Ever since I first saw images from The Shard in London I've wanted to visit, I mean I've really wanted to visit, a bit like an expectant child on Christmas Eve, it's something of a photographers dream being so high above the city and although the entry fee is high (£30.95 for just me) I would have to say that it is worth every penny.

 Now I should add to that statement, I think if you're a family with little ones then maybe they're not going to get the most out of the experience but if you are at all interested in cities, London, viewing great landscapes, taking great photographs well then this might just be the experience you've been waiting for.

 I chose to go at sunset because for me that's when the magic happens, the fading natural light of the day adds to the quiet beauty of the city down below.  You stand watching amazed as the city starts to light up artificially with something akin to the biggest set of illuminations you've ever seen, this is something so incredible that you can't possibly imagine it until you see it, I've viewed a lot of cities from above both during daylight but this one was the first I'd managed to view at night, mostly because London is just open later for business, especially during the months of chaotic tourism in summer.

 I'm so glad I went in late though as it wasn't busy or crowded and there was an easy pace of gentle calm as the remaining guests, lets call them guests because that's what you feel like, you feel like London itself has invited you to view it's iconic structures, it's crowded urban landscapes from such a height that the whole city looks like an enormous ever changing piece of art.

There are two heights on which to view these epic landscapes from, the 68th and the 72nd floor both offer amazing vantage points, I wandered around for just over an hour collecting more and more images that I can keep, to enjoy forever.  

On the 72nd floor you can grab a deckchair, you can buy a cup of tea from a little Fortnum and Mason cart or a glass of champagne to sit enjoying the views with that special person, for me though, a champagne glass would have inhibited my ability to hold the camera so I was happy just to wander around the 360 degree panoramic windows drinking in the sights whilst all around felt eerily calm, I don't think there are many places in London where you get such contrasts of calm and quiet whilst knowing that down below the hustle, bustle and chaos of the city continue long into the night.

When I return to London again in the autumn I will return to The View From The Shard again, there's no question that the seasons change the light just as the hours of the passing day does and I'm fairly sure I could never get bored of towering above the beauty of the urban landscape and photographing it slowly and carefully with love.  For me, this is what travel and photography are all about, whilst you can press record in your mind and whilst you can accurately describe a place or view to take people to the same places in their mind if you can put together those images with gloriously worded descriptions then you can truly take people on a journey with you time and time again.

Newcastle Upon Tyne, City 2/69 in the UK Cityscapes Project...Part 2

Being lucky enough to live and work as a Newcastle Photographer in this beautiful city is a wonderful thing indeed, Newcastle is one of the most beautiful cities, especially in the sunshine, there is layer upon layer of amazing architecture from the oldest to the newest buildings, even those 1960's flats seem to add to the amazing landscape we have, and it's best seen from up high and that's really the fundamental thing about my Uk Cityscapes project, I enjoy getting on the river or getting up high to get proper layered cityscapes, I've set out to make them look like paintings or like those bright tourist and industry campaigns of the 60's/70' inviting us to come and holiday in the north or the future is bright why not base your business here and I believe that every city has at least one amazing view, I can't wait to find out really, now I've checked off both Newcastle and Liverpool from my list I feel like I know where this project is going even though it is pretty early days.  This week I have had a gallery and an online store present their contracts to sell my work, it's a very exciting time.  I am currently seeking some kind of sponsorship so I can go and photograph every city in Britain, I think it's going to end up making an amazing book and there's really never been a project like it.  However it happens and even if I have to fund every single city on my own I will do it, even if it might end up taking a few years!

I think having the very wonderful and super light Fuji X-Pro 1 was the instrument which helped unleash my creativity and set me free from hiking up hills, mountains and lots of old steps with bags of heavy camera gear, it's an amazing thing to use a camera which is so light and has an amazing dynamic range so that you can produce this kind of image.

I think these images are quite special and I hope you do to, some but not all of them are available as limited edition signed art prints and canvases in my Etsy store Philomena's Boutique currently and I'll let you know about the Gallery and Online store as soon as those details are finalised.  But for now lets enjoy Newcastle from above, my wonderful home city never looked quite so glorious!

Newcastle, City 2/69 in the UK Cityscapes Project...part 1

It's Friday and actually sort of the weekend for me which doesn't happen very often, I have 1 photo shoot tomorrow late afternoon and the rest of the weekend off, blimey!!  So earlier today I took a 3 hour walk with my camera around part of Newcastle, the Quayside mainly as it's my favourite bit.  I think you know when you live in a city you often forget to look around and see what's going on, it's like Ferris Bueller famously once said "Life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in a while you could miss it."

I've also heard that it's said that Liverpool is quite like Newcastle, I can sort of see how you could think that, if you read this post and then my last one about Liverpool you can make your own mind up.  What ever you decide, you must admit that Newcastle is pretty though I did notice that there's quite a lot of scaffold about at the moment in the quayside area.

Some of these images will shortly be available for purchase as fine art prints and canvases in Philomena's Boutique so why not pay a visit and purchase something lovely for yourself or maybe Fathers Day.

I actually think rooftops are s incredibly pretty, I went in search of non traditional views to create multilayered "painted" images and by multi layered I'm not talking about overlaying 10 billion photos in Photoshop, i'm talking about looking at the natural landscapes of cities and the way the buildings create layer upon layer of unusual beauty, give me this over a traditional bridge scene any day!

Panoramics are my favourite thing, I never did have the patience to sit and fiddle for hours doing them but the power of the amazing Fuji X-Pro1 is an amazing tool to have in your hands.

Again this image is multi layered, the corner of the Millenium bridge overlaps the law courts and behind it the quayside and then we have the bridges which all seem to sit on one another, it's a pretty amazing city when you see it like this.

I think the way I see things is with a touch of halcyon vision like a picture postcard from 1963 telling you to visit this great city, simpler times I'm sure and the quayside has changed so much.

These are mostly all legal offices now but I do love the multilayered canvas of cityscapes

The Newcastle Malmaison and Pitcher and Piano looking glorious in the sunshine, if you look closely you can even see St James Park

So the next time you're in your home town why not try and see it through the eyes of someone who's never seen it before, have an adventure and be an explorer in your own city