter scene. Tickets sell out fast and the small rink gets quite crowded, especially in the evenings when this shot was taken. Consequently it’s a lot easier to take wide-angle shots of the ice rink than close-ups of individual skaters.

This shot was taken using the ISO 800 setting on the Canon EOS 10D, which produces a grainy but perfectly acceptable image, and at the same time allowed me to handhold the camera and get a sharp image (no tripods are allowed without prior agreement). I used a slowish shutter speed of 1/30th second to blur the movement of the skaters and help convey a sense of speed.

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10 Trinity Square is just behind Tower Hill tube station, near Tower Bridge and, erm, the Tower of London :-) It took me over an hour to get there, due to the usual Tube delays, and when I arrived at about 10pm the public park in front of this building was locked up for the night. Luckily the railings were wide enough to shove my camera through, balanced precariously on a tilted tripod. I also had to tie the branches of a small tree to the railings to remove it from the frame. Unfortunately I forgot to untie it so I guess it will grow a little haphazardly in future…

View more Brightening Up London photos

Over the past couple of months PhotographyBLOG has been focusing more on equipment than on photos, and more specifically my photos. One of the site’s objectives stated on the About page is “to allow me to occasionally post my own photos and work-in-progress”. Taking advantage of the Christmas period, I intend to post one photo a day for the next week or so, and see if I can carry on into the New Year.

I’ve spent most of December literally in the dark, standing freezing in deserted parts of London, looking at brightly coloured public buildings. I blame Bob Geldof, the organiser of the inaugural Brightening Up London event, for dragging me outside when most people are inside watching Eastenders. Actually, I should thank Sir Bob for helping me to avoid that fate! Wellington Arch was the first building to be lit up, and last week the Heart FM radio station added their image to it. Click on the photo to see a bigger version.

View more Brightening Up London photos

Bob Geldof’s Brightening Up London campaign, which started on December 2nd with Wellington Arch, has continued throughout December with several more famous buildings having images projected onto them. I’ve managed to get along to most of them, although I did miss the National Theatre last week and the National Potrait Gallery the week before. The event doesn’t seem to be very well advertised, as there has been almost no-one there when I’ve visited, and most Londoners don’t seem to know that it’s happening, despite Bob himself appearing on Jonathan Ross’s Friday night chat show to help promote it. I think it’s a great idea that just so happens to be a great subject for photography, and I’ll be going out again several nights next week to visit the remaining buildings.

Queen’s House #1	Tate Britain #1	Queen’s House #5
Queen’s House #2	St Mary le Strand #2	Tate Britain #2

London at this time of year is usually cold, wet and generally pretty miserable. To help cheer up us unhappy Londoners, Bob Geldof has come up with the bright idea of projecting images onto some of the capital’s most famous buildings throughout December. The project is called “Brightening Up London” and it started last night at Wellington Arch near Hyde Park Corner. Bob himself was there to switch on the lights.



When I arrived at 6pm there were surprisingly few people present, and even fewer photographers. By 7pm, most of the TV and press people had disappeared and I almost had the place to myself, apart from a few bored security guards. The weather was predictably overcast and drizzly, but I managed to capture the different images that were being projected onto the arch, once the people who were standing by it had disappeared. I’m convinced that they will make great 15x10 inch prints.



Anyway, click on these thumbnails to see how they look at the much smaller size of 600x400 pixels:

Wellington Arch #1	Wellington Arch #2	Wellington Arch #3

This morning it was so cold that there was a frost in London. I had to scrape a thin layer of ice off my car windscreen for the first time this winter. It was one of those beautifully clear, sunny and cold mornings that are fantastic for photography. As I sped northwards along the M1 motorway at 70mph (or thereabouts), slightly late for work as usual, I had to force myself to look forwards rather than sideways, as I drove past countless great photo opportunities. Mist rising as the frosty fields were slowly heating up, causing localised fog in small dips in the terrain. The sun barely visible on the horizon, but still giving a warm glow. A winding river just visible through the white mist hanging above it. The sort of vistas that any photographer would give their right arm for, even someone like me who isn’t all that interested in landscape photography.

But I had to got to work to do a job that has no connection with photography. Like most amateur photographers, I don’t have the luxury of being able to pick and choose when to get out there and take photos - I’m restricted to weekends, late evenings and early mornings. And like most photographers, I’m not in a position to give up the day job just yet. I only wish that I had been in that position this morning…

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The title of the photograph, the month and year when the photograph was taken, and my signature appear on the back of each photograph/mount. I can deliver to both the United Kingdom and Overseas.

markgoldstein.co.uk

markgoldstein.co.uk - Price List

The Channel 4 Television HQ, near Victoria Station in London, is designed by the same architect, Richard Rogers, as one of my favourite buildings, the Lloyds Building. It cost a massive ?38,500,00 to construct and took 4 years to complete, from 1990-94. The primary steelwork is a reddish brown, the exact colour of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco! As part of the London Open House weekend, visitors are let into the building and given a guided tour of the boardroom and roof terrace. Which is where these photos originated from.

Channel 4 Building #1	Channel 4 Building #5	Channel 4 Building #2
Channel 4 Building #15	Channel 4 Building #8	Channel 4 Building #13

Many photographs that I take are destined never to see the light of day or be printed, but a few of them can be intriguing none-the-less. This sequence of abstract shots proves that photographic opportunities can present themselves when you least expect it. They were all taken in the space of 20 minutes on a very sunny afternoon on a recent visit to my Mum and Dad’s house. I haven’t told them yet that their bedroom is currently appearing on the Internet (and I don’t think I will!).

Domestic Abstract #1	Domestic Abstract #2	Domestic Abstract #3
Domestic Abstract #4	Domestic Abstract #5	Domestic Abstract #6

Pearly Kings and Queens #1	Pearly Kings and Queens #4	Pearly Kings and Queens #2
Pearly Kings and Queens #12	Pearly Kings and Queens #8	Pearly Kings and Queens #7

A few weeks ago the annual Pearly Kings and Queens’ Harvest Festival was held at St Martins-in-the-Fields Church in Trafalgar Square, London. I spent a completely mad 30 minutes dashing around the very confined and very contrasty area outside the church; it was a sunny day and there were deep shadows and very bright highlights. Not that great for flattering portraits! Still, I managed to get a few good shots of this very British institution before they headed inside the church for the service.




You can see the full album of shots here:
People - Pearly Kings and Queens

Autumn Leaves #1	Autumn Leaves #5	Autumn Leaves #4
Autumn Leaves #7	Autumn Seeds #1	Autumn Leaves #8

Autumn is in full swing at the moment here in England. Living in London means that you don’t really get to appreciate this fantastic season, as green areas are few and far between, but I did manage a flying visit to Hampstead Heath the other evening before it got too dark (at about 6.30pm!). These were all taken handheld using my macro lens and a wide-open aperture of f/2.8 to keep the shutter speeds fast enough and to throw the background out of focus.




You can see the full album of shots here:
Macro - Autumn

Chinese Moon Festival #11	Chinese Moon Festival #8	Chinese Moon Festival #14
Chinese Moon Festival #2	Chinese Moon Festival #1	Chinese Moon Festival #3

“On the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar, the moon is round and the Chinese people mark their Moon (or Mid-autumn) Festival. The round shape to a Chinese means family reunion. Therefore the Moon Festival is a holiday for members of a family to get together wherever it is possible. On that day sons and daughters will bring their family members back to their parents’ house for a reunion. Sometimes people who have already settled overseas will come back to visit their parents on that day.

As every Chinese holiday is accompanied by some sort of special food. On the Moon Festival, people eat moon cakes, a kind of cookie with fillings of sugar, fat, sesame, walnut, the yoke of preserved eggs, ham or other material. In Chinese fairy tales, there live on the moon the fairy Chang E, a wood cutter named Wu Gang and a jade rabbit which is Chang E’s pet. In the old days, people paid respect to the fairy Chang E and her pet the jade rabbit.

The custom of paying homage to the fairy and rabbit is gone, but the moon cakes are showing improvement every year. There are hundreds of varieties of moon cakes on sale a month before the arrival of the Moon Festival this year. Some moon cakes are of very high quality and very delicious.”




Website: ChinaVista

After waiting patiently for the last 3 months, I’ve finally received the results of my City and Guilds Level 2 Photography course.

It seems that that all the hard work, late nights and swearing back in April, May and June was well worth it, as I’ve passed with flying colours :-)

It’s also a good thing that the results have turned up, as I’m starting Level 3 tomorrow!

OK, OK, I promise that these will be the last Notting Hill Carnival pictures for a while (at least this week anyway).

Notting Hill Carnival Children #16	Notting Hill Carnival #11	Notting Hill Carnival #15
Notting Hill Carnival #9	Notting Hill Carnival #13	Notting Hill Carnival #16

I’m still sorting through my photographs from the Notting Hill Carnival. I took around 1,200 during the 2 days and have “narrowed” the keepers down so far to around 200! My editing skills obviously need some improvement…This selection includes my favourite image so far - the small child in Notting Hill Carnival Children #15. I took about 6 shots of this sleeping child, who was being pushed past in a pram, and this shot was the sharpest and best-composed.

Notting Hill Carnival Children #15	Notting Hill Carnival #14	Notting Hill Carnival #10
Notting Hill Carnival Children #14	Notting Hill Carnival #12	Notting Hill Carnival Children #13

Here are 6 more Notting Hill Children photographs to help brighten up your Sunday morning. Although one or two of the children didn’t seem to be entering fully into the spirit of the event…

Notting Hill Carnival Children #7	Notting Hill Carnival Children #8	Notting Hill Carnival Children #9
Notting Hill Carnival Children #10	Notting Hill Carnival Children #11	Notting Hill Carnival Children #12

As well as the hundred’s of children in the Notting Hill Carnival last Sunday afternoon, there were also as many responsible adults present to look after them. Naturally the adults took the opportunity to dress up and join in the fun :-)



Most of my images from the Carnival were taken with the long-end of my 70-200mm zoom lens, hoping to capture that split-second moment when everything falls into place. I find that this kind of photography is very hit and miss, with more failures than sucesses, and with a lot more “just OK” images than both failures and successes put together. You know, images that are exposed and sharp, maybe even well-composed, but they don’t really have any effect on you.



Saying that, here are 6 photos that I do quite like, especially the first one, Notting Hill Carnival #3.

Notting Hill Carnival #3	Notting Hill Carnival #4	Notting Hill Carnival #5
Notting Hill Carnival #6	Notting Hill Carnival #7	Notting Hill Carnival #8