I went to a concert in St Paul’s Cathedral the other day. We arrived a little too early so decided to wander in the area. The sun was setting and I liked the general mood of the evening street  life.

The fountain above was at the entrance of the garden around the Cathedral. Below are a couple of shots taken in the garden.

Then we left the garden to walk on the streets

Then we went inside the cathedral to attend the concert.

The Arrival

Playing in the arcades

At the observatory

In The Park

When it’s very hot yet humid, you know how it’s going to end. A big  lighting followed by a noisy thunder and then the downpour with drops the size of your fingers. And there is that distinctive smell that differentiate summer rain from the rest.
I made these pictures two weekends ago while I was in a bus in west London.

I spent the night walking across Central London , doing a loop that roughly espoused the Thames’ shape. Not alone, I was accompanied by about two dozens photographers during the night photography walk organised by Ghene Snowdon. Of all the cities I’ve shot at night, London is to me the most beautiful, not the least because the city has been creative with night lighting in recent years and that the Thames that flow through the city reflects nicely such creativity.

Interestingly, London’s night scape was among my first subjects when I got seriously into photography 4 years ago, so it was with a smile and a hint of nostalgia that we stopped by London bridge to thoroughly and collectively take pictures of it (That’s the main picture at the top).

We’ve also wandered around the City Hall for a while. There was some interesting curvy blue light along the ramps there.

A city a night  often make normally usual sights quite surreal, like these trees at Tate Modern.

Overall it was a great night out (Thanks Ghene!) despite the shyness of the Sun at sunset and sunrise.

On Sunday, the Marylebone village in west London held it’s annual summer fair.

I’ve never been to the Marylebone Summer Fayre  before.

There was food, drink, live music, dancing, gardens, farmer’s market and balloons.
It was organized by the Walden Estate in support for the charity  Teenage Cancer Trust.
The nice weather and the joviality of the people in the streets (on both side of the stalls) made it a delightful experience.

The restaurants, pubs and cafés extended their dinning area to the middle of the streets, making Marylebone high street feels like a southern Europe street.

The Tasca restaurant had their waiter spanish-costumed and organized a flamboyant flamenco show right on the street.

That wasn’t the only dancing related event as there were demos and workshops organized all day for Salsa and West Coast Swing.

For music fans, there were various gigs either right on the streets or on proper stage and everything in between.