The other weekend I went for a fast-paced bus tour. This was my first time on a proper bus tour aside from school trips, at least, I can't remember being on any. I normally opt for going without background information and instead taking things at my own pace.
Which is a little hard to do sometimes when you don't drive.
Melissa (from Orangeville) had wanted to go on the tour during February's half-term. I wasn't able to attend as I was going to Prague, and it turned out that she hadn't gone out during half-term at all. I'd been wanting to go back to Stonehenge anyway, so I asked her if she wanted to go still.
I then invite my friend Sarah (from New Brunswick) as I thought it'd be the sort of thing she'd like to do. Then I remember that Sarah and I both separately met Charmine (from near Barrie) so I decide to invite her out, thinking that she and Melissa would get on well.
Charmine then brings along Aleks (from YORK!) whom she's met here in London, and then later brings along a newly arrived Canadian named Aleisha (from Vancouver - she was lucky enough to be in the city during the Olympics!). So what started out as a two-woman party turned into 6. All Canadians, all but one who I know, and two who I knew BEFORE leaving the damn country. That's just a small-world coincidence really now. haha. I thought it was hilarious when Charmine mentions this girl Aleks and I immediately go "ooooh crap I know this name from somewhere!" only to discover that we both lived in Mac.
The day commences nice and early, hitch-free.
The first stop was Windsor Castle, where we discover that the Queen is home as that was the flag that was flying. I think I was the only one of us not trying to spot-the-Queen (I was overly conscious of the time and quite frankly, totally forgot she was home even though I kept taking pictures of the flag, not sure how that worked out!). I liked Windsor better than I thought I would, as it's not really my cup of tea. Was mega-rushed though!
In true Canadian fashion though, we were the first to arrive back to the coach out of a fear of being late. (This became a pattern for the trip, and we were always the first to arrive back!).
Our second stop was Stonehenge. Most people I know think there is barely even a reason to go there once, let alone twice, but I enjoy it. So I enjoyed it a second time! Although I got a kick out of how many people were taking pictures of the sheep in the fields (I then opted to take a few pics myself, because I felt like being a sheep myself I suppose!... when in Rome.... oh wait, that's the next stop!)
The next stop was what I was looking most forward too - going to Bath. I've been wanting to go visit the city for a while, and while I knew that we weren't going to get much time there, it would at least give me an idea if it was somewhere I'd like to go for a weekend. It is. It's on my list of cities to visit.
I loved the Roman Baths though, although I'd have loved it more if there weren't so many people there (what a shame, but it can't be helped really, so I spent as much time as possible pretending other people were invisible!)
I did, however get yelled at! Someone sad on a stone for a picture, so I thought it was ok and did the same. And got yelled at to get off the stone. I felt humiliated and really sorry, because really, as I'm sure you all know - I'm just NOT someone who does things when there's a sign or something telling me not to, but I hadn't seen one (and an employee of there was talking to my friends and I as the tour guide was talking to us, so if he mentioned it then I hadn't heard!)
Actually, this is a funny story. While those of us in my tour group were waiting with our silly little plastic entrance coins, I went to fix Char's hood cause it'd been driving me crazy. This guy (an employee at the Baths) comes over and starts straightening Char's coat out and sure did make me feel silly. I just cracked up thinking about it, and alas, I've lost the words so you'll just have to imagine an old man with a funny British accent straightening out Char's hood like a butler.
I also successfully resisted the urge to touch the water, even though I saw other people do it anyway. I really wanted to.
Really. I did really really want to.
I was the only one out of the 6 of us who didn't doze at all on the trip. It just doesn't seem to work.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Looking Up
I take a lot of pictures. We all know that.
Sometimes I take a lot of snapshots when I'm out with friends; sometimes I take snapshots because I'm taking a quick picture for someone I think would like to see what I'm seeing, but am not interested enough in the subject to put any thought into the photo. Then again, sometimes I take snapshots because I'm feeling shy or silly being in public by myself or feel rushed because the people I'm with are bored.
Other days I'm in a mood to take macro photos (not so much recently as my Rebel doesn't do so well close enough as I do not have a macro lens) and either photograph insects or things might go a bit more abstract.
Then again, somedays I'm more about nature. I either take landscapes or focus on animals.
I'm sort of all over the place in my style and methods and focus. I'm sure that it comes across everywhere that I post photos; the only real common thread is that I take a million photos and take a lot of shots of the exact same thing.
There are patterns though, if you're me and know about them or if you pay a great deal of attention to what I post. There are certain angles or lighting or subjects that I'm more likely to employ. The same can be said of my editing style when I am in a mood to process my photos - there are trends.
I think I might slowly start organizing my photos into various photo entries where I focus on one of my own trends.
The first trend: Looking Up. It's not particularly unique, and sometimes you lose a great deal of detail on the subject, but regardless, I love it. I like seeing pictures where the angle between the camera and the subject is so extreme that you feel like a tiny little bug looking up at something.
I never take these photos because it's the only way to photograph a building: it's usually a lot harder than taking more straight-on pictures and I feel like an idiot when I sit down on the sidewalk and fiddle around with my camera holding it as close to the ground as I can. These photos I can rarely (if ever) see what is in the shot until after I've taken it, as I might hold my camera a few centimetres above the ground.
With these photos, I rarely have the subject properly centered in my photo - again, this is intentional. As I said earlier, I like the angles. I tend to keep taking shots until I've got a fairly centered one, but it's very rarely the photo I'll post up publicly or be my favourite shot.
This is the lighthouse in Lion's Head Ontario. I've taken other shots of this lighthouse, but this is my favourite one. I liked how the door looks like an arrow pointing up towards the light.
This is a Cathedral in Lille, France. I forget what the name of it was. This is actually the only photo that I took in Lille that I'm happy with - even though I took a million shots of the grotto that was there, I wasn't happy with the lighting and my friends were frequently in the photos when I didn't want them to be. It was such an ornate building!
The monkeys are climbing up the arch in the Natural History Museum, London. The entire building was fascinating, but I just couldn't stop thinking about how it would look if these monkeys actually started to climb the wall. It was so busy in the building that I had a few people looking at me funny that I tried to ignore.
You'll notice as this post goes on, that I primarily use this angle for bridges and churches. The above is the Suspension Bridge in Bristol. This bridge is massive. I felt like an insect, and even though the bridge gate is a little bit basic, I just get a feeling of it being a monster that's going to eat me.
Tower Bridge, London. My friend Jay was with me while I was taking this, and what a sport he is as I don't think he even gave me a funny look when I was sat on the ground playing with my camera.
St. Paul's Cathedral, London. This building is so massive that I almost gave up attempting to take this picture. As it is, I'm not as close to the base of the building as I normally am.
Westminster Abbey, London. This one was hard to take a picture of. Like St. Paul's, I almost quit but at Westminster it was mostly because I felt intimidated sitting where I was sat!
Ah, the Astronomical Clock in Prague, Czech Republic. I have other shots with this angle, where you can see the door that's below the dials. I like this one better though, as the lighting was nice and you can see the little clock at the top. 
The Church of Our Lady Before Tyn, Prague, Czech Republic. You can barely see the tiny spires at the top of this magnificent building! You can also see how other buildings are LITERALLY built up against it! This is one of those rare times where it's the only angle you can take of somewhere - I could (and did) take a pic of just the door, and I have plenty of photos of the top half of the building, but this is the only way I could take a picture with both in the photo!
Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic. I have a brighter photo of this, where you can see that the sky is blue (borrowed a friend's filter) but I liked this one better as I could see under it. 
St. Vitus Cathedral, in Prague Castle, Czech Republic. Ornate. This building is the definition of ornate, in my books. Inside and out, it was full of details. This photo makes it look less intimidating than it is, and actually looks a lot softer than it does in reality.
This is the Powder Gate Tower, Prague Czech Republic. This photo was difficult to get, as there is road running under it. This photo was thus taken while standing and walking across the road. I walked back and forth across the road a few times stopping near the middle to take a picture or so before another car would come and I'd have to run back across. 
Bath Abbey, England. I didn't spend as much time trying to get a more focused shot here, as I ran over to grab a few quick pictures while our tour guide was inside the Roman Baths getting our entrance sorted. I just couldn't resist the colours and the lighting.
Well, there you go. One entry somewhat describing my thoughts about the photo and why/how it was taken the way that it was.
Sometimes I take a lot of snapshots when I'm out with friends; sometimes I take snapshots because I'm taking a quick picture for someone I think would like to see what I'm seeing, but am not interested enough in the subject to put any thought into the photo. Then again, sometimes I take snapshots because I'm feeling shy or silly being in public by myself or feel rushed because the people I'm with are bored.
Other days I'm in a mood to take macro photos (not so much recently as my Rebel doesn't do so well close enough as I do not have a macro lens) and either photograph insects or things might go a bit more abstract.
Then again, somedays I'm more about nature. I either take landscapes or focus on animals.
I'm sort of all over the place in my style and methods and focus. I'm sure that it comes across everywhere that I post photos; the only real common thread is that I take a million photos and take a lot of shots of the exact same thing.
There are patterns though, if you're me and know about them or if you pay a great deal of attention to what I post. There are certain angles or lighting or subjects that I'm more likely to employ. The same can be said of my editing style when I am in a mood to process my photos - there are trends.
I think I might slowly start organizing my photos into various photo entries where I focus on one of my own trends.
The first trend: Looking Up. It's not particularly unique, and sometimes you lose a great deal of detail on the subject, but regardless, I love it. I like seeing pictures where the angle between the camera and the subject is so extreme that you feel like a tiny little bug looking up at something.
I never take these photos because it's the only way to photograph a building: it's usually a lot harder than taking more straight-on pictures and I feel like an idiot when I sit down on the sidewalk and fiddle around with my camera holding it as close to the ground as I can. These photos I can rarely (if ever) see what is in the shot until after I've taken it, as I might hold my camera a few centimetres above the ground.
With these photos, I rarely have the subject properly centered in my photo - again, this is intentional. As I said earlier, I like the angles. I tend to keep taking shots until I've got a fairly centered one, but it's very rarely the photo I'll post up publicly or be my favourite shot.
This is the lighthouse in Lion's Head Ontario. I've taken other shots of this lighthouse, but this is my favourite one. I liked how the door looks like an arrow pointing up towards the light.
This is a Cathedral in Lille, France. I forget what the name of it was. This is actually the only photo that I took in Lille that I'm happy with - even though I took a million shots of the grotto that was there, I wasn't happy with the lighting and my friends were frequently in the photos when I didn't want them to be. It was such an ornate building!
The monkeys are climbing up the arch in the Natural History Museum, London. The entire building was fascinating, but I just couldn't stop thinking about how it would look if these monkeys actually started to climb the wall. It was so busy in the building that I had a few people looking at me funny that I tried to ignore.
You'll notice as this post goes on, that I primarily use this angle for bridges and churches. The above is the Suspension Bridge in Bristol. This bridge is massive. I felt like an insect, and even though the bridge gate is a little bit basic, I just get a feeling of it being a monster that's going to eat me.
Tower Bridge, London. My friend Jay was with me while I was taking this, and what a sport he is as I don't think he even gave me a funny look when I was sat on the ground playing with my camera.
St. Paul's Cathedral, London. This building is so massive that I almost gave up attempting to take this picture. As it is, I'm not as close to the base of the building as I normally am.
Westminster Abbey, London. This one was hard to take a picture of. Like St. Paul's, I almost quit but at Westminster it was mostly because I felt intimidated sitting where I was sat!
Ah, the Astronomical Clock in Prague, Czech Republic. I have other shots with this angle, where you can see the door that's below the dials. I like this one better though, as the lighting was nice and you can see the little clock at the top. 
The Church of Our Lady Before Tyn, Prague, Czech Republic. You can barely see the tiny spires at the top of this magnificent building! You can also see how other buildings are LITERALLY built up against it! This is one of those rare times where it's the only angle you can take of somewhere - I could (and did) take a pic of just the door, and I have plenty of photos of the top half of the building, but this is the only way I could take a picture with both in the photo!
Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic. I have a brighter photo of this, where you can see that the sky is blue (borrowed a friend's filter) but I liked this one better as I could see under it. 
St. Vitus Cathedral, in Prague Castle, Czech Republic. Ornate. This building is the definition of ornate, in my books. Inside and out, it was full of details. This photo makes it look less intimidating than it is, and actually looks a lot softer than it does in reality.
This is the Powder Gate Tower, Prague Czech Republic. This photo was difficult to get, as there is road running under it. This photo was thus taken while standing and walking across the road. I walked back and forth across the road a few times stopping near the middle to take a picture or so before another car would come and I'd have to run back across. 
Bath Abbey, England. I didn't spend as much time trying to get a more focused shot here, as I ran over to grab a few quick pictures while our tour guide was inside the Roman Baths getting our entrance sorted. I just couldn't resist the colours and the lighting.Well, there you go. One entry somewhat describing my thoughts about the photo and why/how it was taken the way that it was.
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