Canary Wharf at night

click photo to enlarge
This isn't the first night time photograph I've taken of the financial district of London called Canary Wharf. And it probably won't be the last. However, if you live in the Lincolnshire countryside, where the brightest light around is probably a security light on the side of a farm, then the opportunity to photograph night views with plenty of lights is one not to be missed.

There was a time when I used a tripod quite regularly, particularly when I photographed more interior church architecture than I do now. These days I reserve that kind of camera support for macro photography. I've always thought one of the best developments in camera technology in recent years has been image stabilisation (or vibration control or whatever term your manufacturer uses). A close second has been the improvement in the high ISO abilities of sensors. Put those two together and the tripod is no longer quite the necessity that it was. Even a pocket camera with a relatively small 1 inch sensor like the Sony RX100 is capable of producing pretty good images after the last light of the day has disappeared.

I had the ISO on Auto for today's shot and it chose ISO 5000 to keep the shutter speed up to 1/60 second, a necessarily high speed given the focal length was 56mm (35mm equivalent). Nonetheless, old habits die hard and I rested the camera on a handy lifebelt point for my photograph and I braced it firmly. The result is a shot that I wouldn't have thought of taking this way with this kind of camera only five years ago, and it's one that is, I think, technically pretty good.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 20.6mm (56mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f3.5
Shutter Speed: 1/60 sec
ISO:5000
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

London balcony views

click photo to enlarge
My current reading includes "21st Century London: The New Architecture" by Kenneth Powell. This interesting book, published in 2011, surveys over 150 notable buildings erected in the first decade of this century and includes a few that were under construction or planned at the time of publication. Two things immediately leap off the page at the reader; firstly the sheer number and quality of new buildings that went up in that short period of time, and secondly, the enormous amount of money that has been spent in London either building, extending or refurbishing major buildings. For example, the Royal Festival Hall refurbishment was costed at £50 million but eventually cost £110 million! The new Wembley Stadium also came in massively over its estimate at £352 million. The relatively minor Roundhouse refurbishment cost £19 million. In fact most of the projects listed in the book cost multiple millions or in excess of one hundred million pounds. The biggest outlay by far is the £16 billion currently being spent on Crossrail, the new rail links that go under the centre of the city. Sums of this magnitude dwarf the spending in other cities across the UK.

Whenever I've visited London over the past twelve years I've enjoyed this view of the centre of London from my son's balcony. And during that time the view has been constantly evolving with new, bigger and more striking buildings taking the place of older structures. Looking over the Thames at the skyline recently I took this evening photograph and noted the number of cranes and the almost completed "Cheese Grater" (left of centre) and the "Walkie Talkie" (near left edge of frame). There is more to come as the pace of change in London in recent years shows no sign of slowing down, unlike elsewhere in the country. One might wish that a significant portion of the largesse showered on our capital could be diverted to the regional cities and towns. But I can't see that happening any day soon.

Out of interest I include a shot taken from the same place later in the day.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Photo 1
Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 31.2mm (84mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/160 sec
ISO:125
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Dipping into the "maybes"

click photo to enlarge
Every now and again I come to the end of my backlog of "postable" photographs. That is to say, those images that I consider good enough to feature in the blog and which I prepare in advance, often well in advance, of the day on which they appear. One of the problems with my self-imposed task of posting on alternate days is that I need to collect, process and prepare, a steady supply of photographs that I deem "good enough" for public display: an activity that I sometimes refer to as "feeding the blog."

But, my well has run dry and so for today's offering I've pulled out a shot that I took on 8th December on my last visit to London. I'd prepared it for posting, but then, as is sometimes the case, decided that it wasn't quite up to par, and put it in my folder that I've titled "Maybes". Well, today a "maybe" has become a "postable". What I liked about this photograph is the viewpoint that embraces the Thames Clipper jetty with a catamaran waiting for its load of passengers before it turns up-river to the City, the O2 Arena (formerly the Millennium Dome), the neighbouring and distinctive Ravensbourne College and the office towers of Canary Wharf beyond the curve in the river. Oh, and the wonderful sky and the late afternoon light coming in from the left. What I wasn't so keen on, and what led to its eventual rejection is the darkness of the foreground relative to the background. Had some direct sunlight got through to the jetty or boat I'd have been much happier, but having the bottom half of the frame darker than the top half doesn't work as well as I'd like. However, needs must, and unless I break my schedule then this shot or one of my other "maybes" has to appear.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 10.4mm (28mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f5
Shutter Speed: 1/125 sec
ISO:125
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

The Thames Cable Car

click photo to enlarge
There has been something of a kerfuffle in the UK because a supposedly independent body has suggested that members of parliament should receive an 11% pay rise and the great majority of MPs think they deserve it. On the face of it the suggestion is reasonable since the parliamentarians haven't taken the pay awards that have been offered in past years and their pay is relatively less than it was. However, the proposal comes at a time when public sector workers are in the middle of a multiple years pay freeze (imposed by MPs), and when the pay of other sectors (the City, directors of companies, senior management excepted) is either declining, stagnant or barely rising. Opponents of the MPs' pay rise rightly point out that they are public sector workers and that unlike most other state employees they are able to take on a second job -  say, a nice non-executive directorship or "adviser" to a company - and that they are in a line of work for which there is no shortage of applicants.

I have a lot of sympathy with the opponents of the pay hike. To their persuasive arguments I would add that the MPs' suggestion that their pay should mirror and be linked to the pay rates of "other professionals" such as GPs (family doctors) is risible: our elected representatives are not professionals. They have no formal training for the job, need no qualifications to secure it and are not subject to regular scrutiny by a professional body, factors that distinguish most professional occupations from others. The government and opposition leaders who are rejecting the advice for the pay rise are doing so for public relations reasons, worrying how it would play with the electorate; it would be better if they refused as a matter of principle. I was reflecting on this when I rode on the Thames Cable Car recently. This £60 million plaything, subsidised by the budget under the authority of the mayor of London is a colossal waste of money, the most expensive cable car system in the world, and the sort of vanity project that you might expect from amateurs - which is what most politicians are. The current incumbent of the mayor's post is famous for his extra-mural jobs, and is reported to have little of the detailed knowledge needed by someone in his position. Moreover, he is widely believed to want the job of prime minister. It was a disaster for the capital when he became mayor of London; it would be a catastrophe for the country were he to achieve his greater ambition.

So, did I enjoy my ride on the cable car. I did! I'd rather it had never been built, but I'm not immune to the delights of being transported over the River Thames at maximum height of 295 feet (90 metres). Not least because it offers opportunities for some great photographs. It's just a pity that money was spent on this fairground project that currently runs at 10% or so of capacity, rather than the much needed pedestrian and cyclist bridge between Rotherhithe and Canary Wharf that has been suggested by Sustrans.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Photo 1
Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 21.5mm (58mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/1250 sec
ISO:125
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Reflections on the Millennium Footbridge, London

click photo to enlarge
The brouhaha that accompanied the opening of London's Millennium Footbridge - it was immediately closed for over a year to correct a wobble induced by large numbers of pedestrians - overshadowed the ambitious nature of the design. Now that it has been in daily use for over a decade the daring of its designer, Norman Foster (assisted by Arup Associates and the sculptor Sir Anthony Caro) is somewhat taken for granted. Consequently I'd like to review just what makes it such an ambitious conception.

The Millennium Footbridge was the first new Thames crossing since the construction of Tower Bridge, and the first ever designed solely for pedestrians. Its novel shape arises from the designers' intention that the views from the bridge of the river and the city should be as clear and as uninterrupted as possible. River traffic and the desire to thrill produced a central span of 320 metres. Only two supports are placed in the water, quite close to the banks. These are elegant "Y" shapes. Looking at the structure it's not immediately apparent that it is, essentially, a suspension bridge. The cables are not slung in the usual manner and closely follow the contour of the deck, never rising more than 7 feet 6 inches (2.3 metres) above it.

The bridge looks slight but strong. It is highly popular with people and makes the journey from St Paul's Cathedral to Tate Modern and the South Bank (and vice versa) a dramatic and exciting walk. My main photograph is taken from the point where a slope up from the south bank riverside walk splits and then rejoins and the footbridge arcs up and over the Thames. I've photographed the bridge before, including from that same viewpoint - see here and here.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen


Photo 1
Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 18.5mm (50mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/400
ISO: 125
Exposure Compensation:  -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Reflecting on cameras and capital cities

click photo to enlarge
A recent couple of days in London coincided with the two warmest days of the year so far and I returned to a cooler, windier, wetter Lincolnshire with a face turned ruddy by the sun. I'd gone to our capital city for a small family gathering. However, the visit also became an experiment with my recently acquired compact camera and I made it an opportunity to photograph some of the city's most recent buildings as well as those that have been around for a few years.

The best way to get to know a camera such as my Sony RX100 is to use it. So, I made it my sole camera for the trip and turned its one inch sensor and 28-100mm (35mm equiv.) lens to the sort of uses that I would usually apply my Canon 5D Mk2 and its 24-105mm, 17-40mm and Tamron 70-300mm lenses. What do I conclude? The Sony does a remarkable job. The screen coped in all but the brightest conditions and I could usually compose quite satisfactorily. Having 20.2 megapixels allows for  quite a bit of cropping without the file size becoming too small, consequently the effective focal length can be easily doubled. Unfortunately its not as easy to widen beyond 28mm. I like 24mm as my standard wide focal length, but all cameras are compromises of one sort or another and this is one I'll live with. I shot JPG only rather than RAW or RAW + JPG. It's less flexible, but less work too, and I found that satisfactory. The colours are good, quite "film-like". The biggest drawback was that a couple of times I inadvertently pressed the movie record button. It's all well and good making movie recording easy, but it's a touch too easy with this camera.

On our second day I walked ten miles round the city in search of shots. I was particularly keen to see how the 20 Fenchurch Street skyscraper (nicknamed "The Walkie Talkie") is coming on, and whether its appearance is improving as it starts to approach completion. The answer to that last question is a resounding "No". It seems to me that this building is the wrong shape and the wrong size for its location which is too detached from the main group of tall City towers and too close to the river. Moreover it intrudes far too much on the view of Tower Bridge from the south.

The other thought I had as I followed the course of the River Thames through the city is that London continues to hog far too much of the nation's spending on infrastructure. I got a real sense that the effects of the depression that are felt right across the rest of the country are barely impinging on the metropolis and that this can only lead to further regional and social divisions that will have bad consequences.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Sony RX100
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 18.2mm (49mm - 35mm equiv.)
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/500
ISO: 125
Exposure Compensation:  -0.3 EV
Image Stabilisation: On 

London and the Walkie Talkie

click photo to enlarge
A new building is appearing in the City of London at 20 Fenchurch Street and already the most eye-catching feature of its design is apparent. This 525 feet (160m) tall tower by the architect, Rafael Viñoly, flares outwards as it rises upwards, an unusual characteristic that has already earned it the nickname, the "Walkie Talkie". You can see it under construction on the left of my main photograph and on the right of the smaller one. This photograph gives an idea of what it will look like when it is completed in April 2014.

I've been fairly supportive of many of the new towers that have appeared in the City of London over the past twenty years or so. However, this building is one that I dislike for its shape and for the way it will intrude upon and overwhelm a location that has many fine and important buildings, including Tower Bridge. The developers must be aware of the disapprobation that the building has engendered because they plan to incorporate a three-level "sky garden" at the top with free access for the public. That has the potential to be visually interesting and very popular, but will do little to mitigate the intrusion of the massive building that will not only tower over its surroundings but will lean and loom over them too.

In some respects the idea of designing a building that offers more space than its footprint would usually allow is a clever and understandable one in an area where the price per square foot of property is so high. But it's not a new idea. The timber-framed "jettied" buildings of the Tudor period sought the same advantage. Moreover, though they didn't go anywhere near as high as the "Walkie Talkie" they did create dark, narrow streets and a sense of enclosure. This is already evident in parts of the City where tall, vertical buildings are adjacent to each other. It would only get worse if the idea encapsulated in this new building became a trend.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 183mm
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/250
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  -1.00 EV
Image Stabilisation: On 

The Shard, viewed and eclipsed

click photo to enlarge
If I take my camera with the 70-300mm lens mounted on it, lean out from the balcony in Rotherhithe where I often stay, brace myself against the metal work and point it upstream towards the centre of London, I can take this photograph of The Shard. I've taken quite a few shots in this way during the construction of the building, some of which I've posted on the blog.

As well as showing the glass spike itself this view also features Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital - the tall building on the left. This utilitarian, concrete structure has sprouted what looks like scaffolding, an indication, perhaps, that it is being spruced up to be a more presentable neighbour for the new tower. A segment of the big wheel that is called the London Eye can be seen immediately to the right of The Shard. To the right of that is one of the pointed roofs of Tower Bridge visible between the two cranes. The buildings in the lower half of the photograph are the converted warehouses and new-build riverside flats along the Thames. The river itself is in the foreground.

The Shard's moment of fame as Europe's tallest building was brief. Apparently its height of 1,016 feet (310 metres) was recently eclipsed by Mercury City Tower in Moscow. It is though, by a big margin, the tallest building in the United Kingdom, though not the tallest structure. That honour belongs to the Emley Moor transmitting station, a telecommunications mast at 1,084 feet (330 metres) that was built in 1969-71 in Yorkshire. I mentioned in a recent post that I must buy a ticket to access the viewing gallery near the top of The Shard and in writing this piece I came across the fact that tickets are already on sale for the opening in February. I think I'll wait for the rush to die down before I buy one. If, that is, it does ever die down.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 228mm
F No: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/60
ISO: 3200
Exposure Compensation:  -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Photograph what you like the way you like

click photo to enlarge
Photographers, perhaps more than many others who work in the field of visual arts and crafts, seem to take far too much notice of the opinions of others. Perhaps it's due to the fact that photography is a mixture of the technical and the artistic. Or it could be because the camera is a consumer durable, heavily marketed, constantly updated, available in multiple forms and hence subject to the familiar tyranny of choice, analysis paralysis and information overload that afflicts much buying today. If you agonise over the camera you buy, visiting countless websites, absorbing myriad opinions, listening to the informed, the opinionated, the "brand fans" and the mildly deranged, there's small wonder that you do the same when it comes to deciding what and how to photograph.

There are plenty of people who will tell you what is a good photographic subject and what are the "best" ways of taking a photograph. The problem is that if you follow this - often contrary - advice, you'll end up making images that look like everyone else's that please them, not you. Of course, if you ignore all the siren voices you may well end up doing that anyway because it's difficult to ignore photographs in our everyday lives and seeing so much we are very likely to be influenced by it. Nonetheless, I consider the best advice anyone can give to a photographer is, "photograph what you like the way you like." Given that is my view you'll realise I've not been one for camera clubs, books about photography, photographic qualifications, competitions or the the lure of professional photography. For me - and I'm only speaking about me here - all those have the potential to limit my photography rather than expand or deepen it. I do like to look at the photographs made by other photographers and I am interested in the wider visual arts and photography's place therein. But beyond that I just like to make pictures that please me!

Looking at today's offering and some of my other shots you might legitimately wonder whether it's so different from anyone else's output. Some of my work clearly is mainstream. However, some of my other images are, I think, less so. If I have a defining characteristic it is that I have no defining characteristic. In that respect my photography reflects my personality; I enjoy and pursue a wide range of interests and specialise in none.

The shot above of the Thames embankment lights at Rotherhithe, with Canary Wharf in the background, is a subject that I've photographed a few times before on visits to London, though I've only previously posted this fog-shrouded example.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 50mm
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/400
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  -0.67 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Changing London

click photo to enlarge

"London is a splendid place to live in for those who can get out of it."
George John Gordon Bruce (1883-1967), English banker and peer

"I've been walking about London for the last thirty years, and I find something fresh in it every day." Walter Besant (1836-1901), English novelist and historian (words said on his death bed)

English people have differing views of their capital city. There are those who see it as the centre of the world, a place where anything and everything can and does happen, somewhere that shines brighter and more intensely than anywhere else. But there are also those for whom London is a place to avoid, a large, crowded, noisy, tumultuous place bent on making money or extracting it from the unwary visitor.

My view of London leads me to find sympathy with both of the above quotations. I really enjoy visiting London, but I wouldn't want to live there on a permanent basis. I've said elsewhere in this blog that a few years would suit me nicely, but then a yearning for the country, for the sea, for villages and small towns, for wide open spaces and wildlife would be so engulf me that I'd have to move out. So yes, a splendid place to live if you can regularly go elsewhere. As a photographer I'm always overwhelmed by the choice of photographic subjects that London offers. Like anywhere else it changes with the light, time of day and season. But it also changes because infrastructure development is an ongoing process to a much greater extent than anywhere else in the country. Buildings change use, old ones come down and new ones go up. The view up the Thames to the city from where I stay in London changes every year. A rather odd shaped building that flares out towards the top is currently under construction, a feature that has already earned it the name, "The Walkie Talkie". Then there is the view of the completed splinter of glass called "The Shard" that can be seen on the right of today's photograph (memo to self: must visit the viewing gallery when it opens to the public). For someone like me who is interested in architecture such buildings offer something fresh everyday at which I can point my camera.

Today's image, though it has a backdrop of the River Thames and the southern edge of the centre of the city is in fact a family photograph. I took it as my eldest son, his daughter, my wife and I were having a short walk. The sharp silhouettes and almost monochrome qualities softened by the clouds that threatened a further downpour suggested a contre jour shot would work, so I framed my photograph and pressed the shutter.

photograph and text © Tony Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 45mm
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/400
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  -1.00 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Night in the city

click photo to enlarge

"Night in the city looks pretty to me,
Night in the city looks fine.
Music comes spilling out into the street,
Colors go waltzing in time."
from the song, Night in the City by Joni Mitchell (1968)

The countryside figured very large in my childhood and teenage years. Unlike most of my contemporaries who were aching to be off to the major towns and cities where more happened, I was very happy with my rural surroundings. I appreciated the beauty, the opportunity for outdoor solitude, the natural history and, in most cases, the community that rural living entails. In fact, and on the basis of fairly limited experience, I imagined that I didn't like urban areas much at all. But, when I eventually went to live in a city, I found that I liked it just fine: it wasn't worse, it was just different. Some things were not as good, of course, noise and traffic for example; but some things were better, such as the ease of meeting like-minded people and the wide range of visual stimuli.

That latter advantage isn't, I guess, one that most people would list among the benefits of city life. But for a person who has wide-ranging interests and derives great value and enjoyment from what he sees around him, it immediately hit me right between the eyes as well as in them! The fact is, cities have so much to look at and what there is to see is always changing.This facilitates photography because there is always something at which you can point your camera. So it's perhaps not surprising that I regularly head out from my rural Lincolnshire fastness towards the larger towns and cities, as much for photographic reasons as any other. Having a son living in London means that I go to the capital fairly regularly and as far as UK cities go none is bigger.

It was on my most recent visit, when walking on the south bank of the very full River Thames one evening, looking at the sparkling towers of Canary Wharf, that the words of Joni Mitchell's song chorus, quoted above, came to me. "Night in the City" seems to me to be one of those songs that have been somewhat forgotten, which is a pity because it is melodic, basically simple yet with some complexity, is distinctive, has great honky-tonk style piano, time-signature changes, and a strong contrast between verse and chorus. It's perhaps that it was written for her own vocal style and range, and fits it so well, that other singers cover it much less than formerly. It must be time for that to change!

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 32mm
F No: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/10 sec
ISO: 3200
Exposure Compensation:  -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Shard November update

click photo to enlarge

It's probably a bit rich to describe this as an update on the progress of the Shard - the low cloud hid the "working" section at the top for much of the time I was in a position to get a shot. However, I did manage to incorporate into my main image some of a lower building that shares the same address as the Shard and together with the taller building comprises "The London Bridge Quarter". The hunk of concrete surrounded by cranes will become "The Place", a name that the workings already carry as it slowly rises above its neighours. It too will be a glass faced structure as its website shows.

It strikes me that "The Place" is an incredibly uninspiring name. It reminds me of "the hub" that is now "nccd" in Sleaford, Lincolnshire. It's a generic name, in some ways redolent of the 1960s (it conjures up a hang-out such as a coffee bar or small music venue), and is one which is unlikely to last very long.

The River Thames view is equally unrevealing of the Shard, and much less so than my earlier photograph from downstream taken in August. Even the night time shots that I took on my last visit show the building partially obscured by cloud. I suppose this is something the workers, visitors and residents of the Shard will have to get used to. Mind you, I bet the view is amazing when there's a temperature inversion.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 28mm
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/160
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

New perspectives on familiar subjects

click photo to enlarge

It occurs to me that the title of today's post states one of the aims of most enthusiast and professional photographers. It is still possible to find subjects that haven't been photographed before, or haven't been photographed very often. But, photographers number in their millions, photographs in their billions, and inevitably most of the things that you and I point a camera at have been subjected to photography before. Consequently we daily try to see our familiar subjects in a different way from the way they've been seen before.

There are two ways of achieving this goal. You can set about the task consciously, adjusting your viewpoint, focal length, time of day, weather or any of the other variables that you can deliberately manipulate. Or, you seize the moment when serendipity offers you the opportunity of a less usual kind of image. On my Thames-side walks from Rotherhithe into the centre of London I've taken more than a few shots of Tower Bridge, a structure that says "London" to the world. Most of them have been ordinary, unexceptional, cliched, hackneyed, boringly familiar - choose your own description. I've posted only two of my images that have the bridge as the main subject - one from a less familiar location, and the other a deliberate attempt at a "different" kind of portrayal.

A couple of days ago I seized the moment when a shaft of late afternoon sunlight illuminated the bridge and made it positively glow against the dark clouds and deep shadows, and I thought this serendipitously taken shot, though not unique, was unusual enough to post.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 45mm
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/250
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

London riverscape and National Trails

click photo to enlarge

My walk from Rotherhithe into the centre of London follows a section of a route called the Thames Path. This is a 184 miles long National Trail that follows the river from its source in the Cotswolds, through the heart of London, to the Thames Barrier at Greenwich. Though that title sounds rather impressive, the section that I use is simply a collection of riverside paths, public footpaths and roads that are collectively waymarked with this grand title.

I've always enjoyed walking, and have walked in many parts of Britain. Yet, perhaps surprisingly, I have an aversion to the whole concept of "National Trails" and long-distance footpaths. I first gave voice to it in the 1960s when I lived in the Yorkshire Dales and saw what the creation of the Pennine Way was doing to the country through which it runs: in particular the way that the track up the "nose" of Penyghent grew from a narrow path to a disfiguring scar 50 yards wide, visible for miles, that ultimately required boarding and steps to stabilise it. The creation of other such trails across sections of the country have done nothing to change my view of these footpaths. I've seen similar erosion associated with the creation of the long distance path along the length of Hadrian's Wall, and find it deplorable.

But it's not just the environmental damage that the designation of National Trails brings that I find objectionable, there are two other major problems. Firstly, they encourage endurance and competitive walking in the countryside. In a small, heavily populated island like Britain, where open country is a precious resource, people should be encouraged to walk in our natural areas and farmland with a much wider focus than the selfish sense of achievement that comes from completing a route. There are those who will say that this is possible, even on such a trail, to which I answer: talk to those who walk them! Secondly, the focus on these long-distance trails inevitably reduces the much more valuable work that needs to be done to maintain and, importantly, extend our historic network of footpaths and bridleways, a task which, if done properly, enriches the lives of many more people by giving access to local walking. And, if that were not sufficient reason for disliking the idea and execution of National Trails, there is the commercialisation of the concept that is evident in the opening sentence of the National Trails website: "We welcome innovative approaches from all sectors of business and are keen to explore opportunities for joint ventures with the private sector to develop new products and services." I cringe when I read such language in connection with countryside access.

Today's photograph, taken from the Thames Path, gives some context to my earlier photographs of The Shard.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 58mm
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/320
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On
Filter: Graduated ND8

A fiery London sunset

click photo to enlarge

Sometimes the colours and beauty of a sunset are quite overwhelming. Such was the case on a recent evening when I happened to look out of my balcony in London. I'm used to getting great views and interesting shots from this location when I stay in the city. And I've seen and photographed quite a few good sunsets. But I was unprepared for the colours and the definition of the scene that greeted me when I went to see which boat I could hear passing by. That happened to be nothing more than one of the Thames Clippers catamarans that regularly race up and down the Thames in their role as water buses, and on this occasion its engine sound had fooled me because it was going much slower than usual: perhaps it was finished for the night. I made a quick bee-line for my camera and started firing off shots intent on capturing the sight.

The ND8 graduated neutral density filter happened to be on the camera so my first few shots (of which this is one) were modified by that. However, apart from it darkening of the upper sky, possibly emphasising the blues a touch and giving more faithful delineation of the cloud, the image is what came out of the camera and involves no post processing. I don't recall seeing a better sunset than this one for a couple of decades, if at all. The people in some neighbouring flats were equally impressed because they too were out on their balconies with cameras. I took some photographs without the filter too, but this one, with the foregound interest of the passing boat, is the one I like best.

For an idea of what this section of the Thames from this vantage point looks like during the day see here and here.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 45mm
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/50
ISO: 800
Exposure Compensation:  -0.67 EV
Image Stabilisation: O
Filter: Graduated ND8

London's rubbish

click photo to enlarge

The apostrophe in today's title is used in the possessive sense rather than as an elision (no insult is intended!) because the photograph shows Cory Environmental's tug, "Recovery", pulling two barge loads of containers containing waste down the River Thames to either their materials recycling facility or the "energy from waste" power station.

I've photographed this activity before but the last image I posted was taken at night. Here the weather and light was excellent for photography, and I used it as an opportunity to try out my graduated neutral density filter. I also wanted to try a wider view of this section of the Thames opposite the red brick pyramids of Free Trade Wharf. I'm pleased with the result.

In future I'll note when I use a filter on the camera. You won't be surprised to find that quite a few of the forthcoming posts feature the one used in this image.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 24mm
F No: f6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/800
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On
Filter: Graduated ND8

Oliver's Wharf, Wapping, London

click photo to enlarge

Oliver's Wharf is a warehouse on the River Thames in Wapping, London. It was built by F. & H. Francis in 1869-70 for George Oliver. The building handled general river-borne cargo but had some special facilities for tea. It is a 6-storey structure constructed of yellow stock brick with red brick and stone dressing that contributes to the Venetian Gothic styling. The art critic, John Ruskin (1819-1900) popularised this particular form of Gothic through his three-volume work on the art and architecture of that city, "The Stones of Venice" (1851-3), and it was applied to churches, museums, town halls, libraries and many other public and private buildings. Here at Wapping the ornate "polychrome" brickwork, pointed windows, brick relieving arches and stone three-bay windows makes the building stand out among the more utilitarian nineteenth century warehouses that line the river.

It was undoubtedly the ornate character of the main elevations (the street and river facades are very similar) that led to Oliver's Wharf being one of the first redundant warehouses to be converted to flats. In 1972 twenty three luxury dwellings were created within its old walls. The architects responsible for the adaptation wisely left much of the original exterior details intact, and today the building is a noticeable and noteworthy feature of this part of London.

I have looked across the Thames at Oliver's Wharf many times on my walks along the south bank from Rotherhithe into the City. I've photographed it a couple of times too. However, not until a few days ago, when a bright sky with thin cloud illuminated the building very nicely, did I capture an image that pleased me. I like this shot because it has something of the quality of an architect's watercolour elevational illustration about it.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 200mm
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/320
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  -0.67 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Kindles, dashes and the Shard

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In recent months I've been giving some thought to buying an e-book reader, possibly a Kindle. I have no special affection for Amazon. In fact, the built-in proprietary format of their device along with the widely reported case of the remote removal of a book from people's Kindles that the company undertook a while ago makes me think another manufacturer might be preferable. However, their reader does support most (though not all) common formats, has a good quality display, and is relatively inexpensive. The latter would be a particular consideration if I didn't like the experience.

However, looking at a full page advertisement for the Kindle on the back page of the Guardian newspaper's Review section has put the thought right out of my head for the time being. Why? Well, the advert features a large photograph of the Kindle with the first page of a novel, "Ordinary Thunderstorms" by William Boyd, showing on the screen, and I read the first sentence of this three times before I understood its meaning! The reason was that where a dash should have been, indicating a break in the flow of the sentence for an interjection, there was what looked like a hyphen (i.e. there was no space before and after the character), and where the sentence continued after this aside, there was a further hyphen. So, on my first reading I was left wondering what a "river-all" and a "doubt-but" were.  The second sentence was perfectly clear, but then it got worse. The third sentence, that begins the second paragraph, starts, "There he is - look - stepping hesitantly down..." But on the Kindle I read, "There he is-look-stepping hesitantly down... And, once again I was re-reading to extract meaning. The irony is, this same Kindle page has two correctly hyphenated words. Why, I wondered, couldn't the correct typography that usually features spaces before and after a dash, that was presumably in the paper novel, be transferred to the e-book reader? Is this common to all these devices? Anyway, it was enough to put me off and I don't think that was the intention of Amazon's expensive advertisement.

It was only after I'd puzzled over this for a while and sent a query off to Amazon that I noticed the characters were (quite correctly) longer when they indicated dashes, and shorter when being used as hyphens.* However, they were not so different that I noticed this until I began forensically examining what was going on. So, even that distinction isn't enough to prevent the understanding of a passage being a potential chore and, frankly, difficulties of that sort are not what I want from my reading.

* Further clarification for the technically minded. Skip if you don't care!

• The dash ( — ) used for a pause in thought or where parentheses might be used is sometimes called an em dash. It usually has a space before and after, and can only be produced on a computer keyboard by using the key combination Alt and 0151 (on the Num pad). Computer writers usually use the hyphen with a space before and after in place of a proper dash, but publishers invariably observe the distinction in character length and place spaces before and afterwards.
• The hyphen (-) is used for hyphenated words e.g. full-length or re-entered, and is available directly from the keyboard. When used it has no space before and after except where listing hyphenated words e.g. pre- and post- war.
• An intermediate length line (–) called an en dash, sometimes used when showing a range of numbers e.g. 180–360, can be produced using the key combination Alt and 0150. It also has no space before and after.

What I suspect is happening with this Kindle example is that the spaces before and after the dash are being lost during the translation from paper to e-book format.

Addendum - Curiouser and Curiouser
The day after I wrote the above my wife noticed a Tesco advertisement for the Amazon Kindle on the back of the Guardian newspaper's magazine. It showed the same first page of the same novel on its screen held by the very same hand. But guess what - on this Kindle the dashes were fine, with a space before and a space after! More detailed analysis of the screenshot showed this page had several differences from the earlier one. The page displayed two fewer lines even though each line was slightly longer, the title bar was different, "Chapter 1" had been replaced by "ONE", and there was more data on the bottom of the screen. The most important, and perhaps the crucial difference was that the symbol "3G" was displayed on the screen. On the basis of these advertisements am I to assume that the more expensive 3G+WiFi Kindle displays better than the basic WiFi model? And if that is the case why isn't it made clear? Or is it simply that the Kindles in the advertisements are displaying different versions of the William Boyd novel. This begs another question, of course - if I buy a typographically "crippled" version of a book can I get it exchanged for one that reads correctly? This is all very curious and none of it makes me inclined to purchase Amazon's e-book reader. Moreover it shows the company failing in the two key areas of advertising - information and persuasion.

And now back to our regular programming. Today's photograph is an update on the progress of the Shard taken on a recent visit to London. It was taken from downstream by the Thames at Rotherhithe. Image stabilisation, the selection of a high ISO, and bracing the camera against the balcony door was enough to secure a fairly sharp shot.  The image also includes parts of the tops of the towers of Tower Bridge and a segment of the London Eye. My last photographs of this new London building were taken on 9th June - see here and here.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 238mm
F No: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/20
ISO: 3600
Exposure Compensation:  -0.67 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Evening clouds and daylight robbery

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Reading the Guardian newspaper yesterday I was brought up short by the caption to a photograph. It should have been the photograph itself that caught my eye, one in the series "Unsettling animal picture of the week" showing a swan in the middle of the road with outstretched wings appearing to be halting the progress of a huge lorry. But, the image was not as strong as usual and it was the text that drew my attention. It said, "Swan v machine: no one knows if the bird was protesting at the lorry's carbon footprint or just trying to rob its cargo, but it did hold the traffic up for a while." It was the use of the word "rob" in place of the correct word, "steal", that caught my eye. That, I thought, is the work of a twenty-something year old, because I've seen and heard this use that I condsider a misuse - a number of times before.

Perhaps it's my age, but I can accept solecisms of this sort from the man in the street and casual writers, but I can't take it from the journalist of a serious newspaper. Moreover, being a serious daily the Guardian has its own "style guide" aimed at preventing such errors. Was the distinction between rob and steal mentioned, I wondered? It was, and here's what it says: "you rob a person or a bank, using force or the threat of violence; but you steal a car or a bag of money". Reference to the in-house authority would have allowed the writer to choose the correct word. But therein lies the problem with dictionaries, style guides and all the other works that seek to improve our use of written and spoken English: you have to aware of your limitations and the areas in which you might err before you can check them.

All this has very little to do with my evening photograph of the City of London seen from the south bank of the River Thames near Tower Bridge. I post it for the clouds (see yesterday's post). However, if you wanted to make a connection with the subject of robbing and stealing you could argue that the City is the location of the biggest and most audacious gang of thieves in the UK, one that robbed the populace of much of its wealth, and which, through the cuts being implemented by a supine and cowardly government to make good the City's losses, continues to steal from us to prevent themselves having to bear the pain of their own wrongdoing and ineptitude.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Lumix LX3
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 12.8mm (60mm/35mm equiv.)
F No: f2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/200
ISO:80
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

In praise of clouds

click photo to enlarge

I sometimes feel sorry for people who are condemned to live their lives in a place where the sky is invariably unbroken blue and clouds are infrequent visitors. I'm not usually of this state of mind in, say, February when a dense blanket of stratus covers the land and the only variation from day to day is wondering whether I'll wake up to fog or to mist. But for much of the year, when clouds cause the skies to change daily, from  morning to afternoon, even hour to hour, then I'm glad I live where we have this life-enriching beauty and I don't rise to the same, all-pervasive, boring blue.

I was thinking about this when I was looking across the Thames during my recent stay in London. This view of the city from the balcony changes with the time of day, the weather, and particularly the type of clouds that drift across the metropolis. I've photographed it a number of times, and on each occasion it hasn't been the buildings that have prompted me (though they add significant interest), but rather the quality of the sky. In fact, what the clouds have offered has often been the main point of my image.

The sky in today's photograph was part of one of the dry spells between a succession of squally showers that were crossing London. The sun kept fighting to make its presence felt, but on this day the clouds and the rain were definitely in the ascendant. "Turbulent" was the best word I could find to describe the clouds, and their magnificent disorder above the man-made order below seemed a good enough reason for a photograph.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 105mm
F No: f8
Shutter Speed: 1/500
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation:  -1.0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On