Anthropomorphication

Walking across the Millennium Bridge the other night, it struck me how much St Paul's Cathedral echoed the shape of a person. That's all.

The Millenium Bridge

I've played with the colour a bit, and I can't decide whether the shake gets in the way (it is 1.3s exposure, hand-held, after all) but I still like this. It's a long term aim of mine to try to express the "Blade of Light" architectural hyperbole photographically. This is the closest I've come yet. Hope you like it.

To view the same way as I did, think of the blade diving into St Paul's, and the light-blood spilling out. Now, where did I put those pills?

The Thames Festival

As I mentioned, this last weekend was the Thames Festival, two days of fun and good times for all on the banks of the Thames. I could have chosen any number of pictures of people enjoying themselves, instead I chose this. You could be forgiven for thinking it is just a poor photo of the Millennium Bridge, but it is actually about what I learnt on Sunday.

I'd never realised that the name "lightermen" came from the fact that these were the people that made ships lighter - they ferried cargo from the ship to wharves without it having to pass through the (expensive) docks. Moreover, they and the Watermen (Watermen carry passengers, Lightermen carry goods) are the only remaining trade where, to this day, you have to serve a five year apprenticeship, harking back to an unbroken tradition of nearly 500 years.

Unpowered, they travel on the tides, steered by men with oars. As part of the fun on Sunday, they held races such as in this scene, where the RMT barge in the lead.

Aren't Birds Brilliant?

What do you think of my flock of Peregrine Falcons? I think I might be becoming ace at bird photography - rather like the wonderful birds blog of Abraham Lincoln.

Now, I'm a bit late but I'm about to tell you about one of the more fantastic things you can do for free in London - at least for the next couple of days. Outside the Tate Modern, the RSPB have set up a stand with telescopes and binoculars for people to observe the Peregrine Falcons that are nesting in the chimney of the Tate. The telescopes will even allow you to attach a camera, unfortunately the real ones weren't in evidence while I was there. They're quite happy in London because there are quite a few pigeons for them to eat. "Aren't Birds Brilliant?" is the RSPB project to bring people closer to birds across the UK.

London Wildlife

I spent most of Sunday walking London streets, and so I have several photos to share, some quite OK. But I'm tired now, and a chicken is always a chicken. If this leaves you with a hankering for more of London's flora and fauna, you can do no better than this.