hAmPsTeAd

Walking through the charming village of Hampstead, I saw many different styles of houses that I picked for my photo theme. The houses in the small neighborhoods had little doors with low ceilings and were primarily brick. The smaller houses made a strong contrast with the old famous houses such as Fenton, Admiral, and Kenwood which were built extravagantly to show wealth.  I loved Hampstead because it had the quant feel of a little English village but was still close to busy London.  In fact my favorite part of the walk was walking to the top of Kite Hill and looking out over the city. The view was spectacular!

Holland Park Walk

One of my favorite things to do is to look at the different streets throughout London, so I chose street signs as my picture theme for this walk. Depending on the area, the feel of the neighborhood is so different. On the Holland Park walk I walked through many different streets and enjoyed watching the families and people walking through the streets. It was starting to get dark, and we were walking down Abbotsbury Mews road. The street was so charming and one of the houses was all lit up inside, a little girl was playing wither her dolls on the floor while her older sister rode her scooter around the sidewalk outside. I loved getting a little glimpse into the life of a typical London family in this area. 

Everything Red Among The Scholars

I picked the color red for my theme because out of all the colors seen in the city, red seems to be used the most. Busses, phone booths, mailboxes, tube stations, etc. are all the color red. I enjoyed walking through the city past the British Museum, London University College, and Dickens House and seeing the many ways that red is used throughout the streets of London. My favorite use of red is the poppy seen on the lapel and sweater of almost everyone I passed used to honor those killed in the Great War. 

Love in South Kensington

Love that stands the test of time
Father and Son
Young and in Love
Missing Love
Puppy Love

Loving Music
Friendship
Playful Love

My picture theme is  all the different types of love and the many ways and places it is shown.  One of my favorite things to do is people-watch, especially on walks.  I love to observe relationships between people and notice the ways they show how much they care for each other.  It's so easy to overlook the little things that make life happy, to walk by them without notice.  During my walk through "South Kensington Museums" I took the time to notice those little things and realize that love is everywhere. 

Chelsea: Walk Of The Superstars

                                                                       Fence Railing
                                                                      front door steps
                                                                     balcony rail
                                                                      sidewalk design
                                                               window advertisement
                                                                    ceiling design
                                                                      hotel decor
                                                                   sidewalk pattern

My picture theme for this walk was patterns and designs.  Walking throughout the Chelsea area, I noticed a mesh of colors and different patterns.  When I kept my eye open for designs in common places I was surprised at the amount of detail in everyday things such as sidewalks, windows etc.  It was easy to imagine kings road and other sites throughout Chelsea as places of gathering and activity for the "superstars" of that age.  

Seats of Power: Whitehall and the Mall

The theme for my pictures is light. I started my walk at dusk which created the perfect atmosphere as the city was just beginning to light up.  Light creates an interesting effect as it draws attention to certain aspects of the photo and eliminates the background. The focus of the walk was to be introduced to part of London associated with royalty, government, and the administration of the UK.   The mood in the city is different at night than it is in the daytime, everything seems to come to life.  This parallels with my theme of light, as the city lights up, the excitement of the people also steps up a notch.

City Walk

  

The focus of this walk is the city in its historical context, as it grew from Londinium in the Roman Era through the Medieval and  Stuart Times to the size that it is in the modern day.  I chose to do a black and white theme to give my pictures a more antiqued look.  Walking through some of the streets, I got the feel for what it may have been like to walk along the streets of London during Medieval times.   One of the interesting things that happened on our walk was as we passed St Paul's Cathedral we noticed a movie crew.  We asked what was going on  and they told us that we barely missed the filming of Sherlock Holmes.  He directed us down the street to the College of Arms where the next scene was being filmed.  We walked down to find men and women dressed in old-fashioned clothing in horse drawn carriages.  It was the perfect addition to our walk because it added to the feel of being in London during old times.  Another exciting part of the walk was walking past the court where on the front was written "Defend the Children of the Poor. Punish the Wrongdoer". I like that London places importance on tradition, the city doesn't feel as modernized as most other large cities. There seems to be great importance on keeping things the way they always were.