twins | PK PERSPECTIVE

Smelly London 2-6 December

Tabby playing with new toys

My lovely little nieces were turning one so the family decided to go down to London for their party. Of course the weather wasn’t going to make that easy. What is usually a 6.5 hour journey from my flat to my sisters turned into a 3 train, 2 tubes, very snowy, rather cold and very busy 11 hour one. We traveled on a a very busy train through feet of snow which stretched all down the country, even into London. Though London only had a shallow covering. By the time we got there the little ones were asleep in bed and I was ready for a drink and an early night.

The next day I started early at about 5:30 as I was sleeping on my sisters sofa and apparently 5:30 is a good time to get up when you are one! After bottles and breakfast and once father got over from his hotel it was on to present opening. So out came the camera. The lighting was hard to deal with as 2 walls are all windows and the other walls are white, leaving the middle where babies were quite dark and the babies back lit. The flash bounced everywhere. But I got the hang of it and kept the iso high at around 800-1600 and only used the flash as a fill from a distance as had the remote on, I kept the F number low to keep the shutter speed up as the wee ones are not so good at staying still anymore so needed high shutters so they wouldn’t blur with movement. But as they are so beautiful it is hard to get a bad shot ( yes I may be a bit biased).

Georgie at her Party

The day after we had a little party for them and invited some of their wee friends. So it was off with the zoom and on with the wide as space was getting a bit short. Fortunately they have very photogenic friends too and I got some lovely shots of babies and parents, again using the remote flash from a distance. It was all good fun with balloons, chocolate cakes and lots of toys, and I’m glad to say the favourites were book, MegaBloks and musical instruments, all very educational. Only 1 and already Geniuses!

Too soon it was time to go home and I had to leave my beloved nieces and sister behind and have another 11 hour journey, including 2 long cold hours in Edinburgh station, home. But as much as I miss them, I do love this country and was very glad to get home again. And even though they live in smelly old London, the 22 hours of cold and busy travel were well worth it to see them all.

Georgie showing Tabby how to play with the new toys!

East London, 31/8-2/9 2010

The Sun Slidding Down Behind The Olympic Site

The time had come to visit my sister and her family in London again. So it was on to the 6 hour train journey on a busy train where I had a sandwich and plum drama, leaving myself little to eat, my walkman phone (cheap in the meantime one after the last took a leap down a drain) decided it only wanted to play music for 20 mins before going all weird and when I got on some woman was asleep in my booked seat! All in all not the best journey. However my sister meet me at kings cross with her beautiful girls and guided me back through the underground maze to her flat in east London. Where we played with pearl, stitch, McMickey and McMinne until the girls dad traumatised them with a surprise McMickey attack. After the girls had eaten, well thrown around, their dinner and they’d had their baths, the sun set over the Olympic site with a flash of colour and bringing beauty to the overly huamised area. I may detest London but it does have its moments. Natural beauty sliding down behind industrial construction. Leaning out the window on my tiptoes and balancing the camera on the frame I squeezed off a few shots with a a low ISO and not too low a shutter speed so I wouldn’t flood sensor with light and lose the colour in the sky, there’s always more light at twilight than the naked eye sees.

The next day we had a trip to Valentines park after Georgie had tried to sneak out the door in her dads work bag. We had a lovely and not too expensive lunch there and enjoyed the sunshine in the haven of the lovely old mansion grounds. We all played in the shade of a tree and I let my sister take control of the camera and although she was terrified of dropping it, she didn’t do too bad at all. In order to let the girls sleep a while we wandered around the park, which is small but enjoyable and had a wee look in the mansion and wondered at how there were different rooms for different times of day, to go with the different outfits I assume. If I had that there would be a large part of the day I would have to stay in the bathroom, wonder if it is better to make that the morning room as the afternoon one? Then it was back on the dirty tubes with all the rude people and through the busy stations with lifts not working so had to lift the double buggy up the stairs. God knows what you’re meant to do if you’re in a wheelchair! Then more photo fun at home with the girls, more throwing food around and smiling and laughing at each other and climbing and crawling or belly dragging and standing and bouncing. All in all a good day. By the end of it we were all shattered even McMickey who Tabby was tentatively touching again. So just after 10 I settled down to the lights of the city spreading out to forever over the horizon and worried about how Errols paw was to be fixed and if he could stay together until Continue reading →

Tag Archives: twins

1st Birthday

Smelly London again