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Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Well back to the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, now one of my favourite all time buildings. As I have mentioned before, I could have spent all day photographing this place, such wonderful architecture, it really does need to be seen in real life to be believed. How did Gaudi, a architect in the 1800s dream of something so modern as this, it simple amazes me. These stained glass windows seemed to go on for ever and ever, I can't imagine how much they cost and they are very abstract compared to older stained glass windows. I can't wait for my next visit to Barcelona.

On another note, thank you to all those who gave me feedback on my Bluebell image, gave me a few ideas and hopefully will get out soon to get some more images (just waiting in for a parcel at the moment). I will also be working on my website today, giving it an update that is much needed. Feel free to checkout my website

www.aaronyeomanphotography.co.uk

Photo Details
Sony Alpha SLT-A77
Sigma 10-20mm 1:4-5.6 EX DC HSM
RAW
32bit HDR
f/4.0
10mm
ISO400
1/125s exposure

Software Used
Lightroom 4.4
Photomatix 4

Information
The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família (English: Basilica and Expiatory Church of the Holy Family; Spanish: Basílica y Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Familia), commonly known as the Sagrada Família (Catalan pronunciation: [səˈɣɾaðə fəˈmiɫiə]), is a large Roman Catholic church in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926). Although incomplete, the church is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and in November 2010 was consecrated and proclaimed a minor basilica by Pope Benedict XVI.

Though construction of Sagrada Família had commenced in 1882, Gaudí became involved in 1883 taking over the project and transforming it with his architectural and engineering style—combining Gothic and curvilinear Art Nouveau forms.

Gaudí devoted his last years to the project, and at the time of his death at age 73 in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete. Sagrada Família's construction progressed slowly, as it relied on private donations and was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War—only to resume intermittent progress in the 1950s. Construction passed the midpoint in 2010 with some of the project's greatest challenges remaining and an anticipated completion date of 2026—the centennial of Gaudí's death. The basílica has a long history of dividing the citizens of Barcelona—over the initial possibility it might compete with Barcelona's cathedral, over Gaudí's design itself over the possibility that work after Gaudí's death disregarded his design and the recent possibility that an underground tunnel of Spain's high-speed train could disturb its stability.

Describing Sagrada Família, art critic Rainer Zerbst said "it is probably impossible to find a church building anything like it in the entire history of art" and Paul Goldberger called it "the most extraordinary personal interpretation of Gothic architecture since the Middle Ages."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADlia

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Three Corner Wood, Mardley Hill, Hertfordshire, England

The Bluebells are finally here! As I noticed that other photographers were uploading images of Bluebells I thought I should really have a look for some too. This is sooooooo far outside my comfort zone being an Urban photographer, give me a tunnel, bridge, station, building any day and I will be happy. However on this occasion I wanted to improve my technique with other genres of photography and composition so Bluebells it was :-). So Sunday morning, my Girlfriend and I went to our local wood.

I have never photographed Bluebells before (yes I know!) so we walked around the wood in the anticipation that I might find some and our little local wood didn't disappoint. Came across this blanketed area which I was quite happy with although it took me a while to get the composition the way that I wanted. I am not 100% happy with it but its a start and I think the Bluebells could have done with a few more days as some of them were not quite in flower yet. I think I may revisit this wood sometime this week before they all go for this year and try again.

Any constructive criticism would be great please :-)

Photo Details
Sony Alpha SLT-A77
Sigma 10-20mm 1:4-5.6 EX DC HSM
RAW
f/8
20mm
ISO50
1/15s exposure

Software Used
Lightroom 4.4

Information
Hyacinthoides non-scripta (formerly Endymion non-scriptus or Scilla non-scripta) is a bulbous perennial plant, found in Atlantic areas from north-western Spain to the British Isles, and also frequently used as a garden plant. It is known in English as the common bluebell or simply bluebell, a name which is used in Scotland to refer to the harebell, Campanula rotundifolia. In spring, H. non-scripta produces a nodding, one-sided inflorescence of 5–12 tubular, sweet-scented violet–blue flowers, with strongly recurved tepals, and 3–6 long, linear, basal leaves.

H. non-scripta is particularly associated with ancient woodland where it may dominate the understorey to produce carpets of violet–blue flowers in "bluebell woods", but also occurs in more open habitats in western regions. It is protected under UK law, and in some other parts of its range. A related species, H. hispanica has also been introduced to the British Isles and hybridises with H. non-scripta to produce intermediates known as H. × massartiana.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyacinthoides_non-scripta

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St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London, England

This is the awe-inspring St Pancras Renaissance Hotel and its grand staircase. Believe it or not this is the third time that I have attempted to photograph this staircase, first time during open house last year, second during a tour and this one. All previous attempts I was not happy with as they were just not quite lined up correctly for my liking and also the light coming in through the windows plays havoc with the camera's metering, I still think this would be best visited at night and with a tripod when you don't have that light blasting through the windows but anyhow I am happy with this.

I didn't actually plan to take this image again but I took it while I had a spare 15 minutes before meeting Richard Hurst the other week. I asked the security guard and he nicely said yes that I could take a few images so St Pancras get my 'Seal of Aproval' :-)

Also you maybe wondering why I called this image 'Grinning Like a Cheshire Cat', well everytime I kept looking at it during post processing it kept reminding me of the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland, I have no idea why but it just does, can you see him? ;-) Or maybe it was the fact I was grinning after I got this image ;-)

Photo Details
Sony Alpha SLT-A77
Sigma 10-20mm 1:4-5.6 EX DC HSM
RAW
f/8
10mm
ISO800
1/13s exposure

Software Used
Lightroom 4.4

Information
The St. Pancras Renaissance London Hotel is a hotel in the English city of London, forming the frontispiece of St Pancras railway station. It opened in 2011, but occupies much of the former Midland Grand Hotel which opened in 1873 and closed in 1935. Between 1935 and 2011, the building was known as St Pancras Chambers and was used as railway offices.

The upper levels of the original building have been redeveloped as apartments by the Manhattan Loft Corporation, and retain the St Pancras Chambers name.

Planning permission was granted in 2004 for the building to be redeveloped into a new hotel. The main public rooms of the old Midland Grand were restored, along with some of the bedrooms. In order to cater for the more modern expectations of guests, a new bedroom wing was constructed on the western side of the Barlow train-shed. As redeveloped the hotel contains 244 bedrooms, 2 restaurants, 2 bars, a health and leisure centre, a ballroom, and 20 meeting and function rooms.

At the same time, the upper floors of the original building were redeveloped as 68 apartments by the Manhattan Loft Corporation.

The St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel opened on 14 March 2011 to guests; however, the formal Grand Opening was on 5 May - exactly 138 years after its original opening in 1873.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Pancras_Renaissance_London_Hotel

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Hotel Praktik Rambla, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

Back to Barcelona for todays upload, again this was taken from inside our hotel we were staying in. I kindly asked the receptionist if I could take this image and they were happy enough to let me take my images, top marks to Hotel Praktik, somehow I don't think I would have had the same response here in the UK :-(.

The hotel was full of unusual and stunning architecture, really reflecting the feel and personality of what Barcelona is, I was just so happy this little part of Barcelona was in my hotel I was staying in :-)

Photo Details
Sony Alpha SLT-A77
Sigma 10-20mm 1:4-5.6 EX DC HSM
RAW
32Bit HDR
f/5
10mm
ISO400
1/13s exposure

Software Used
Lightroom 4.4

My Website - Aaron Yeoman Photography
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City Hall, London, England

Still tiding up my images and deleting the rubbish, poorly composed and out of focus images and came across this one from Open House London. This is City Hall in London, a wonderful building designed by one of my favourite architects Sir Norman Foster. It has one awesome staircase within it, anybody that has been to this place would agree with me I am sure.

Now I hear you say how do I visit this building? This building is normally closed to the general public however once a year this building and many others in London open their doors to the public so you can get a chance to visit some of London's best Architecture. The event is called Open House London and this year it is happening on the 21st and 22nd of September. The majority of buildings are open without applying for (free) tickets or putting yourself in a ballot. The tickets and ballot system are for the more popular buildings or with limited access etc. Buildings I have visited during the last two years are City Hall, Lloyds Building, The Battleship Building, Tower 42, Broadgate Tower, The Angel Building and many others. The Gherkin was involved last year, as it is this year however be warned queues were in excess of 4 hours!!!

There was several problems last year as unfortunately Open House's success and popularity is also its own downfall. The day the tickets went on release the computer systems could not deal with the sheer amount of people trying to get tickets and subsequently the system went down and numerous attempts also failed. They had to resort to ballot system in the end for the buildings that required tickets however from what I have been hearing they are trying to rectify this issue this year, fingers crossed they do.

The catalog of buildings in Open House London comes out in August but you can pre-order it now at the address below

www.open-city.org.uk/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=1&amp...

I hope this little guide is helpful for all that are new to Open House. If you have any questions that I might be able to help with just ask :-).

Photo Details
Sony Alpha DSLR-A700
Samyang 8mm F3.5 MC Fisheye
RAW
f/8.0
8mm
ISO200
0.5s exposure

Software Used
Lightroom 4.4

Information
City Hall is the headquarters of the Greater London Authority (GLA) which comprises the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. It is located in Southwark, on the south bank of the River Thames near Tower Bridge. It was designed by Norman Foster and opened in July 2002, two years after the Greater London Authority was created.

The building has an unusual, bulbous shape, purportedly intended to reduce its surface area and thus improve energy efficiency, although the excess energy consumption caused by the exclusive use of glass (in a double facade) overwhelms the benefit of shape. Despite claiming the building "demonstrates the potential for a sustainable, virtually non-polluting public building" energy use measurements have shown this building to be fairly inefficient in terms of energy use (375 kWh/m2/yr), with a 2012 Display Energy Performance Certificate rating of "D". It has been compared variously to Darth Vader's helmet, a misshapen egg, a woodlouse and a motorcycle helmet. Former mayor Ken Livingstone referred to it as a "glass testicle" while the present mayor, Boris Johnson, has referred to it as "The Glass Gonad" and more politely as "The Onion". Its designers reportedly saw the building as a giant sphere hanging over the Thames, but opted for a more conventionally rooted building instead. It has no front or back in conventional terms but derives its shape from a modified sphere.

A 500-metre (1,640 ft) helical walkway, reminiscent of that in New York's Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, ascends the full height of the building. At the top of the ten-story building is an exhibition and meeting space called "London's Living Room", with an open viewing deck which is occasionally open to the public. The walkway provides views of the interior of the building, and is intended to symbolise transparency; a similar device was used by Foster in his design for the rebuilt Reichstag (parliament) in Germany. In 2006 it was announced that solar photovoltaic cells would be fitted to the building by the London Climate Change Agency.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Hall_(London)