Well it is the Tate Modern

I know it is Christmas Day but these photos are simply a continuation of the London theme. Yesterday I showed you the self-portrait from the terrace of the Tate Modern.

The photo on the left is a variation with a little more contrast and a little darker. The photo on the right has been amended in a similar way but you may guess that I have increased contrast and made it a lot darker. Well it is a window in the Tate Modern.

Happy snapping

Tate Modern

Yesterday's photos were taken from the cafe terrace that you can see in the bottom left corner of the photo on the left. Lighting is so important in photography and the only reason I am showing the terrace is to put the photo on the right into context.

This is my attempt at a self-portrait. The modern art lines are fluorescent tubes in the cafe and the white circles are on the patio doors. The main picture is, of course, the reflection in the patio door windows.

No, I didn't take any photos in the gallery, but I did see quite a few photos being taken in all the galleries that I visited. We really don't deserve to see some of the fine paintings from around the world and at this rate they won't last much longer.

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St Paul's and the Thames

This is the view from the Tate Modern. I was in London last week and managed to see quite a few works of art including Lichtenstein's Whaam which is at this very art gallery. I can't say that I appreciate most modern art and some of it I found to be Pollock's (joke).

In fact I found the views outside much more beautiful than most of the items inside the gallery and if these two photos were enlarged and hung in the gallery then I would have spent more time looking at them than almost everything else. Still, my two blogs on pop art show that I can appreciate some modern art.

As for these photos, the shade puts the emphasis on the buildings on the horizon and the weak winter afternoon rays from the sun gives nice lighting to the scene. If you have to travel then you may be cursing the weather but it is nice to see the snow in photos.

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As seen in Lancashire Life

I had promised photos of London from my trip last week but normal service is temporarily suspended, like most of the transport network since my return, in order to give you the latest photography news. There are some great photo on page 96 of the January edition of Lancashire life with the headline "Lancaster Medical Book Club dinner in Morecambe".

Alright they are my photos and what is more they have given me the credit. The editor has chosen thirteen of the photos with more formal poses but there were plenty that were less formal. I am not bothered which photos he chose as it is just very nice to see my photos in the magazine.

I can now look forward to adding some wording on my website that says my photos have been published in Lancashire Life.

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And here is the link to the Lancashire Life website which includes some of the less formal poses: -

http://lancashire.greatbritishlife.co.uk/article/lancaster-medical-book-club-annual-dinner-midland-hotel-morecambe-27819/

Pop Art 2

Here is my second attempt at pop art. The dots are a little better but I would like more. I'll have to do some more work on it.

I'm not going to tell you how to change your photos. This blog isn't about technicalities but I hope you get inspiration to work on your own photos. That's why I went to the Tate Modern, Tate Britain, The National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery.

I didn't take any photos in the galleries. It is easy enough to buy postcards or books on styles of art. You can see a lot of art on the internet. Just try searching for Lichenstein's Whaam and you will see my inspiration for working on today's and yesterday's photos.

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Pop Art 1

I returned from London on Saturday after spending a few days mostly in art galleries or theatres. I saw a prime example of pop art in the Tate Modern (Lichenstein's Whaam) so I thought I would show you my first attempt at pop art and tomorrow I will show you the second. You will see some photos of London but I'll show you the pop art first.

Pop art should include dots and lines. Well you can see some lines on the right but the dots are not detailed. Now that I have had a close look at Whaam I will have a better idea on how to create my own art. I worked on today's and tomorrow's images before I went to London but that's how you learn, little by little.

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And Finally

Following on from yesterday's blog, I did take out the shadows when they were most obvious. You can't see any here even with the white background. Well it was a white sheet to start with even if it doesn't look like it now.

On the left I converted to monochrome and on the right sepia. If you saw either of these versions you would have no idea of the original background. You would only know that the background was light and there were no shadows!

Happy snapping