Fog in London

What is your first image that comes to mind when you hear "Paris"?

For a lot of people it would have been for long time "French Can-Can", the dancers with their legs bared. Hundred year ago or more, to show even its feet seemed shocking!

For London, the first thing every one would associate would be "Fog".

Of course, also Sherlock Holmes and the fog in the middle of the city, not in the parks, although, it has to be also a thick fog, which was not yesterday. And it was only my second in the last six month.

To find the fog in London become as difficult as finding CanCan dancers in Paris, it is not the norm, it is the exception. More tradition, then present, nevertheless, on the mind sticking yet.

Not only was for me a joy to find it, finally, in London, the fog gave me also occasion to study how people, but mostly trees, look in it. What kind of background the fog offers. As it is not often and no more killing people, it become interesting.

Here, you can look of some of the pictures I have taken yesterday morning on my walk.

Columbia Rd flower market, Portraits

We met with others from the London Portrait Meetup group, in the middle of the Columbia Road flower market. It was a paradise for making portraits!

So many different people, and most of them thanked me, were enchanted that I wanted to take a portrait of them! Even after so many portraits taken, I still marvel of the facility to take strangers images!

Yes, there were a few, very few, who did not want it, or their husband did not want it, but so many more of all ages were at least as happy as me to have their image taken: to be appreciated!





I did not ask all the time, but most of the time, sometimes the group or the "mood" is broken if one asks.

And of course, I took also photos of flowers, street scenes, and the very interesting mosaic, probably done by children.

It was a busy, interesting hour!

All Artists?

We are all creative.

"Creativity is a natural life force that all can experience in one form or another. Just as blood is part of our physical body and is nothing we must invent, creativity is part of us and we each can tap into the greater creative energies of the universe and pull from that vast, powerful spiritual wellspring to amplify our own individual creativity.

As a culture, we tend to define creativity too narrowly and to think of it in elitist terms, as something belonging to a small chosen tribe of "real artists." But in reality, everything we do requires making creative choices, although we seldom recognize that fact.

The ways in which we dress, set up our homes, do our jobs, the movies we see, and even the people we involve ourselves with—these all are expressions of our creativity.

It is our erroneous beliefs about creativity, our cultural mythology about artists ("All artists are broke, crazy, promiscuous, self-centered, single, or they have trust funds") that encourage us to leave our dreams unfulfilled. As we clear these blocks away, we can become more creative." From the book The Artist's Way

After 1st Artist's way

We begun a new cycle of Artist's Way in London, it is held at the Royal Festival Hall every Monday evening.

This time, there is also a second group with Walk through life, the follow up group. Instead of continuing, I decided to do again the first book with a new wonderful people.

Not only I'll do it better now, as I understand more its importance and I am less skeptic about its result, but the new participants give me also a better understanding of it.

I arrived at Waterloo tube station with the Jubilay line, and went away through the footbridge across the Thames and took the tube at Embarkader.

I am looking forward to the next 12 weeks!

Car repair in Bucarest

Of course, not all cars are repaired in central Bucharest on the streets, but some were, at least in October 2007, but the image was published recently and put along a paper speaking about the Financial Crisis in Romania.

I find funny sometimes, and it is not the first time, how journalists or journals, mostly on the web but not only do deform the paper they write, or the reality, adding images that are not really about but give a special "impact".

At least, the image does lead, if you look at the bottom of the article to my image on flickr, where the editor found it. And Google Alert does tell me when my name appears somewhere on the web.

Friday, I'll give an interview for a London version of French newspaper, about my activity. I have one more thing to add to it:

Very very happy now that I can use my Freepass also between 4 and 9 in the morning, being a Senior Early Bird, I love to go swimming around 7 in the morning and now I do not have to pay the fare for it. The bus was always empty in the morning at that time, so that does not disturb anyone. At the swimming pool today, I was told we can now also use the bus in all Britain. Great! I'll have to try out to go farther then London with it, but so many things to discover yet in Greater London too!

Parade in Westminster

It is difficult to choose between so many colorful people's images. Most of them are happy to be photographed, in fact, no ne told me "no" yesterday, event the ones that were there only to assist or the friendly policemen.

But sometimes I took the photo without asking, without waiting for them to stop and pose.

I did ask him, he did pose. I like this one better. But it is mostly because I did not do it right. Of course, when you know that people have only so much patience to stop for you the camera and the shot has to be ready.

I still have long way to go, even if most of my shots I am quite happy with. At the beginning, I was impatient, too much "good food" in face of me, jumping from one to the other, towards the end, I have had to much food, taken too many people's image.

I left, early, not waiting for the end of the parade, with a wealth of photographies, with in my mind and soul also with the great diversity of London and its parade. Tired of all I lived through in only a few minutes or two hours. All the opportunities I had, all the opportunities I lost because I could not take more.

Parade 1st january London

There are traditions in France, from Victor Hugo books, there are traditions in England from Dicken's.

She was with other kids, one of the cutest Oliver, I think, preparing to the Parade near Westminster.

You can see my firsts 32 photographies uploaded to flickr, I choose only some for the moment. Great people and all so happy to pose in their outfit! A parade is such a good place to take phictures of people!

Not only of people of course.

I entered the "small" church at the left entrance of Westminster Abbey, there are so many places to discover to visit again!