Olympia

Between the pillars

/ mikeosbornphoto / 17 Comments

Olympia in west London is best known as a vast space for exhibitions and conferences – a space where people come to congregate, browse and buy.

We looked around one corner of the complex on Open House London weekend which would usually go unnoticed. The Pillar Hall is an incredibly ornate room with beautifully plastered walls and ceiling, held aloft by sturdy, magnificent Corinthian columns. Even the signs for the restrooms are elegant.

Click to enlarge

Hall of pillars

Gallery entrance

But my favourite image from this brief visit was supposed to be a candid of Dermot – but I was caught out at the last moment as he glanced up. He is beautifully framed in the light of the window, its long drapes and one of the pillars to the right of the shot. Architecture does not always win the day…

Standing in the window

Second chance gallery

/ mikeosbornphoto / 15 Comments

This happens to all photographers. You take some shots and they never see the light of day. For me, it’s usually because they don’t quite fit into the theme of a post or they’ve simply been overlooked.

Here is a selection of photographs from recent sessions in various locations which I’ve finally lavished with some care and attention. This is a post without a common thread, apart from giving some life to shots which didn’t quite fit at the time.

Click first image to launch the gallery

Olympia rainbow

/ mikeosbornphoto / 9 Comments

Just a short walk from my house and I’m in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, which boasts some of the most exclusive addresses in London. It also contains Olympia, a grand old exhibition centre which first opened in 1886, and is covered in an impressive canopy of glass and iron of which the Victorians were so fond.

This was a beautifully clear and sunny day, and the light penetrated two sides of glass to produce a series of wonderful coloured light refractions and flares.

Olympia flare

This is also the first official shot from my new Fuji XE-1 camera, which made well-known buildings seem less familiar as I got to grips with my new system. I also tried some more close-up work, with this photograph of a sign from a nearby Boris Bike stand, London’s bicycle hire system.

Boris Bike sign

Any thoughts on these initial shots would be most welcome – I’m pleased so far and look forward to more work with my new camera.