Tate Britain - A Few More

A few things from Tate Britain that drew my eye. 

Tate Britain - The Forbidden Staircase

I was in London last weekend. With the prospect of yet another wet day, I headed to Tate Britain. While I do enjoy all the art on offer, what I have always loved about Tate Britain is the building itself. It has some beautiful spaces. This time I was taken by one of the staircases and spent some time taking abstract shots. Eventually I drew the attention of one of the security guards. Apparently I wasn't allowed to take photos of the stairs. It was okay to shoot all the art, but not the building. That required 'a pass'. When questioned, he was a little vague of the reason and detail for any of this. Luckily I had what I wanted, so went on my way. Although I might take a few more photos of these stairs. next time I'm in.

 

Lackford Lakes

so far this year, there has not been much in the way of clear skies and sunshine. Certainly not on a weekend. So when there was a brief window of good weather on a Saturday, I used it for a trip to Lackford lakes. I was keen to see a starling murmuration, and I had read that Lackford was a good location. I arrived around lunchtime. The reserve was busy and I was lucky to find somewhere to park. I passed the afternoon photographing small birds around a few feeding stations. 

People stated gather for the murmuration from about 3.30pm. The starlings started to gather from around 4.30pm. Much of the time the birds were overhead. On the plus side this, the sound of all those wings beating was very clear. On the minus side it was tricky to get it all in frame. I regretted not bringing my wide-angle lens. There were no raptors around, so the starlings only began to tightly bunch in the final few minutes. Pretty much on the stoke of 5pm, the birds dove down into the reed beds and the show was over.