Early morning stroll

It’s rare for me to pass up the opportunity for some quality photography time in London so when a meeting back in May popped up in my diary I made time for a stroll through the City beforehand.

I meandered south towards the River, keeping my eye open for anything that inspired me to lift my camera.

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When I reached the Thames I still had some time to spare, so I wandered along the south bank, making the most of the views and the deep blue sky which was peppered with puffy white clouds.

Eventually my time was up and I had to go into my meeting, but even there I was presented with a cute photo opportunity in the form of Bea, who obligingly posed for me!

Photos taken 31 May 2022

Shape and form at the LSE

My Dad and I have been trying to find the opportunity for a day in London today for months and in September we finally succeeded.

Our first destination was the London School of Economics. Not your average tourist location, but we’d both read about the new Marshall Building there and we were keen to explore it. Its brutalist concrete lines offered some fantastic photo opportunities and I can’t help thinking I’ll be returning to seek out some more in time.

Photos taken 8 September 2022

Reaching for the heavens

A recent concert took me to Lancing College and a bonus photo opportunity. I arrived early for our rehearsal so I stole a few minutes inside the college chapel, where the low sun was casting some beautiful pools of light.

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I can never resist this sort of light in churches - selectively illuminating the architecture.

Photos taken 3 November 2022

A tale of two halves

When I visited York in May I had plans to spend the day inside the Minster, exploring with my camera. Sadly that wasn’t to be as it was closed to visitors on the one day I had in the city. Instead I strolled the streets with my eyes open to whatever came my way.

I may not have been able to go inside the Minster but that didn’t stop me photographing the exterior!

Buskers near the Shambles - this young boy was having great fun dancing to the music!

Speeding tourists along The Shambles

Down by the River Ouse

My bed for the night was at the Bar Convent, just outside the city walls. An unlikely place to stay, but the accommodation and breakfast were both excellent. Even better, I stole a few minutes to look around the Convent’s chapel after I’d finished exploring the rest of York.

The chapel is hidden in the centre of the convent, with its dome not visible from the road. It’s a perfectly formed Georgian chapel and in the few minutes I was there I found no end of interesting photographic inspiration.

Photos taken 20 May 2022

Colourful Coggeshall

I don’t often choose colour film for my pinhole photography but for my visit to the church in Coggeshall in April it seemed a good fit. On a previous visit I discovered some lovely carving on the choir stalls which I knew would work well in colour and I had some Lomography 400 colour film I was keen to try out too.

I was en-route to an event in Ipswich so this was a good point to stop off and I had a most enjoyable hour exploring the church, looking for compositions which would suit the pinhole approach.

Photos taken 22 April 2022

Cats and cathedrals

It’s not that unusual for a Cathedral to have a resident cat - I’ve met several over the years. However, Southwark Cathedral’s cat, Hodge, has his own Twitter account and has quite the cult following. Each August the Cathedral hosts a feline themed day of talks and this year I was able to go along.

The day started with a stroll down from Liverpool Street Station, taking in some of the city architecture in the early morning sun.

I arrived at Southwark Cathedral early so I went inside to look for Hodge. Fortunately, he was in a chilled out mood, lounging near the door to the vestry, one of his favourite snoozing spots.

A couple more snaps from around the Cathedral as I headed to Borough Market to grab some lunch.

Photos taken 6 August 2022

Return to Romsey

The first time I visited Romsey Abbey was to perform in a concert. It was so cold that March evening that all I remember is feeling utterly chilled to the bone and the beauty of the architecture certainly didn’t register with me! It was time I made a return visit so in May I made a small detour on my way to Somerset to see what I’d missed the first time.

Photos taken 17 May 2022

City colours

I never pass up the opportunity for some photography around the City of London so today I travelled into town an hour early for my meeting so I could take a leisurely stroll down to the River Thames.

Looking out for subjects that interested me, my first stop was the Bloomberg Building, which has some interesting lines and details, along with some rich golden colours.

Further south, I stopped at St Paul’s Cathedral, where I explored the way it interacts with the modern glass architecture of the nearby One New Change shopping centre.

Photos taken 2 November 2022

The long shadows of March

One of my favourite local churches is St John’s in Duxford. It’s no longer used for worship but is instead cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust. A couple of times a year I visit and even though the architecture doesn’t change the light is different every time.

On this occasion I visited in mid-March, when the days hadn’t yet started to lengthen but the shadows were definitely still long and dramatic. There’s something about the light in St John’s which is irresistible, whatever the season, but on this occasion it just called out for a spot of black and white.

Photos taken 17 March 2022

Heading west

A few days after my visit to Ely Cathedral I headed west to Gloucester. It’s been several years since I visited this Cathedral, during which my photographic skills have improved so it was interesting to look at it with fresh eyes and find new opportunities for photos.

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The Cathedral’s 14th century lavatorium - where the monks would once have washed.

Photos taken 8 April 2022