a bit of culture on a sunday afternoon

walking the dome

What to do on a Sunday afternoon after the dog has had her muddy walk in the country?

That was the dilemma facing other half and I on the sunniest day of the week thus far. Over lunch I pored over the options for exhibitions and galleries in London. Manet? Tate Modern? White cube?

Each had good reasons for rejection ...........too busy.............exhibition that I wanted to see not yet open..............not something OH would enjoy................... I was not getting enthusiastic vibes for a trip to London. Going by train to London at the weekend has less appeal to those who do it every day in the working week.

Then I remembered.........we haven't taken the sky-ride over the Thames. I half heartedly mentioned it to OH and before I knew it we were off on a mission to ride in the air on a sunny afternoon. No trains required; we would go by car. We checked it was open and within half an hour were parking the car underneath the dome on the Greenwich peninsula. We mused over the NCP parking meters that need £13 in pound coins on a weekday. Who ever has that many pound coins handy?

I am ashamed to say that I have never been to the dome before. Not liking loud music I can't do pop concerts, and have never had good reason to visit. But here it was, right in front of me, with a group of tiny people battling the wind, climbing over the roof for the 'millennium dome experience'.

On we walked past buildings that looked like they have popped up from somewhere on the continent.

Peninsula architecture

We arrived at the cable car station.

Just one thing missing. The cable cars.

Nice birch trees though.

In the half hour since we left home the rides had been cancelled due to high winds.

So we took a stroll down to the river bank and admired the view. OH remarked that the view looked quite rural. I can only assume that he was referring to the reeds on the river bank. Or that possibly he needs new glasses. But we did get to see a bit of art in the form of a giant metal sculpture.

sculpture 

On from there to take a stroll through the dome. What a soul-less experience that is in daylight. One chain restaurant after another. Tex-mex versus pizza versus steak. Or if you really can't decide go to Jimmy's, where they have everything.

covering all options for the indecisive diner

We explored Nissan world with interactive badges. Almost cultural if you are under 10 years old.

not quite in control.....

OH drove and spectacularly crashed a car into the safety barrier ( at 30 mph) , and we didn't book a test drive in an electric car.

After all those new and exciting experiences it was time for a cup of tea. And home for a quiet Sunday evening reading the papers. Next time I shall go straight for a London gallery, train or not. But at least I can now say that I have been to the millennium dome, even if it is 13 years later than most people.

whatever the weather

Katia 2 © Caroline Fraser

The great thing about being a keen photographer is that nothing can stop one from making images. Hurricane Katia is beating around my house at the moment, and instead of feeling sad about the loss of the sunshine and warm weather I am eager to get down to the woods to see if I can get some more "wind" shots ( preferably without the aid of falling trees).

I found myself walking along the river Medway at the weekend, ostensibly to capture my man in his boat, but mainly because I fancied a walk along the river shore to see what I could see. Having been inspired by Struth's paradise series I was delighted to see grasses and trees blowing vigorously in the wind, creating a mini version of paradise; all in green. using a long lens, small aperture and hand holding for between 0.5 to 2 secs I experimented with capturing the movement.

Katia 1 © Caroline Fraser

As I strolled, dog moseyed around on the shore, wandering over to say hello to random passers by.

random passers-by © caroline fraser

As you can see I was having a fuzzy kind of day, preferring to keep the lens out of focus; thereby avoiding the need for a tripod on a windy day with a long lens.

The main key to success with the windy foliage shots seems to be to avoid having any chinks of sky that burn out on a long exposure; the deeper you get into the undergrowth, the better.

Katia 3 © Caroline Fraser

I did get some shots of my man in his boat, but to be honest, they are not very good; my lens not long enough, and too many blocks of flats in the background.

So as my man values his privacy, here is a photo of someone else's dinghy coming down stream against the tide

spinnaker © caroline fraser 2011

As you can see, I was attracted by the lovely red and white spinnaker ( sail).

from Foot's cray meadow; reflections in the River Cray