Waiting...

At the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition in the Natural History Museum I discovered that, rather than photos being moments of chance, the photographer happening to be in the right place at the right time, a lot of waiting around had gone on. I thought I would tell you some of the stories about waiting to inspire you to visit, as no photography is allowed in the exhibition.

Some waiting sounds more appealing than others.

Underwater... 'When he spotted a fin, he dived down, held his breath and waited for the eight metre (Whale Shark) animal to pass overhead.'

For fifty days... 'In all that time he only saw one tiger, early morning on day fifty of his stake-out.'

For the morning... 'waited for the perfect dew to form on the flower and the vegetation behind it.'

Baiting Bears... 'Using a Deer as bait he waited patiently for ten days.'

For the weather... 'Marsel had waited years for the right weather to take this photo'

On river banks...'It took three days to get close enough to take a photo of this American Crocodile'

On the sea floor... 'Douglas captured this image by lying on the sea floor and waiting for the Dudong (Manatee) to approach'

Camping... 'Udayan spent the night camping next to a colony of Gharias on the bank, hoping to photograph them early in the morning light'

In a hide... 'Anton and his father were in Finland to take pictures of brown bears. They rented a hide, put out some dog food as bait, and waited'

Don't wait too long to go and see the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Natural History Museum as it closes on the 23rd March 2014. A great exhibition for teenagers. 

You can read more about the exhibition here.

Views of St Paul's Cathedral II

A few minutes walk from the painted views of St Paul's in the Guildhall Art Gallery in my last post, the real St Paul's can be seen for yourself.

There are many different viewpoints:

...from street level.

...reflected in street furniture.

 

...from inside One New Change Shopping Centre, Cheapside.

...reflected in the glass walls of One New Change.

Up high on top of One New Change shopping centre there is a public roof terrace with amazing views:

...of St Paul's with a bus passing by

 

...the London Eye, you can just make out Big Ben   

...the Shard to the South East

...the old, new and yet to be built, to the West

...to the South, you can just make out the Crystal Palace mast

 

...and back to St Paul's

These views can be seen for free from the roof of the One New Change roof terrace open seven days a week.

It seems to be a bit of a secret, I haven't met many people who know it's there. It wasn't busy either time I went, even in half term. Having moaned about going, my ten year old ran out of the lift, on to the terrace proclaiming it to be 'cool!' 

http://www.onenewchange.com/11the-roof-terrace.aspx

Views of St Paul's Cathedral I

St Paul's is over 300 years old and was built on the highest point in the city. It remains a constant in an ever changing city. At the Guildhall Art Gallery, you can see paintings of St Paul's which show you how the city has changed over time, not to mention painting styles.

The Lord Mayor Proceeding to Westminster on Lord Mayor's day 9 November 1789

 Richard Paton & Francis Wheatley



The Thames by Moonlight with Southwark Bridge 1884
John Atkinson Grimshaw



The Heart of the Empire 1904 Niels Moller Lund



Blackfriars Bridge and St Paul's 1995
Anthony Lowe



Landscape 715 2003-04
John Virtue



Inside the Guildhall Art Gallery



Guildhall Yard & Art Gallery, the site of London's Roman amphitheatre

Open all week, free admission. Why not check out these paintings and the City of London's art collection at the Guildhall Art Gallery, only a stone's throw from the cathedral itself.

Have a look at the website for more details here.