Nike installations

A couple of awesome installations for Nike, by Hotel Creative.

Tower of London poppies

Some more shots from yesterday with the 40mm fixed lens, and the amazing installation at the Tower of London of 888,246 hand made ceramic poppies, to commemorate the 888,246 British military deaths in the first world war 100yrs ago, amazingly simple idea, incredibly effective and memorable.

Mudlarking on the Thames

Spent yesterday afternoon keeping it ‘old skool’ with just a 40mm fixed lens – forces you to get closer to the action/talk to people – like these ‘Mudlarkers’ beach-combing on the Thames. The first guy Alex had arranged a holiday from Australia and had his official permit from the Port of London Authorty to do just that. He assured me that the pins in his hand were from gentleman’s  Elizabethan dress and that the bits of smoker’s clay pipes that I found for the last photo date back to the 16th Century – there were lots of them in the mud, apparently they were sold pre-filled with tobacco and were thrown away once used by the dock workers.

Practising pianists

 

The amazing concert pianist duo Julian Jacobson and Mariko Brown

Spectra!

Stunning art installation by Ryoji Ikeda that was next to the Parliament building last week as part of the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War. The 15km high monumental beams of light were accompanied by an ambient soundtrack giving a very calming feeling to the whole experience, the last shot is the view from my back garden 6 miles or so away!

3 Peaks Challenge

A tiring weekend spent mainly on coaches and, in between, on the beautiful landscapes of Ben Nevis in Scotland, Helvellyn in England and Snowdon in Wales, shooting teams of nutters running up and down the peaks, over a 24 hour period, raising lots of money for The Sailors’ Society. Next time will take a decent tripod, though some of the most amazing scenery is seen through a coach window – sunrise on Helvellyn in the Lake District was especially memorable.

Olympic Velodrome

Some lucky guys getting a chance to try out another cool London venue, the Olympic Velodrome. Fixed wheel, with no brakes, it took a while to get confident, and then for some, perhaps slightly over confident!

Gherkin Views

Some stunning views from an Alzheimer’s Research reception at the top of the amazing ‘Gherkin’ building in the City of London – the Shard and the BT tower look positively tiny, and window cleaning suddenly looks like one of the best jobs in the world..