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

Through the Structure

A week ago I posted a picture of the tall wheel that was at the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, London over christmas. This is the same wheel but taken from the bottom of the structure. Its great that you can see the structure through the movement of the wheel. I added some photo tools filters to my photoshop edit to give it a more grungy look.

This week has been great for me. A new job up London will allow me to get out and around taken lots of photos. After I settle in there I will go out about twice a week. My photo valet is getting bare so I need to take some decent photos that I am happy with.

Thin wheel

I have promised myself that at some point this week I will go out in and around London again for a photo walk. My reserves are running low in the pre-processed photo department so I need to either choose some of my rejects to process (this can actually uncover some hidden gems) or go out and take some new ones. I will be busy with a new job from next week so don’t know how much time I will actually have, but I will take every chance I can to keep on posting.

This is a photo from Hyde Park during the christmas period. A huge christmas fair and market names Winter Wonderland is set up. There is a huge big wheel (okay not as big as the London Eye but still pretty massive) temporarily erected. It is the largest freestanding wheel in the world, I think. This is a side on view of said wheel.

Spinning Neon

Earlier I posted a shot of a ride at the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. This is the same ride from another angle. I am not sure what I prefer. This one shows the ride spinning while the bright neon lights draw in passers by. The tripod I was using had to be modified for this shot to fit thorough the railing of the ride. I saw modified, I mean used as a monopod while it precariously rests on a ledge with me trying to hold it steady to the best of my ability. As you can imagine it took a few tries until I was happy with the brackets.

Now christmas is over its time to plan for New years. We have a rule in my house that it cannot be called that. We call it my birthday for obvious reasons. The bad thing is that New Years Eve is always an anti-climax, especially this year as I will be working on a boat on the Thames.

The giant wheel in Hyde Park

Another from Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland for you today. This wheel is the world largest portable big wheel. It doesn’t look that big in this picture but strangely someone I met thought it was the London Eye. Obviously it is no where near as big but I guess if you are a tourney in London, any massive Big Wheel could be the London Eye.

That bright light in the sky that looks like a giant star is actually the moon. It was very bright that night and I guess is very apt for Christmas.

Neon at the Wonderland

This was not the first time that I have gone to Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland at christmas. I went last year but wasn’t able to take many decent photos as I was with family. This time though I went on a dedicated trip to take photos. I got a lot better shots then last time. It may help that now I am more experienced now but also it helps to be around fellow photographers for inspiration and enjoyment.

As soon as I saw this ride I new what I wanted to do. The colours and textures lend itself perfectly for HDR. I got a few from another angle with the ride spinning that have come out well (considering I had to fashion a tripod so I could lean though the bard on the far side). I will post one of them at a later date. Enjoy on this final run up to christmas.

A repost of an old image. I thought it was in the New Years spirit.

So HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE. It also happens to be my birthday. Not a bad day to be born on but its a bit too close to christmas. On the plus side, there is always a good party for me to go to.

lushlondon:

lushlondon:

One of the first photos I took with my new D700. London’s Southbank is awesome at night

I was walking around london at night doing more timelapses and went to walk through Leicester Square. To my surprise it was taken over by a fairground. This was the best shot I got. It was very busy and lots of security telling me not to use a tripod.

lushlondon:

One of the first photos I took with my new D700. London’s Southbank is awesome at night

This is an old photo that I just found hidden away. Every few months a fair comes to my local town