adetorrent; photography, lifestyle.

Teguise.  It's a tranquil, charming little town in the middle of Lanzarote.  Six days of the week the town is a peaceful, extremely quiet place.  On Sunday it becomes one of the busiest market towns in Europe. Thousands of traders, tens of thousands of visitors and a few animals descend on Teguise from around 9 am to 2 pm - The Tequise Sunday Market. I learnt that in fact Teguise was the old capital of Lanzarote. It made sense to me as it has some of the oldest buildings on the island.  Apparently it is also referred to as "la Villa".  The architecture is also really beautiful. Intricate carvings can be seen around the doors and windows of many buildings dating back to the 17th century. Another thing that happens on Sundays is the town becomes extremely colourful. Like everywhere else on Lanzarote, most of the buildings are whitewashed with either blue, green or unpainted wooden doors and windows. On market day however, you get pink, red, lilac, i...

Where has summer gone?!  Apart from it being mid-August already, it seems this summer has really zoomed by.  Time is moving so quickly. I was looking at my photo books I've made so far this year, and realised I hadn't shared any of the actual Lanzarote photos with you the awesome folk of the Internet.   Many of these photos are in the Blurb book I spoke about in this post .   The camera I had with me was the Olympus 35 RD. I opted for this camera because of it's size and versatility. There was going to be a lot of cycling and walking, so I needed something light and portable, while having a nice sharp lens that renders colours well. The photo below was shot wide open (f/1.7) indoors. Who can resist a mirror selfie?  Lanzarote was one of my summer travels, and boy has it stuck with me. It's a volcanic Spanish island in the Atlantic ocean off the western coast of Africa. It's such a unique place that one can't help being carried away at times with...

The South Bank of the Thames is one of my favourite places to go in London for a nice afternoon walk. There's a lot of art and cultural events happening almost constantly. It also has limitless potential when it comes to photography. There's also food. Lots of it! Even if there's no actual festival going on, there are are many restaurants and food stalls to chose from. I quite enjoy street food - quick, cheap(er), and delicious. When the tide is low, the river acquires a beach. I've taken some photos on the 'Thames beach' that people have refused to believe weren't taken by the sea side.  So I always make sure to include some landmarks now :) Talking of things happening all the time, suddenly out of nowhere, the deafening sound of the legendary red arrows and their signature red white and blue engulfed the South Bank as they jetted by directly overhead.  Thanks to the quick focusing of the Olympus 35 RD's rangefinder I was able t...

Early autumn is still my favourite time to go about taking photos.  Something about the contrast between the rustic leaves and the bits of vegetation that are still green.

Film swap goodness and joy - by yours truly and  +Helen Briggs .  

Behold the 3rd instalment  of the double exposure film swap whatchummacallit with that awesome film photographer in York,  +Helen Briggs   Enjoy.

Sunset was fast approaching on the day and it was getting seriously cold.  As I turned to head off home for the day I was confronted with this view. It's King George the IV riding into the sunset, apparently being led by Lord Nelson, and, er, a pigeon. "Holly...." I thought to myself, what must the parliament building and its clock tower (also incorrectly known as ' Big Ben ') look like against the setting sun? So I aborted my departure and literally ran through Charring Cross and unto the Golden Jubilee Bridge and across the Thames so as not to miss the magical sunset. Yes I did stop to take some snaps on the bridge itself.  Who doesn't?  The light was getting more incredible by the minute.  Then I noticed I only had less than 5 shots left in my Olympus 35 RD, and I had to make them count.  The gulls, as if they knew of my limited number of shots, danced around in the air temptingly, but I resisted :)  Well, ok, so I took at least one shot...

So what's the big deal with ' golden hour ' ?  And why do photographers seem always to be chasing it? Well, I was reminded of why in Trafalgar Square that sunny winter's day.   Below is the same subject [coincidentally called the ' Golden Cross Hose']  taken about 5 seconds earlier when the golden rays of the sun were momentarily blocked by a cloud.

Again, mesmerising winter trees, silhouetted against that clear blue winter day sky.

Golden hour hit and everything suddenly became radiant.  That signature London red became even more so as the temperature descended along with the altitude of the sun. And boy, do you notice the low temperature when using a metallic camera such as the Olympus 35 RD!  I'm not one to wear gloves, and I was paying for it dearly. My fingers were threatening to shut down completely if I carried on shooting, so I put the camera away and the hands in the pockets.. for a short while.