View allAll Photos Tagged CONFIDENT
Isolated full length studio shot of a confident business team standing side by side and looking at the camera.
Last autumn, we felt confident enough to start arranging things in the new year. One of these was a show by Chinese acrobats that Jools wanted to see. She got Jen, Sylv and a friend to go. And yesterday was the day of the show. I made it clear it wasn't for me, but I would go up to rephotograph some City churches and we would meet up afterwards for a meal before coming home.
When we arrange things, we don't know what slings and arrows fate might throw at us. In Tuesday's case, it was a Tube drivers strike, and no last minute talks fixed that. I could arrange my trip to avoind using public transport other than the train up and back home, which were unaffected. Jools thought they would be OK, as their tickets were for the Odeon, which she thought was in Leicester Square, but it turned out was the old Hammersmith Apollo. Now, usually this would not have been a problem, but on Tuesday it was.
They arranged to leave an hour earlier than planned and try to get a taxi, which they did after waiting in line for an hour, getting to the theatre just half an hour before showtime, leaving them only time to get a snack.
Their journey up was done outside rush hour, the show ened at five, and they had to get back to St Pancras. Which would prove to be an adventure.
For me, however, it was a walk in the park. And to add to the pleasure of the day, I would meet up with my good friend, Simon, owner of the Churches of East Anglia website, just about every word and picture done by his own hand. His website also covers the City of LOndon churches, so I asked if he wanted to meet up; he did, so a plan was hatched to meet and visit a few churches, one of which, King Edmund, he had not been inside. He wouldn't arrive until jsut after ten to get the offpeak ticket prices, I would get up early as a couple of the churches would be open before nine.
A plan was made, and I had a list of chuches and a rough order in which to visit them.
The alarm went off at five, and we were both up. I having a coffee after getting dressed and Jools was to drop me off at the station, and as we drove in the heavy fog that had settled, I realised there was a direct train to Cannon Street just after seven, could I make it to avoid a half hour layover at Ashford?
Yes I could.
Jools dropped me off outside Priory station, I went in and got my ticket, and was on the train settled into a forward facing seat with three whole minutes to spare.
The train rattled it's way out of the station and through the tunnel under Western Heights, outside it was still dark. So I put my mask on and rested my eyes as we went through Folkestone to Ashford, an towards Pluckley, Headcorn, Marden to Tonbridge, Sevenoaks and so onto south east London. The train filled up slowly, until we got to Tonbridge which left few seats remaining, and at Sevenoaks, it was standing room only, but by then its a twenty minute run to London Bridge.
After leaving London Bridge station, the train took the sharp turn above Borough Market and over the river into Cannon Street. I was in no hurry, so enoyed the peace and space of an empty carriage before making my way off the train then along the platform and out onto the street in front. A heavy drizzle was falling, so I decided to get some breakfast and another coffee. Just up Walbrook there was an independent sandwich place, so I went in and asked what I wanted: faced with dozens of choices, all made to order, I had no idea.
I decided on a simple sausage sandwich and a coffee and watched people hurrying to work outside. I had all the time I wanted.
I check my phone and find that opening times were a little different, but St Mary Aldermary was open from half eight, so I check the directions and head there.
It was open, mainly because there is a small cafe inside. I ask if I could go in, they say yes, so I snap it well with the 50mm lens fitted, and decide that something sweet was called for. They recommended the carrot cake, so I had a slice of that and a pot of breakfast tea sitting and admiring the details of the church. Once I had finished, I put on the wide angle lens and finished the job.
Just up the lane outside was St Mary-le-Bow, which should also be open.
It was. Also because they had a cafe. I skipped another brew, and photographed that too, and saw that the crypt was open too, so went down the steps to that. Simon tells me that the church got it's name because of the brick arched crypt: bowed roof.
A five minute walk past The Bank of England was St Mary Woolnorth and St Mary Abchurch: both open, and both recorded by my camera and keen eye.
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Opinions vary greatly as to the merits of this church, observed Margaret Tabor in her splendid little 1924 volume London City Churches, a review of all those churches in the City built up to the end of the 18th Century. Some critics point to it as an illustration of the lack of genius of Wren's pupils... others find "much refinement" in the north front, and admire the classical details... The clanging quotation marks that drop around the words 'much refinement' probably tell us all we need to know about Ms Tabor's opinion. The pupil of Wren who was lacking in genius on this occasion was Nicholas Hawksmoor of course, who is today recognised as quite the most innovative English urban church architect of the 18th Century. That Ms Tabor was not without allies is reflected in the fact that on several occasions this building has been threatened. In 1863 an application was made for its demolition, so that the land could be used for the construction of Bank underground station. The parishioners fought off the attempt (in the event, the station was built in the crypt, and the neo-classical screen now hosting a Starbucks to the south of the church was built as the station entrance). In 1919, the Diocese of London's Commission into City Churches recommended St Mary Woolnoth as one of nineteen churches for demolition, the proceeds going to the construction of new churches in the suburbs.
St Mary Woolnoth's superb location at the meeting point of Lothbury and King William Street is of course the main reason for these periodic avaricious attempted land grabs, but it must be said that over the years there are many people who haven't really 'got' St Mary Woolnoth. The purity of the Classical form is undoubted - how the Victorians must have hated it! - but that box of an interior, unrelenting in its mathematical perfection, is easier to admire than to love. When the galleries were in situ and before the high box pews were replaced it must have been a claustrophobic experience sitting here on a Sunday, despite the light from above. Sometimes I take people in here and it blows them away, it takes their breath away. It doesn't do that to me. Perhaps I, too, am one of the people who don't really get St Mary Woolnoth.
Quite what TS Eliot thought of it I don't know, but his own memories of working in the City which weave their way into his masterpiece, The Waste Land, recalled the church very precisely:
Under the brown fog of a winter dawn,
A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many,
I had not thought death had undone so many.
Sighs, short and infrequent, were exhaled,
And each man fixed his eyes before his feet.
Flowed up the hill and down King William Street,
To where Saint Mary Woolnoth kept the hours
With a dead sound on the final stroke of nine.
One of the rectors here at the end of the 18th Century was the hymn writer John Newton. Newton had been a slave trader in an earlier part of his life, but repented and became a vocal opponent of the trade. He is buried here, and his epitaph, although fully in the language of early 19th Century pious memory, is still rather moving: John Newton, clerk, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned and appointed to preach the Faith he had laboured long to destroy.
Simon Knott, December 2015
Isolated full length studio shot of a confident businessman looking at the camera while holding a laptop computer.
Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus)
Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary - Christmas Hill, Saanich, BC
This guy wasn't about to let some silly human disturb his rest. He looked at me for a for a little while, then ignored me. After a few minutes he stood up and casually walked away, not a care in the world.
A beautiful girl with curly red hair glowed in the afternoon, posing confidently in a pure white lace dress, her sharp eyes full of attraction. In focusing too much on her facial expression, I missed capturing some body details in the photo's composition.
Here are some of my favorites from a recent shoot we did with the lovely Mariah at the Idaho Capitol Building. This is such a cool place to shoot - it's very classy and dignified. Mariah brought her game to this shoot - looking confident, sweet, and sassy. All in all a very fun shoot. Hopefully she's still talking to me so we can do some more shoots!
I took these photos in December 2019.
Katelyn is quickly becoming one of my favorite models - she also gives new meaning to the adage about great things coming in small packages. Katelyn is very dependable (no flake in her!), photogenic, fun, sweet, creative, and a bit of a contortionist too - she is an absolute joy to shoot with. Rebecca and I were going to shoot downtown with several models but Katelyn was the only one that showed so we wore the poor girl out - but it was a lot of fun - until she stood on a park bench, caught her stiletto heel in the bench and ended up falling into the street; fortunately the street was ok and Katelyn ended up bruised and battered but she still hung in there - now I can't wait to shoot with her again!
We did this shoot with Katelyn in downtown Anchorage in August 2012.
ARTIC's grand opening is 12.13.14, so workers are scrambling to have this transportation hub dependably operable for this public gala. This guy thinks nothing of balancing a ladder and drink on the escalator. Me? I hold on tightly to the hand rail! Anaheim, CA USA
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This young red fox kit was resting in a mulch bed. She was aware of my presence but not alarmed. Red fox (Volpes, volpes).