In the garden

This poor butterfly was rescued from our cat's teeth a couple of times. Since it was semi conscious it was much easier for me to dig out my macro lens and try out various shots from different view point.

Le palais de Versailles

Le Palais de Versailles, surely one of the most visited places in France. If you want to go somewhere quiet then do not go there. You get pushed around in every room where a human tide transports you without your consent. It seems that black and white suit this shot better as it gives it a more "ancient" feel.

Paris

day and night views from the city of romance with various effects.

The Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower surely is an iconic landmark in Paris. It was built in 1889 for the International exhibition and was supposed to be there only temporarily. It is still standing today and be it day or night you can nver get bored looking at it.

Le Puy du fou

Le Puy du fou has been awarded the "best theme park in the world" award by Americans! We had a fantastic day with loads of sun and the kids had a great time. I particularly enjoyed watching the various birds as you can tell by the following photographs.

Mauritius, summer 2012

A small selection of the fauna and flora from Mauritius.

Wharley Place

Sunday morning walk in Wharley Place (Essex), park covered in Foxgloves and other colourful flowers. A short stop in a hide to admire the fauna and some acrobatic squirrels.

Battersea Power Station

Who would have thought Battersea Power Station was so photogenic you could take 92 photos in about 2hrs! During a course with a professional, learnt to actually use the histogramme to take photos correctly exposed, most interesting revelation.

A visit to Colchester zoo

Thanks to some bright spells in Essex we managed to go around the zoo without getting wet, quite an achievement! Some shots alongside the topic of "animal portrait".

Sensational Butterflies

If you happen to go to the National History Museum in London, check the Sensational Butterflies House. Make sure you bring a bottle of water and some light clothes as it is extremely hot in there!

Abstract

Obviously the opposite of concrete, abstract shots are fascinating since it makes you think. One shot taken on board a cruise board in Paris, the other one is the side of a bridge lifted up in front of a building. Even with an explanation it can sometimes still be difficult to figure out what the picture is.

Day out in Cambridge

I set myself the target of looking for patterns around the beautiful city of Cambridge. Here are a few examples.

Spring leaf

A walk in Bedfords Park trying to get some silhouette shots but ended up shooting in the light.

Robin

A cold winter day brought an unusual visitor to my garden.

Frosty morning

Even with gloves on it was a bitterly cold morning by the lake.

Shapes

On a club outing we went to Thames Barrier Park. I couldn't help but notice the DLR station and liked the simplicity of the lines.

On a safari in Kent

Other than gorillas we came across other interesting species.

Gorillas

You do not always need your passport to go on a safari. Just drive down to Kent (Port Lympne) and there, you have an impressive African park. The main focus of the day was Gorillas. Trickiest parts to photograph were the eyes but with a bit of fill in flash we tried to give the gorillas justice. The black and white versions definitely look more appropriate to the subject matter.