Sunrise in Manhattan

I woke up just before dawn and caught the sun rising through the window. It was worth grabbing my camera to capture it. No matter how good the technology, it doesn’t capture the warmth of the moment.

It’s a wet and miserable Saturday here in Canterbury, so not many exciting photos to share today. We spent most of the morning in bed, trying to avoid the wet weather as long as we could, then went out for a bite of lunch at a new tapas restaurant in town started by one of Aude’s former colleagues who took voluntary redundancy a few months ago and ploughed all the money into her own business.

Since it was a day for indoor activities, I thought I’d try to figure out why my flash wasn’t giving me good pictures. As suspected, it was user error – I’ve figured out the correct settings now, thanks to Daisy being my very patient model all afternoon. She actually doesn’t look like she’s too interested.

Like most photographers, I’ve had it with size zero models. These days, I prefer to shoot women with a few curves on them — like Daisy!

Marjory is here for the weekend, so we’ve got an exciting evening planned at the new Cuban restaurant in town. Maybe a few mojitos will take my mind off the weather?

Big shout out to Dara on her birthday. Happy birthday, Dara!

Still playing with my new lenses and trying to figure out what I can do with them. Here are two quick snapshots taken indoors with available light at night — much happier with these than anything I can achieve with a flash, and I’m now looking forward to taking some snaps at my friend Mike’s upcoming wedding next month.

This shot was taken, quite literally, at arms length. It’s a self-portrait in the truest sense of the word.

A shot that I took of Aude. I’ve been looking at the work of some others and came across a photographer who shoots many of his shots from low level. I really liked his effect, so I thought I’d try a few of my own.

I had some time to kill in the evening before dinner, so I took the opportunity to take a couple of photos of the area around my office. Many of the buildings here are part of the Norman Foster-designed More London complex. Here is the official website.

A view of Tower Bridge and London’s City Hall at sunset

The Ernst & Young headquarters building on More London Place

Ernst & Young headquarters building, as seen from the embankment

London’s City Hall

The Tower of London, as seen from the South Bank

Buildings on More London Place

Buildings on More London Place

Tower Bridge at sunset

A few more pictures of Canterbury:

The Blind Dog pub, one of our local haunts in Canterbury

Sitting in front of the pub, could this actually be the Blind Dog? He was certainly the Deaf Dog, as he seemed to take no notice of me snapping his picture.

Apparently, loose women are nothing new to Canterbury.

Always the sign of a good neighbourhood.

Another excuse to take my new lens out for a test drive — a walk around Canterbury to take photos of some of the buildings around here. At least it will give everyone a feel for where I live, if you haven’t been here yourself.