Greenwich by TJ

This topic was not so much difficult in terms of the choice of what to photograph, but more in how to choose one photo to go with. I have probably changed my mind every day since I took the photos on which one to go with! An afternoon in Greenwich gave ample opportunity to photograph all the main attractions, although with hindsight I would have liked to either have had a bit longer there or alternatively put in some planning before going as I have to admit I was completely taken aback at the amount of photo opportunities that presented themselves one after another. In the end I decided to go for my photo of Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle, a recent addition to Greenwich outside the National Maritime Museum by Yinka Shonibare, which is a painstakingly crafted 1/30th replica of Nelson’s HMS Victory, the battleship on which he died during the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. In common with the original, it has 80 cannon and 37 sails set as on the day of battle. I decided to have a bit of fun with the editing software using the fish eye distortion to give a bit of extra panoramic effect to the photo. I then used tinsii software to remove some of the colours from the photo to give the boat inside the bottle greater presence.

The other shots I had under consideration were more traditional views in and around Greenwich, and even to narrow these down to just four photos was difficult enough! In the top left photo I got a shot of the Cutty Sark masts taken from the Greenwich Observatory, which gives an indication just how big the cutter is against the buildings on the far side of The Thames. The top right photo of the Olympic Equestrian Arena with the Royal Naval College and Canary Wharf is a photo I like, because it captures the excitement of Olympic planning against the spectacular backdrop of old and new London. I think getting this shot slightly off centre works well. The bottom left photo of the same scene taken from the top of the hill gives a more formal view. Finally a shot of The Cutty Sark which I almost went with, as for me this is just the most awesome sight in Greenwich and I reckon was the closest I got to taking a picture postcard shot all day.