Photo24: Remains of the Day

A final set of images from Photo24, featuring day shots from both the Saturday and the Sunday.  As I said previously, the weather was not really our friend.  The Saturday afternoon meet was at the Shard.  Vic and I arrived a little late and I managed one shot with the Lee Big Stopper before the rain hit.

Sunday morning, post dawn, the South Bank had little to offer.  No warm early light.  The drunks had long since wended their way home and the joggers weren't up yet.  The only photographic subjects were other slightly broken photographers.

The morning meet on Sunday was at Columbia Road Flower Market.  It is an interesting venue, and one I have shot a couple of times previously, but the stall holders can get a bit leery of photographers at the best of times.  The hoard that descended first thing on Sunday morning may have a bit much for them.  After an hour or so chat with other 'togs and a few shots, we headed to Brick Lane (more for tea and a decent slice of cake than for the market or street art) and a slow saunter back to the the hotel that was our starting venue 24 hours earlier.  Of the 250 or so plucky individuals who began, about 90 made it back for the debrief and the all important tee-shirt.

24 Hours, 38 km walked, 512 frames shot (70% of which were subsequently binned.  Hey, that's good by my spray and pray standards!).  Would I do it again?  Absolutely.  Where's the queue for next year?

Photo24: Through The Night

Some more images from Photo24.  Regular readers will know that night photography is a particular passion of mine.  So the idea of shooting through the shortest night of the year was one of my main reasons for taking part in the event.  The set meeting point for sunset was near Westminster Bridge at 8pm. 

On the bridge, an obvious first thing to try was blurred buses and taxis in the failing light.  Sadly, the weather was not kind.  It had rained quite hard earlier in the afternoon, and no sooner had we set up tripods and cameras than the showers returned, forcing a cover-up.  There followed an hour long battle with the on/off rain.  Eventually it cleared up enough for a hint of a sunset, and the wet roads did add a little something to some of the images.

It wasn't long before we had to head off for the next meet-up, 11.00pm at Liverpool Street Station for a late night walk through the City.  The initial rendezvous was a little confused (not helped by the fact that there was a completely separate 12 hour photo event also taking place), but eventually a group of us started a slow stroll though the heart of the City, ending at St Paul's.  I had bought the new version Canon 'nifty fifty' (the f1.8 STM) just prior to this trip, with the express purpose of having a lens I could use hand-held in low-light situations.  I didn't use it much, but it did help get a few shots.

The planned meet-up for dawn was back on Westminster Bridge.  However, I didn't see the point in doing that location twice, so I persuaded Vic that instead we should head for the 'More London' area near Tower Bridge.  Having failed to find an all night cafe that we were 'assured' was not too far from St Paul's (thanks Mr Cheung), we spent a couple of hours in a McDonalds, before heading over London Bridge and down past HMS Belfast to City Hall.  There, we met about 20 or so 'togs from the 12-hour event. 

This was clearly too many for the More London security, who felt the need to hassle us at 4am regarding the copyright status of their buildings.  God bless whoever it was that persuaded them we were merely shooting the sky (a singly dull flat featureless sky) on the shortest night.  At one point, there were so many cameras and tripods lined up facing Tower Bridge that the South Bank took on the appearance of an al fresco branch of Calumet.  Sadly, dawn didn't happen.  The flat grey sky just got lighter.  It was time to move on to another location.

Photo24: Anti-Austerity March

Last weekend, my friend Vic and I took part in Photo24, a 24 photography event in London, organised by Advanced Photography magazine, in association with the Nikon School.  About 250 photographers from all over the country met at a hotel just off Covent garden at 11.00am on the Saturday for the initial briefing.  We were each given a yellow wristband and 'passport'.  The wristband allowed 24 hour access to the Nikon School and allowed us to spot each other out on the streets.  The 'passport' contained details of the times and locations of various meet-ups, however, it was up to us whether we attended any or all of these.  We were also texted additional information throughout the day, as well as photo challenge themes for each meet.   The whole thing was very well organised and felt like a massive CCC outing. 

At midday we were released into the wild.  Vic and I made our way through Covent Garden fairly quickly, without getting many shots.  However, the Saturday coincided with a massive anti-austerity march.   In the advanced emails, Photo24 had advised us of the march route, but regardless of this, we were able to follow the hovering police helicopters straight to it.  I have previously struggled to get decent street shots in crowds, but I am quite pleased with this set.  There were certainly plenty of 'characters' to choose from, and, unlike flower sellers, they seemed quite happy to have their photos taken.