Travels in short part two

In my "The world is a book and those who do not travel only see one page" Blog I wrote about traveling in France and Italy with my Canadian friend Dayna. This is a continuation on from that and will be writing lots of more in-depth stories about what you have read in that and this blog with loads more photos.

I spent a day in London going to galleries and markets and the next day Richie and Leanne came and picked me up and we had sushi train for lunch at bluewater.

Cupcakes and Sushi train at Bluewater

That night we hada few drinks, as Richies dunbells will tell you and Leanne and I went out for a good girly night out.

After getting our faces painted at Jumping Jacks

The next day we went up to the Notting Hill Carnival in London which was a very colourful parade with loads of great music and ALOT of crowds.

I then stayed in Kent with Aunty Marion and Uncle Bob and their gorgeous puppy and had a nice relaxing time there as well as going to a hops festival and seeing morris dancers, going out with Alan, Linda, Will and Sue for a lovely Indian meal and Nana Kaths 91st Birthday.

On the 12th I finally got the day I'd been looking forward to for a very long time and met up with Danii and Katie in London. Just so everyone knows, Danii didn't cry for once!! I did!! We had an amazing few days adventuring in York and Malton with Jonny and his lovely family and some of the best memories were going to pizza hut for lunch in York, playing on the park at Castle Howard and walking through the park in London with the squirrels.

At 3am I had to be up and ready to leave Danii and Katie to go to Germany. First to Munich to Oktoberfest and which was a load of fun at the campsite (although it was so cold at night i was wearing basically all of the clothes i had with me) I'd say 97% of the camping ground's residence on the first weekend that i was there were either from Australia or New Zealand. I went on a walking tour of Munich which was very interesting and pushed my way through the crowd at the Oktoberfest showgrounds and saw parades and took loads of photos of all the traditional German dress.

Next in Germany I went to Cologne where the first day I went looking through the city saw a 'love lock' bridge and walked about 4kms out of my way on the way to a chocolate museum, where they had the history and loads of fun facts about chocolate and a lindt factory so it was probably good that i went that far out of my way for the exercise. I then volunteered at an event that the Impossible Project (the people now making polaroid film) had and met some great people, saw a great presentation and cut up 3kgs of onions and a wheel of cheese from Holland. The next day I went to Photokina where I was the first person that day to score a free Lomography coloursplash camera and I had alot of fun geeking out over all of the camera products and services. I picked up alot of free stuff too which we all know how much I love :) OH! and the hostel in Cologne had the best breakfast cereal I've ever had. Bar none. I now know why Germans always complain at the state of free breakfast in hostels all over the place.

The fabled 20x24 Polaroid camera at the Impossible Soirée

Bran, Oats, Granola, Coco pops and dark chocolate shavings. Can it get any better?

Next it was to Berlin which I loved because of all of the history and I did 2 walking tours there, one free walking tour which gave you a good idea about the city up until the fall of the wall in 1990 and then the other walking tour was about the sub-cultures, street art and slums which was all very interesting and gave a more recent history, 1990 onwards kinda thing.

Bandenburg Gate

On the New Europe subculture tour of Berlin

Back to England and to Leanne and Richies new flat for their housewarming and possibly the biggest spread i've ever seen at a BBQ. Lots of dancing to the UK top 40 dance hits of all time and lots of cupcakes.

Leanne, The one of the best people (and cook's) I know!

The next couple of days were filled with looking forward to what lay only a couple of days ahead and getting my 27kgs that i came with plus all of the stuff I've picked up along the way into a 20kg suitcase. Didn't work out so well with having to leave a case of stuff with Leanne and Richie and having to pay 60pound excess. Apparently the 11.9kgs that i had in my backpack (which didn't feel that heavy to me, it had definitely been heavier than that through Germany) was only meant to be 5kgs but anyway, got here to London Ontario in the end and have enjoyed every second of it. Oh except maybe when I realized that It was already getting down to -1 at night, that moment kinda sucked but I love our apartment, what i've seen of it I love the area and although I haven't really met anyone yet I certainly Love one of the people here. So now to find a job and brace myself for the winter.

Stay tuned for more in-Depth blogs about the people, places and photos taken along the way..

Street Photography 101

Before I get into all the travel tales I think I should explain a bit about How, What and Who I shoot and Why..

Since really getting into photography after buying my first digital camera in 2003, a 2 megapixel Olympus point and shoot, I've loved taking natural photos of people. After looking at all the great street photography artists in art school it made me love it and add to my strive to travel to far away places. Some find it terrifying to go out and click on the street and some find it amusing to move among people. Some spend their time mingling with locals there and some get embarrassed by the attention they get out of clicking photos. Here is a small list which i thought would help people wanting to get into street photography and how to go about it.

1. Plan your gear: While you plan to go out and shoot, plan your gear accordingly. Carrying too much gear might not be a good idea because you might want to keep attention on capturing life rather than worrying about extra lenses. Should you Include a longer lens? Well there are different theories around this question. Alot of people say that, a longer lens would help you capture shots from distance, and hence you would have candid shots without letting people know you are taking them. The other school of thought says to get closer and get into the frame to capture the soul in your shot. I tend to just use a mid range- 17-85mm IS, I tend to think that if the people are further away that that then you need to get closer, or leave them be.

2. Observe: While moving around in a new place, look for activities happening around. Every place is characteristic in its own way. Really it depends on the person behind the camera, you can decide what you like to take photos of, whether it be of a young couple in love or of a group of tourists all looking at a map confused, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Try to capture those moments.

3. Try and get involved: I am guilty of in some situations clicking a shot and leaving straight away. This can sometimes leave the people around stunned, anxious or angry but one of the best methods is to get involved with people, share a smile and not run with a photo. You never know, a smile or small talk might give you great shots, other times its best just to leave people be.

4. Neither appear conspicuous, nor suspicious: People who tend to sneak a shot and move on, might appear suspicious. Be very aware about doing this, in my experience though by just looking further off into the distance will put a persons mind at rest that you weren't taking photos of them, however always respect privacy of the people around you.

5. Bring home a story and not a photo: Street photography is a genre of dealing with people. Strike up a conversation and get to know your subjects, it will mean more to you later to be able to tell a story of someone rather than just being able to tell where the photo was taken.

6. Gauge the situation yourself: If you see a fight break out on the street you may feel like taking your lens cap off but, obviously, think before you do, could the adrenalin of these people turn on you? Develop an eye to gauge the situation by yourself.

7. Understand Law of Land: There are lots of places where you might not be allowed to take photos so it's important that you abide by the laws of land. Be careful of Shooting at the railway station, bridges, buses and taking photos of Police and alike are all against the law since they could compromise the security, so avoid shooting at such places, unless you know it is okay to do so.