Photography Social #3-Ahoy Matey!

So the theme of this photography social was a nautical theme as we started by meeting on the R.S. Hispaniola boat which is docked along the Victoria Embankment. We had 10 sailor/nautical related sayings such as "Fly-by-Night", "The Devil to Pay", "Square Meal", "High and Dry", "True Colours", "Feeling Blue", "Blind Eye", "The Bitter End", "Cut of his Jib". Now I don't exactly know what any of these mean in any nautical sense (or other), but it was clear that this social would be difficult. Instead of just having one theme that we had to shoot bewteen our 4-6 team members, we had to take specific shots that would represent each one of these strange sayings. We started out with a group of five, added one to make a group of six, and lost two as we went out and shot for an hour to give us a team of four. Not sure why two of our teamates left us "high and dry" (sorry, bad pun our remaining team members came up with after a few drinks), but it was fine because between the 4 of us, we got each of the sayings covered, even if they were pictures we really had to explain to get to the meaning! Because I was unsure of the challenge, I took a lot of extra photos as you can see that were non-social related.

Our boat as we arrived! Too bad Chloe and I walked the wrong way out of Embankment tube station and walked for a good 15 minutes in the wrong way when the boat was literally 10 feet from where we came out.

Walking across Embankment Bridge

View of Southbank from the Bridge


Embankment Train Station

"True Colours" (I mean there's colors...)

More "True Colours"

Looking across the Thames

"Feeling Blue" option (I mean there's blue...)

Our boat again!

Robyn's First Day-Southbank Tour

A used book sale near Waterloo

There was a good 45 minute rain storm, but after that, it was blue skies!

Monet painting at the Tate Modern

View of St. Paul's and Millenium Bridge from inside the Tate Modern

The Globe Theater

The Presidents of FIFA were here last week to look at London and the surroudning stadiums as it's a contender to host the 2018 World Cup. They projected flags and soccer players on Tower Bridge and Tower of London. Howcome they don't tell you these things before they do them so I cna go and take pics??

Tower Bridge

So for Robyn's first day, we went on the Southbank tour so that she could see some of the big sights of London-Parliament, Thames, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, etc.

From Notting Hill--Portobello Road--Ladbroke Grove

Portobello Road (not on a market day which is Saturday)-one of my favorite places in London!

LOVE this store

Old Cricket balls!

They had tons and tons of drawer knobs!

Printing blocks!

Pedlar's

http://www.pedlars.co.uk/

Bus signs that go on the front and back of the buses to show their route

Check out the London print here-I've also posted a close-up a little farther down

Jim Datz limited edition print especially made for Pedlar's-LOVE this!

Awesome store display at the All Saints store on Portobello Road. The whole thing was covered in vintage sewing mahcines.

They wouldn't let me take photos inside, but they had some GREAT but expensive and large antiques.

I loved these wooden crates (smaller ones) and check out the very old Portobello Road sign!

Great house on Portobello Road

Skate Park near the National Gallery in Southbank

I had heard of Pedlar's on many blogs and websites, and decided to check it out. It's a store started in Scotland that has both vintage and new items which make for interesting souvenirs from Great Britain. It's quite a ways away from Bob's, but I figured worth a visit. Although the weather forecast heavy rain, when I left Bob's, it was partly cloudy/blue skies, and since the weather is usually wrong everyday, I decided to chance it. Things went well until I got off the tube at Notting Hill Gate. People were carrying their umbrellas, waiting for the rain, and it came within 5 minutes of me getting out of the protection of the tube station! Good thing I had my trusty umbrella which was from the pound store which turned inside out immediately. So I found Portobello Road, and ran into the first shop pictured above (yes, even in running in the rain, I was still picky about what store to go in-I didn't go into the first shop I saw-a country western shop--uh, in London??). Luckily, I loved this store and spent quite a bit of time just going through everything! I went into a few other stores, but kept on route to Pedlar's. It was nice to see Portobello Rd. without billions of people during the market, but then how I do love the market!

Pedlar's was great, and the staff were extremely nice. The Jim Datz painting I found, I fell in love with. Too bad it comes framed though and was pricey. I made my way back down Portobello Rd. and into a few second hand bookstores (still in search of the perfect and cheap Peter Pan book!). I went back to the tube station, and made my way to Waterloo station. I had to get another look at some art I had seen the day before at Gabriels Wharf. This is when I saw the skate park because I had come a different way than yesterday (there were like 10 different exits out of Waterloo Station going towards the Thames). I ended up buying the etching which has a Japanese feel to it-teal background with branches with white and yellow blossoms by Peter Wareham.