Personal project - Part II

Well, from just before 5am on Thursday until about 6.30om I spent the day shooting for the final project. One way or the other I have have done 'A Day in the City' and hopefully I will have pass the course.

Maybe I was overly thorough, maybe I underestimated the organisation, but this really has reminded me of getting married in that the day seems less hassle than the organisation.

The Coporation of London media team has been so helpful I currently think they're wonderful whilst it seems that Network Rail and Transport for London cannot separate personal photography from filming and want to charge me £50 to use up to a crew of 10 people for a days photography.

Its me, I need about 4 minutes to shoot what I wanted to shoot...but I had so many other ideas anway. As it was I walked into the Waterloo & City line and there was the best corridor which looked great through an 18-35mm. I find Network - oh great, the cat is playing with the spare batteries for the flash and has discovered that they roll when patted... - Rail really hard to fathom because part of their website says that private photographers are welcome, but if then it seems that if you are not a rail enthusiast then you need to give them at least £50 to cover me and this crew of nine other people...

On the upside, the local pub by my office agreed to let me photograph them setting up for the day. So long as I id not mention names or brands publically, I could take pictures. I've promised to tell the office to drink there and they gave me a glass of mulled wine...very welcome at 8.45am.

The generosity also warmed me up after trying to strike the right balance at Smithfield Market. The workers there are a close knit team and two hours is too short a time to be accepted. Many were camera shy and from the 'jokes' about Inland Revenue I suspect that one or two ought not to have working. This made taking candids difficult too. The City of London mounted section were very generous with their time too, allowing me some 3 hours and endless tea and coffee.

I took some 540 pictures and am now developing my love affair with Lightroom, undertaking the first filtering of the pictures. LR makes this so much faster than Capture NX2 even if forming 540 1:1 previews does take some time.