Monk's Walk

I don't often take photos of Oxford architecture - generally I just run past it in a big hurry. Two days ago, though, I put my theatre hat on and went location-scouting for a dance performance next spring with a colleague. So, one of the sites we looked at was this:


It's called 'Monk's Walk' and I used to adore it - but now they've sandblasted it, and it looks better to me in b&w.

More monochromes at Aileni's Monochrome Monday.

Or (disclaimer: skip if you've read this before) if you have some time to spare and love the Andes or the rainforest please visit my picture book about my fieldwork in the Peruvian cloud forest:
http://www.blurb.com/photo-book-contest/view_book/914061
I've entered the blurb competition, and if you feel generous please vote for me.

Happy Monday!

Visit Aileni's Monochrome Monday for all things b&w.

power connection?

I walked past this plug in the ground the other day:



Happy birthday to Monochrome Mondays!

old roof

I like this old roof construction - it's the Market Hall in Chipping Campden, built in 1627:



More monochromes at Aileni's Monochrome Monday.

waterfall

Happy Sunday and happy Monday - and altogether a happy new week to all of you!
Back to Aileni's Monochrome Monday for more b&w.

untidy :)

A rather untidy old willow which I walked past last weekend:



Visit Aileni's Monochrome Monday for more b&w.

cloudy drama

Some dramatic weather developing on the way back from France last week.



Happy Sunday and Monochrome Monday to everyone :)

cloudy mountain tops

Another cloud forest photo - here are some peaks sticking out of the haze:



Have fun visiting all the and Monochrome Maniacs. I'm on holiday this week and will have to visit all your entries later.

monochrome thistle

For some reason I didn't find any black and white models for some weeks - until this thistle came along:



Happy Sunday and Monochrome Monday to everyone :)

way back from work

When I don't work in the river every day I generally make my way home via lovely Holywell Street in Oxford. I hope I look a bit less tortured on my bike than this chap right when I took the photo:



Click back to the Monochrome Maniacs, brought together by Aileni for lots of b&w shots.

Seaside

A warm May bank holiday some years ago in Aldeburgh. I don't remember what these two were looking at, but for me the image embodies a particular type of English seaside holiday...and makes me yearn for fish and chips:



Click back to the Monochrome Maniacs, brought together by Aileni for lots of b&w shots.

lunch hour

A New York builder takes a break from his work at Ground Zero. I think his hard hat looks quite fetching on his neighbour, a banker type in bronze. Yes, the pidgeon seems to know that the banker is about to get his sandwich pack out -




Click back to the Monochrome Maniacs, brought together by Aileni for lots of b&w shots.

Not the desert

This is not a desert, it's just Dartmoor in spring...




You're overlooking the moor from the ridge of Lee Moor Clay Pit which is at it's southern end. Dartmoor tends to depress me in an instant - and this probably shows in the picture. I know many people love this man-made landscape, but I prefer trees - I can't help it.


Visit the other Monochrome Maniacs, brought together by Aileni for lots of b&w shots.

monochrome reflection

A little blossoming branch reflected in a pond:



Here's the bigger version



Visit the Monochrome Maniacs, brought to life by Aileni, for b&w goodness.

In the Lab

Our Lab is in the process of being decommissioned and so everything has to be packed - and even worse - tidied up and cleaned. Below is a collection of bottles which was tucked away in a long forgotten fridge. We had always wondered why the Lab was such a stinky place - now we think these bottles might have been the culprits, which contained all the worlds most evil pollutants dissolved in disgusting solvents:



If you came here to see a nice monochrome and are somewhat disappointed just click back to Aileni's Monochrome Monday for another chance.

Little monochrome house

Here's somebody's amusingly ramshackle scenic little house near San Francisco. The nice clean car next to it seems to indicate it is in use - but the grass in front of the door looks so healthy that I've decided there might be a secret entrance at the side:




Do visit Aileni's Monochrome Monday for lots of splendid monochromes.

Clear lake

This is Clear Lake - the largest natural lake in California. So they say. It looks pretty but is far from clear and quite polluted by mercury deposits from the old mercury mines close by.



Under less favourable light conditions and from above it looks like this:



Visit Aileni and the Monochrome Maniacs for more monochromes.

...another beach

Yet another Californian beach on a very beautiful evening. As one travels up the coast on Highway 1 they seem to get prettier by the minute.



Aileni, over at Monochrome Maniacs, is hosting lots more monochromes.

Monochrome flowers

Here are more pictures of cherry blossoms - the white ones are out, too. So I decided these were made for black and white:



If you have time, visit Aileni's Monochrome Maniacs website for more monochromes.

More night, more mountains

Staying in the Andes, here is another almost-night-shot. This time with the first traces of sunrise. I would have liked a slightly less grainy picture but it was cold outside. As it was only marginally less cold inside (there is no heating in the wooden huts which are the field station) I decided to preserve warmth rather than fiddle around with camera settings. I do somewhat like the image. Probably irrationally so.



To see a whole range of other monochromes visit the Monochrome Maniacs and their host, Aileni.