Hi, Hola, Bonjour , Ciao , مرحبا, 您好, bok, hei and welcome.

My name is James Murray and I live in London, England but love to go exploring in foreign climates. Coming from a design background I look at photography as an extension of this, recording the lifestyles and architecture that make up are world.

My passion for photography started when I first picked up a film camera (wow I miss the darkroom), capturing the moments of my accident filled childhood. I transferred this passion into my studies mixing in all of my design influences to create my own style.

Architecture and photography are the perfect blend each complementing the other. As a HDR (High Dynamic Range) enthuiast, I use this technique to enrich my images.

I have worked as a photographer since 2010, taking photos of the enviroment that I lived in around London, selling images as artworks and to companies. In 2011 I worked for Disney on their cruise ships with the big mouse himself. Onboard I worked as a portrait and wedding photographer, learning new techniques and feeding my travel bug.

Every photo is a memory; there is no better way to capture it then how you see it, not how the camera sees it.

 

Stacky Theme by Andrew

Sun set in the Millennium http://bit.ly/JWlZxB

The Mystery Cardinal Building http://bit.ly/JeZaam

The horse with no body to love

Todays photo is linked to the fountain in yesterdays. Both were put there to attract tourists but I think (and I guess that you probably agree) that this is the more unusual of the two. Generally known and the horse head it is actually meant to be of a horse drinking but the fact that it basically is of a decapitated horse trumps this idea.

Looking through my Lightroom library I realise that I am very rubbish in naming my photos. I think of one for the daily photo but thats about it and never record them. I have set myself the task over the weekend to go through and name most of my photos, although to to them all would take weeks do I will just do my favourites.

As promised (and because I was rubbish last week) I will be posting an extra photo on Saturday. This will probably later in the day as today is PAYDAY!!! and will probably need a lie in. See you all tomorrow.

The fountain of colour

I ended a photo walk early as I had to be up early for a long long days work. The last place I ended up before swiftly jumping on a bus to Victoria station was Marble Arch. This fountain is next to the arch put there by Westminster council to attract visitors to the area. It is a fantastic place to be at night with people travelling on Boris bikes (on drunken adventures) to come and see it.

The fountain changed colour during my long exposure from blue to pink. In post production, I merged the two colours together bringing out the best of both. It creates something that the eye could only dream os seeing when you are actually there. I hope you like it as much as I do.

The artworks of a protest

More from the Occupy London protests now. Walking around the camp site I stumbled upon a group of people drawing crazy designs on the pavement slabs. There was about 4 people either writing political messages, drawing faces or just doodling shapes.

This girl was one of them. It’s not my usual HDR work but I liked it all the same and I hope you do too.

Trees at the Tate Modern

I processed this image a while ago but have only just learned to like it. That happens sometimes as you spend a while processing it and don’t appreciate it after. Happily now I am pleased with it.

For those of you who do not know this is a photo of the Tate Modern art gallery on London’s south bank. I am always around this area so have many photos of the exterior but have yet to take one inside. I will do at some point.

B.A.R.C.E.L.O.N.A

As you may know, one of my favorite cities is Barcelona. I have been there many times and was our home port in Europe. 

This was taken in the Gothic sector of the city. The square was always so crowded that I had to wait around 20 minutes to capture this. I still wasnt happy as there are people in the background but on that day I wasn’t going to get any better.

I thought the sculpture was cleaver and it makes people play and look at the wording.

Art by St Paul’s

Yeah I know what your thinking, another one of St Paul’s. What can I say, I’m addicted to it. I have noticed this sculpture many times, infact there are three of them all in a row which always have someone climbing on them.

St Paul’s Cathedral is still closed to the public because of all the protesters around the front. Check out my photos of them here. I’m not sure when it will be open again but I have yet to go inside and take photos so I hope it is soon.

The Scarecrow on the Roof

On top of the Haywood Gallery is a roof garden that we stumbled upon while trying to get a high view of the Thames. Looking around the garden I saw this scarecrow keeping guard. It is hard to know whether this was an art exhibit or not as there are so many subtle exhibits around the area.

Pants , pants and more pants

This shot is taken from on top of the Hayward gallery from the other side from this location. It looks over a current art installation from Pipilotti Rist. Here is an extract from the Guardian website.

“A miserable bunting of underwear flaps in the breeze outside the Hayward gallery in London, like washing hung out to dry. Nearby, globular grey bubbles spill from a machine on the outdoor sculpture court, wobbling and writhing as they ascend over Waterloo Bridge. The bubbles burst in puffs of smoke. Life, it appears, is nothing but pants and smoke.”

It looks very strange in person, especially when you walk under it without knowing why it is there. It certainly made me laugh when I first saw it. Have a good weekend everyone and see you on Monday.