Few more photos

I went for another photo mission yesterday/last night and took the following photos. Have been playing around with long exposure shots, one of which can be seen in the sunset shot of the London Eye and River Thames below. This photo was taken with a 8 second exposure; I tried for a longer exposure (20-30secs), but the lights on the bridge blew out the shot too mich and the mass amounts of people and trains on the Golden Jubilee bridge causes to many jitters. My Gorillapod didn't quite meet the challenge as there was nothing really to grip on (without running the risk of losing my camera into the river). HOWEVER, I am receiving my new Carbon-Fibre pro tripod in the mail tomorrow, can't wait to give it a run. So stay tuned...

Merry XMAS!!!

First off I would like to wish all of you out there a very Merry Christmas, and an exceedingly enjoyable New Years. I would like to thank you all for taking an interest in my blog (or lack thereof) and true to form I would like to apologise for being so slack. But as you can all imagine, this is a very busy time of year work-wise and as such I haven't had much of a chance to do anything but... So to try and make it up I've added a few photos from in and around London, that I've taken over the past few weeks as a way of saying sorry. It's not much, but at least it's something...

Viva La France

As most of you already know, I was lucky enough to get a couple of days off work last week which allowed me to cross the channel for my second visit to the mainland. Paris was my destination this time around. Even though it was only for 3 days, I managed to pack in enough activities/tours/sightseeing to warrant a week's visit. Needless to say, by the time I got back on the Eurostar train to London my legs and feet felt like they'd been through 2 marathons. Even though I packed in a great deal of the quintacential 'Paris' sights, I left feeling that there was soooooo much more to see.

My first day was really coming to grips with the Paris Metro system, which now looking back at wasn't that difficult. Once I mastered this Paris was at my beckon call!

First stop? You guessed it... The Eiffel Tower!!

Now those who know me well understand my undeniable fear of heights. However, I wasn't going to let this stop me, so I jumped in the queue and waited. The first lift to the second level was fairly uneventful. I was suprised how quickly I go into the lift and up there actually after hearing all of the horror stories of 1-2hours + wait. But... this was soon the case as I saw the meandering queue for the centre lift to the top floor. I didn't get this far not to follow through so I stuck it out (for about and hour) and then finally embarked on my ascent to the top of Paris. This is where the fear kicked in... The walls of the lift were glass so you have a 360 degree view of paris on your journey up. We couldn't get to the top quick enough. Once I had a solid base under me the fear/panic subsided and I was able to enjoy the view, and this is what I saw (from left to right)...

Next stop? Seine River cruise and Moulin Rouge

I dragged myself away from the tower, chocolate crepes, buskers (you get the idea) and headed back to my hotel to get dressed into my 'more formal' atire for my tour, involving a cruise down the River Seine at night, followed by the late showing of Féerie at the Moulin Rouge. I bumped into (or should I say they bumped into me) two friends in the queue for the river cruise - just goes to show how small of a world it is. Both Ellie and Mary happened to be on the same tour... The tour down and then up river was awesome. Paris is beautiful by day, but magical at night! All of the monuments, bridges, roads, houses, etc under lights looks amazing. Then we were off to Moulin Rouge. What a show... maybe thats just because I'm male and the flurry of topless dancers :). Looking past that, it was very enjoyable. The interlude acts were awesome as well... especially the girl swiming in a pool of pythons. GREAT! Snakes and hot (fit) women, a match made in heaven :). We stumbled out around 2:00am, by which I was well and truely ready for bed.

Day 2, stop 1... Arc de Triomphe!

Another one of Paris' icons, which just happens to be surrounded by the most hectic round-about in the world! I ventured down the underpass and came up to the Arc. I was lucky to get there before the rush so there was no queue or crowd. You don't really get the full effect of the Arc unless you see it close up. Sure it looks impressive from a distance, but its the intricate carving and stonework under the arc and the sculptures that really impressed me. The memorial for the unknown solider underneath the arc was especially moving. I decided to wait until sunset till I climbed the 284 steps to the top to really appreciate the Paris skyline and Champs-Elysees. Now unfortuntely this is where the 'tourist' shots of my ugly mug in front of the sights stop. As you might know, I now own 2 cameras; one normal point and shoot camera, and a digital SLR - both of which are Canons. My recent purchase of an extended battery grip for my SLR allows me to use 2 batteries or AA batteries so there is know need to pack a charger... HOWEVER, this is not the case for my normal camera. I somehow managed to bring to wrong charger with me (D-SLR one) so this is where my 'tourist' shots stop. Believe me, I'm way more pissed off than any of you :)...

Stop 2.... Notre Dame

Another one of Paris' must see icons. I wasn't as lucky as the Arc for missing the crowds so I didn't stay here as long as I should. Similar to the Arc, this place is huge. Outside is amazing, and inside isn't any different. Sorry for the lack of inside shots, but I will get to that later (tripod, or lack of I should say).

Stop 3.... Champs-Elysees

For the sake of my wallet I only had a quick look here. Surrounded by the world's number 1 fashion label shops, jewellers, car dealerships and ultra-expensive cafes I was to say lightly, feeling very small. Jeeze it would be nice to just lash out and buy a €250,000 Mercedes, or a €500 LV wallet. So I made a compromise and bought myself a €15 Adidas beanie. I also stumbled across Peugot's latest release, which just happens to be the most bizzare car I have ever seen...

Stop 4... Louvre

Next stop... the Louvre. Now you could spend an entire week here and still not see everything. I was here for around 2-3 hours and only saw one of the gallery wings (yes, it was the one with the Mona Lisa). I was also lucky enough to catch the Picasso/Delacroix's 'Women of Algiers' exhibit. Sorry for the lack of internal photos, but here is what I did manage to shoot...

Day 2 by night

This was another one of my big disappointments of this trip... The fact that I didn't bring along my tripod. Due to the lack of light at night (Duhhh), you have to keep the camera completely still otherwise you get terrible, blurred shots. Sometimes you can improvise and use a bench, wall, or the floor as a base; but other times you can try all you like holding the camera and all you will end up getting are shitty, blurred shots. So, I have now invested in a decent tripod for my camera so that this debacle doesn't happen again. So without further adue I give you might single night shot worth showing off... boy don't I feel like a twit!!

OK that's enough I think. Just so you know, it took me about 1.5 hours and 4 pints to put together this blog post. So if the spelling and grammar gets a little dodgy towards the end, you now know why? So until next time... Au revior!

Winchester... No not the gun!

Well here I am apologizing again... Sorry for the delay in posting. But same excuse as last time, work has been absolutely crazy. Well enough with that...

I woke up this morning and felt like doing something a little random. So with that thought in mind I boarded a train and headed down to Winchester, a little over an hour to the south west. As soon as I arrived, so did the rain clouds. Typical really! I considered getting back on the train, but thought what the hell. So I went for a walk into what looked like town and got a little lost. I found my way eventually and stumbled across the Winchester Cathedral; what an awesome place!! I ended up spending an hour or so just wandering around. When I walked out it was absolutely pouring with rain so I had the decision of either heading back to the station or go see the Knight's round table. I managed to trudge up the hill towards the museum only to find that it was closed for a private function... devastated!!! That was the icing on the cake, I headed back to the station and jumped on a train back to London, first class! Thankfully I didn't get caught :)

Wine tasting...

First of all, I just want to apologise to all of you for being so slack with my blog. In my defense, I haven't really done anything that is blog worthy. I mean, you don't really want to read about my trials and tribulations of work on a daily basis... or do you?? :)

OK, enough of the sorry nonsense. On with the story... This weekend my senior editor Ros organised a bit of a wine tasting do down in Kent. Unfortunately the weather wasn't that crash hot, but was still a very enjoyable day. We took a train down to a place called Paddock Wood, where we were picked up and shuttled to Goudhurst, where Ros lives. The name of her house.... Old School Cottage. How awesome is that? We dropped off some food and then ventured to Chapel Down Winery in Tenterden, Kent. I'm no wine connoisseur, but their whites and sparkling wines were very tasty. Reds not so much so. Ended up buying a few bottles of white. As I was walking out, I saw out of the corner of my eye the vodka section. Now I love my vodka, and have had a few varieties in my time. I can now safely say that I have found the best vodka I've ever had. Toffee vodka... amazing stuff! So much so there was no way I was walking out of there without a bottle. I would have bought 2 but one of the guys from work wanted one, and I couldn't be that selfish. We then had a walk around the vineyard, which was great. As the weather was a little dodgy, it was fairly muddy so we didn't go too far.

Once we were finished we headed back to Goudhurst to drop off our purchases, and then headed back into Goudhurst village for a few pints at the local pub. On the way there we walked through the old church yard, which was very dramatic. Old cemetary plots around the church, dating back to 1700s. I only managed to snap of a few photos here as my battery ran out. Poor form on my behalf! After 3 or 4 pints we then headed back to Ros's house for a delicious dinner, and a few (too many) wines and vodka shots. By this time it was teaming with rain. Now I apologise for the lack of photos, but as I said earlier, I ran out of battery.

DSLR - Canon 450D

Just a quick post to let you all know that I now the proud owner of a Canon 450D digital SLR camera. Even though this is an entry level camera, I am still amazed in the quality difference to that of my original Canon point and click IXUS. I have a better lens on the way, but so far here are a few simple shots I took today (obviously scaled down a tad)... They are only going to get better with this new wicked lens.....

I have set up an account on Flickr to post my photos. If your interested you can view them by going here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ashlourey/

Running with the Bulls.... Insanity!

What can I say... I think I just experienced the maddest time of my life. San Fermin in Pamplona...Running with the Bulls... Copious amounts of sangria, beers and champagne. All of the above equal the most intense experience ever! It started on Sunday with the opening ceremony. I have never seen a mob like this before in my life. Of all the concerts and mosh-pits I've been in, this is by far the most intense ever. You could NOT MOVE. Then came the fountain jumping... I need say no more. Jumping off a 4+ metre tower into a sea of people, completely mental.

Now if that wasn't enough, then came the moment when we ran with the bulls. This was by far the most terrifying experience of my life. Surrounded by a thousand of freaked out people waiting to be chased down alleys by 650-700kg bulls. Stupidity really!!! Once we got into the bull ring, all hell broke loose. Try runing away and dodging bulls when your surrounded by people. But after it all ended, and my adrenaline had subsided I felt really surreal, and quite proud of myself for actually running, when in all reality it was probably the stupidest thing I've ever done. Anyways enough of my ranting... here are some of the photos. I will try and upload a video but it may not work, it is fairly large.