Bob Rhodes......Photographer

A Winter Afternoon on the Southbank

2012-01-09T13:36:00.000Z

The south bank of the River Thames, it is my favorite place to go shooting street photography. I love it there, there's always something going on, the people are very easy going, and there are lots of cafes to sit, have a coffee and people watch. The type of people there are so varied, from tourists from abroad, to the artists on the little 'beaches' creating sand sculptures, to the Londoners out for a stroll along the river.

I usually only take my Lumix GF1, but this time I was armed to the teeth!... the Lumix, my Nikon D200 equipped with 85mm f1.8 lens and a little Olympus 35mm film camera half frame, almost a film version of a point n shoot.
I wanted to try the 85mm lens in a street photography environment as I had not used it like this before, and the Olympus I have only just got from Ebay, so I want to use the film up and can't wait to see the results! I have to say I was most impressed with the 85mm on my old D200, it is sharp, quick to focus and gives a lovely out of focus background Bokeh.

So here are the pics, feel free to leave comments.

Christmas on Oxford St. London

2011-12-20T11:48:00.000Z

I went for a walk around the west end of London with the Lumix and the 20mm pancake lens to try and get a bit of the Christmas vibe going off down there. The decorations on Oxford St. were a bit of a let down, but there were some good things to be found on the back streets in the area. Carnaby St. in particular was very christmassy with a great atmosphere.
Here's the pics, all edited using the snapseed app on iPad..... I might have mentioned before, I love this app!!!!

Autumnal Feeling in London

2011-10-14T11:30:00.000+01:00

I went for a walk around Knightsbridge in London, I haven't been around this neck of the woods for a while, having worked down here for quite a few years. Things have Changed!....a new look to Brompton Rd. with some very interesting new shops to look at. and some very expensive new apartments sprung up at Edinborough Gate. I dread to think how much they cost, no doubt intended for the very rich and famous.

From there I wandered into Hyde park, it was feeling very Autumnal with mini whirlwinds of leaves blowing around, and a breeze coming over the Serpentine which was strangely warm for this time of year, the Indian summer was still holding out. But the light was falling rapidly, along with my shutter speed!
Here's the pics.

Panasonic Lumix GF1 with 14-45mm lens.

I thought the tones worked well here

Hi Rise Port a loo!!

Banged up!

In this weather!!?

London Fashion Week?

2011-09-20T12:55:00.000+01:00

Today saw the start of the latest London Fashion Week, I went down to Somerset house to hang around, as I don't have a pass! I thought I might get some snaps of model types coming and going.
Well there was quite a few long legs around, but the best spot of the day for me was the Hagen Daz ice cream girls dishing out freebies by the main entrance, quick snap got me a tub of strawberry cheesecake flavour.....yummy!

I decided I'd had enough of the fashion peeps and went for a walk north bound through Covent garden and up to Tottenham Court Road. I haven't been in Foyles book store on Charing Cross Rd for years, so I paid a visit. I really could spend a fortune there and the choice is too much! Books on everything under the sun.

Next a quick shuffle over to tin pan alley, Denmark St. Home to the most guitar shops in town...I wish I could play!.....maybe a good thing I can't because that's another place to spend a small fortune!
From there up to Center point past the massive roadworks that block the whole road! And up Tottenham Court Rd, where electrical gadget shops abound...I think I did really well to keep the plastic in my wallet today! I had a try of the new Panasonic Lumix GF3, very nice....maybe a little too small for my clumsy hands tho, I'll stick to my GF1 I think.

So here's the pics.

The red doors of the Buddah Bar

Lots of filming today

Hmmm...Hagen Daz!

Catch the pigeon!

I heart NY

More Filming...

F1.7

Fish Eye

Denmark St.

Center Point...a long way up!

Had enough!

Yoohoo!

Vintage at the Southbank

2011-07-31T00:58:00.001+01:00

An excellent day in London today, sun out, shorts n flip flops on......northern line down to town. It is the vintage by hemingway weekend at the South bank.
A celebration of fashion, music and art from the 1920's through to the '80's.

Whether your thing is swing, rockabilly, mod, soul, funk, disco, ska, electro, cabaret, film, art or design, or if you just want to dress up and get an authentic make-over for a day, Vintage at Southbank Centre is a sensual delight, a big dressing-up box, a collector’s dream and a joyous creative feast for all ages. For one glamorous weekend we celebrate the music, fashion, film, art , design, and dance from the 1920s to the 1980s (and maybe even a peek at the early ‘90s) that has made Britain the world’s creative and cultural hotbed....
(taken from their website)

I met up with mate Ian, we legged it over the wobbly bridge taking in views of St Paul's and the Tate Modern. Then it was up via Waterloo and some Parkour guys jumping about around the subway, 30 years ago I might have been tempted to have a go but sod that now!
We went to Leak St and visited the graffiti street ( I'll post pics in another post.....too many for here.) and lurked around the millennium wheel, snapping the unsuspecting.

Then into the festival, there is a superb little village of shops and stalls selling everything from hats, watches, shoes to sofas and lampshades, all from the different era's complete with dressed up stall holders and festival goers getting into the swing of it. There is live music, food and drink, and just about every thing required for an excellent day out.
If you're in London this weekend, go check it out, well worth a visit, and photo opportunities by the bucket load.

Up West

2011-07-23T00:03:00.001+01:00

Today the sun was out....( it's raining as I type this tho! ) So I ventured down to the west end of London. Bright lights, streets paved with gold and all that. Anyway I started in Leicester Square, through China town, then onto Covent Garden. I popped into the National Portrait Gallery for a nosey round, then walked into Trafalgar Square, did some people watching as I ate my satsumas & skittles. From there back up to China Town for some sushi.... £2.00 for 4 pieces with king prawn in the middle...nom nom!..... then onto the tube home.

Here's the pics, these were shot in jpg, I only do this when I know I'm going to up date the blog whilst I'm away from home ( otherwise I always shoot in Raw ). This is all done on the iPad, the images are edited in the brilliant Snapseed app, by Nik software, then uploaded to the blog via the Bloggr+ app, by far the best blog editor app for blogspot sites.

City of tiny lights

2011-07-19T23:38:00.001+01:00

Tonight I dodged the rain and took the GF1 out with the 20mm pancake lens. I wanted to have play with manually focused shots and see what the bokeh was like. It was going dark rapidly which may have been a good thing as the car lights really started to stand out.
So here are the images, I'm trying out a new blog editor app on the iPad, blog press kept crashing so this was done on blogger+. the only problem I think is going to be picture size, as I can't put any larger than 208px. Anyway I'll see how it looks then change them when I get home on the laptop if need be.

London Street Photography

2011-07-16T17:37:00.000+01:00

This week I went to London to see a couple of exhibitions which are part of The London Street Photography Festival I started off at the Museum of London, an interesting exhibition, with images dating back from 1830. This is great place to to see London history in general and it's free....always a bonus.

From there I went to St.Paul's Cathedral, it has been recently renovated, but at £14.50, a bit steep for me, so that one will have wait. Then it was back on the tube to Farringdon and a short walk to the next exhibition, up to Exmouth Market, a cosmopolitan little street dotted with nice looking cafes.

I love attractive signs.

These 'play me I'm yours' piano's were dotted around to encourage musicians to play.

'Spotted!'

'In the name of love'

A traditional tailors shop near Kings Cross

Here's 3 pics taken on the iPhone

Cuba and those Cars

2011-07-06T18:32:00.003+01:00

A throw back to the days gone by when America and Cuba were friends, these old cars are everywhere, from taxis to family runarounds. We took a ride in a 1952 Oldsmobile, when I asked Ramon the owner about the engine 'it's a Toyota diesel' he replied!!

The School Bus

2011-07-04T01:46:00.001+01:00

This old wreck of a school bus was found a few streets away from our hotel in Havana, Cuba. It became a landmark for me, to let me know I was nearly home, the first few hours in Havana were confusing and frustrating, as apart from trying to navigate our way around, we had to dodge the constant barrage of people trying to get us to go to this restaurant, have a ride on my horse taxi/bike taxi/ motor bike taxi, etc etc...phew! all in 34 degree heat!

So this old bus has some meaning to me, a sign of a close by safe haven! After a few hours though you get used to saying no thanks, and learn to relax and enjoy the sights, it is a full on type of place....go and see for your self!

Southbank Skateboarders

2011-06-30T10:33:00.004+01:00

London's South bank has an outdoor skatepark/bmx park/graffiti wall area....a bit of everything goes on here then!, heres a couple of action shots from a while back on one of my London walk abouts.

Google Views!

2011-05-03T10:01:00.002+01:00

If You're a regular follower of 'blogger' blogs, you may be interested to know of the new 'views' option available. This gives readers options of different views to read their favourite blog sites.
Simply type view at the end of the URL, and you will be given the options of how you are able to see the blog. Which ever option is suitable, depending on browser (you may not be able to use this function) is the one which your blog will be displayed in, you may get the choice of all the views, on my iPad I am only able to view this blog in the 'mosaic' format, it just depends.
Here's the screen shot of the availabe views and google guide to them. Enjoy!

Out n About around Peterborough

2011-02-16T20:01:00.003Z

At last we have some blue sky and sunshine in Peterborough, it’s been a long time coming but it is very welcome, and is a reminder that summer is just around the corner………phew!

I decided to take advantage of the weather and set out to try our latest toy, a Panasonic Lumix GF1. This is a four thirds format camera, it’s a bit like a cross between a compact and a DSLR, it has 12.1 megapixels and can be used with interchangeable lenses just like a DSLR. It is also capable of video capture up to HD level, which makes this a very capable bit of kit, and with it’s compact rangefinderlike size, makes an ideal travel camera.

I took our out with the 14-45 mm lens that came with it, this converts to a 28-90 mm if comparing it to the old 35 mm format, so quite a usable lens. I also took a 4 gb SD card as I would be shooting in RAW format and the file are a lot bigger than JPG’s, and a tripod, not something I would normally take out as I prefer to travel light and lugging a tripod around isn’t my idea of a good day out! But there is a reason…..

HDR or High Dynamic Range photography is a method of merging several images into one, each image shot at a different exposure from concentrating on the highlights to shadows and allowing to preserve the details in all areas. To do this, you must capture a range of images, I chose to use a range of five, two under exposed, one normal exposure and two over exposed. All this needs to be carried out with the camera perfectly still in in the same position……..hence the Tripod!

I started out by taking a HDR image of the bridge over the River Nene which is accessed off the slipiroad from the A47 near Ailsworth. Then into Ailsworth itself to find a few images, one being the Royal oak pub, with its thatched roof looking lovely in the sunshine. I carried on down to Wansford, to take a few shots by the river, and then up to Sibson airfield, where a biplane was just landing…….so another HRD oppotunity!

This first time out with the GF1 really impressed me, it’s a superb little camera, easy to use and capable of producing fantastic images, with all the qualities of a much bigger, heavier DSLR, without all the trouble of carrying the weight around.

Here’s some pics from the day.

Peterborough Festival

2009-06-27T19:47:00.009+01:00

It has been a bit of a busy week in these parts, last weekend saw the Peterborough Festival, in which my son Aarons school (Old Fletton Primary) had a float based on the starwars theme. Aaron was Yoda for the day complete with light sabre!

Other attractions were the Dragon boat racing on the river Nene, with a spectacular performance of Chinese lion dancing, and some exciting racing to be had.

HMS Illustrious comes to town!

2009-05-14T12:25:00.013+01:00

A impressive sight on the river Thames, she had been in London a flypast of 40 naval helicopters marking the 100th anniversary of the Fleet air service.

The 22,500-tonne vessel is one of Britain's biggest aircraft carriers.

State-of-the-art Merlin, Sea King and Lynx helicopters as well as Hawk and Jetstream aircraft took part in the display - which was reduced in size by 15 aircraft due to the heavy cloud and rain.

Charlie

2008-10-31T15:27:00.005Z

Heres' a few photo's of my middle son Charlie, at 14 he's getting taller by the minute, getting on for six foot already, and with an appetite to suit!

We went to Ferry Meadows country park to take some outdoor portraits using off camera flash and a lovely winter sunset.

The Kings Road Chelsea

2008-06-02T16:50:00.001+01:00

I have the fortune...good or bad?? to work in central London at times, and on a hot sunny Saturday afternoon there's no better place than the Kings road Chelsea for bit of people watching!.

All manner of folk stroll up and down, rich and famous to the not so well off, either way the sights can be fantastic!

Here's the famous London bus albeit not a routemaster, which are now out of service. I'm not a bus spotter by the way, not that there's anythingwrong with bus spotting!

The girl on the top deck looks to have had enough!

It wouldn't be complete without the obligatory black cab, so here's one complete with the cabby's hand reaching out for the all-important fare.

Also on the Kings road, you get your fair share of Harley Davidson motorcycles,

this is due in part to the famous Fred Warr's Harley showroom being not a million miles away.

Here's a bit of it all put together in one.

Wedding-jacker!

Whilst walking past the registry office I stumbled upon a wedding just about to exit, so I couldn't resist firing off a few shots....hope you didn't mind!

Finally, at the farmers maket all kinds of cheese and dried meat can be bought along with pots of your favourite jams and chutneys.

Here's a couple of pics with some lovely sweet n sticky rolls and a shot of the flowers on the flower stall.

Papped!

2008-05-26T01:48:00.001+01:00

Earlier in the year I was busy in the celebrity world of the paparazzi!...involved in some exiting photo shoots on the streets of London.

The life is not easy as a pap......jostling for the best shot and not always getting it! your kit takes a pounding, but the buzz is imense!

This is George Micheal, unexpectedly turning up to the showing of Paul McCartney's exhibition of photographs of his late wife Linda.

Later in the evening, Kate Moss made an appearance as well,........then it really got going, guys jumping over cars to get the shot, complete chaos! Superb!

Surprisingly, no punches were thrown, although there were a few heated exchanges!

Also making an appearance was the great man himself....Mr. David Bailey and his family.

Now for a couple of ex-Beatles....Mr Ringo Starr

And the man who organised the party.....Sir Paul McCartney

A good nights work, all in the bag for 9pm not your usual pap job, hanging around all night for a couple of half decent shots.This was all action, done and dusted in 3 hours.....nice!