# London TPF meet ...



## Lensmeister

The day was great, Rob, Plasticspanner, Simon, Tempra and myself met up  ... here are the first of a fair few I suspect.
Rob.






In Leicester Square it was slow business for this artist.





Covent Garden and the Morris Dancers take a break ... which one is Morris ?





Speaks for itself.





This old chap was in St. James Park.





Got to say what a great bunch of guys .... a good laugh and many pubs visited  .


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## Arch

hey, nice one.... some meet-up pics already..... got some good ones here.... especially the old geezer, nicely captured :thumbup: ..... more please


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## Corry

Nice shots! Thanks for posting! I stickied this thread for ya.


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## Lensmeister

Thanks Core ...


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## tempra

Nice ones! better download then upload some of mine


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## nitefly

I wish I could have made it  How come not many shots of the people who showed up?


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## Lensmeister

Plasticspanner strides out. ... 





Rob, Plasticspanner (Hidden), Tempra, Simon.





Piccadilly


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## tempra

The Meister!!


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## Simon

A good day was had by all. Great weather, so hot infact, that we had to visit pubs just to cool down.

Thanks to all the guys for making it a great day

More pics here
http://www.gosnap.co.uk/photo-gallery/displayimage.php?album=4&pid=13&slideshow=5000


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## Arch

Good job simon. got some great captures :thumbup:


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## Simon

Thanks Archangel

I suppose this one should be posted here as Rob didn't feel at all silly posing for this! :mrgreen:


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## Lensmeister

The All New TPF Salute ..... 

I have a few more to play with before postijng and it's late ....


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## Antarctican

^^  LOVE it!!!  Thanks for sharing.  Looks like it was a fun day.


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## tempra

Some of Westminster Cathedral (I think thats what it was anyways)


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## Corry

Hehehe...silly kids...can't wait to see more!


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## JonMikal

wonderful shots by all. great to see you guys. Lensmeister, i love the shot of the old chap in the park :thumbup:


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## tempra

Reflections.....


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## tempra

The crew....











Don't know what they were doing :mrgreen: 






...ah yes - thats what they were doing...





















Think thats enough spam for one night, need to sleep!


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## nitefly

Ooohhh looks like you had fun!! And Chris.. I have the same t-shirt as you haha.. I wont say where its from if you dont


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## AIRIC

Looks like fun.

Eric


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## Corry

Squirt, you look a lot different in these pics than in your old avatar!


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## LaFoto

Oh, this thread has grown ever so nicely overnight!
Many photos by many different photographers, and I know most of you IN PERSON, I do, I do, I do! 
So good to see you all again.
I would have loved soooo to also come to this meet-up, but two within 3 weeks, both of which would include airfare and a flight over ... that just does not go past the "Master of the House"  
It looks like you had a super day yesterday, makes me wish even more I had jetted over, for here it was raining a steady 24 hours!

And just rely on tempra for some good church photos ... but shhht: that one is Westminster CHURCH. Not the Cathedral. 

I've only been there in 1972 (the year you were born or so, eh? many of you not even...), but I still remember that, I found the building quite striking at the time and had to overcome my confusion about Westmister Cathedral and Westminster Church, and somehow it stuck with me  Isn't there a picture of me and this very church around somewhere? Should be... :scratch:

And you have taken so lovely photos of yourselves in turn, and I have also been through all of Simon's slideshow on his site (*waving to Simon* hallo, can't say I have met you on the Forum much so far but be welcome, and for the next meet-up, I'll be there, too - I hope! - so see you then!*/stops waving*) -- and it is so cool to see you either again, if only in a 2-D manner, or to see newest photos of you (Lensmeister) --- and also you and I must try to meet in September, right? Last August just didn't work out for you, I know...

Ah, I must now post this and scroll through all your pictures again, they are just so good and so funny!


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## Lensmeister

It is Westminster Catherdral in Victoria.  My Mum was married there many years ago in the Lady Chapel to the right of the main Altar.  I tried to go there many times now to get a photo of it and hoped yesterday was my lucky day.  But again there was a service going on.  I really have to time it better next time.

Try as we might, we couldn't compair with this pair of Pros.





Little chap having lunch.





I noticed the sign and although not the right spelling I thought of our mansi being there in spirit 





He's Thinking .... "It's that TPF Lot .. I must give them my over the shoulder look"






More soon.


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## LaFoto

Dang. You are right.
It is Westminster CATHEDRAL as opposed to Westminster ABBEY ... ah, those 30+ years have done some damage to my memory then, after all. Too bad to be realising that now ... my day is ruined.


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## tempra

It was a good day out, I was kind of hoping to go today as well, but I just have too much to do at home. Rob and Plasticspanner left Victoria train station last night in search of pubs near Robs house, so no doubt they'll get up to something today. It is the London Marathon this morning, so the place is going to be packed with thousands of people and transport will be a bit of a nightmare!

So thanks to you guys that were there for making it such a good day, and here's to the next one and the future attendees!


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## Lensmeister

Good luck to them ..... The Marathon is always a nightmare day in London ... WAY TOO many people in a small space.

Glad I am off to Kingston with the family 

Anyways ... last batch from me for a little while.

It's always funnier when it's not you being drawn.





Anyone spot the illigal move?





Street Artist posed to look like he is running.





A protest in Leicester square (note I do not have an opinion onthe subject matter), just liked the way this bloke was protesting and hiding too  .





Saw something like this many years ago in a magazine and thought I'd try it.





Thanks guys for a great day out roll on Septemeber-ish time and another meet up.


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## tempra

NIce ones Neil, I think she spotted you in that last one


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## Lensmeister

tempra said:
			
		

> NIce ones Neil, I think she spotted you in that last one


Yep I think she did ... hence speeding off to take a couple of close ups of flowers to cover myself in case she got a little stroppy


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## mentos_007

ooooohhhh this is so coooool to seee you again! Chris where the hell did you lost your tiny beard and hair?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

And it's great to see Rob again  :hugs: 
And Tempra! yay!!!! 

MORE PHOTOS FOR MENTOS !!!!!!


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## LaFoto

mentos_007 said:
			
		

> MORE PHOTOS FOR MENTOS !!!!!!


 
AND FOR CORINNA!
Who would have loved to be there with you all the while!!


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## tempra

Do you want to see more?


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## LaFoto

Yes. More, more...


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## tempra

Hang on then, I'll see what I've got. Can't wait to see the results from Robs 100-400 lens.


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## tempra

Some Candids from the day















































And the 'Dead Man'


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## Foffen

Oh. Wish I was there with you guys.. Maybe next time! Seems you had a great time. A lot of the photos are great. Thank you for showing us poor bastards at home..


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## Simon

We all had a great time, Rob and Neil know London well and took us to some great places.

I need to advance my kit and skills for the next meet as I feel I missed opportunities.

Neil, I love the pic of the old man, you did really well to spot and capture that one, the rest of us were a little to slow.

Tony, the candles are really cool. You have some really good one's on your site, would be good to post them.


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## LaFoto

Oh wow, these are so cool. And what lovely weather you had yesterday. Here it was plainly horrible all day long!
But you got "dead men in purple socks" lying down in the park even! How funny is that!!
Very nice candid shots, all of these! I really like this kind of photography (and shhhh: you gotta take pics of distinctly South East Asian looking - is this politically correct enough? - tourists taking photos of each other, don't you? Either while they pose or while they are at work? More shhh: I took some photos of the kind in DC, too, but never tell! Who knows, I might have become the subject of other people's photos, too, and they now laugh about me --- and I only smile, mind. Very benignly!)


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## tempra

Simon said:
			
		

> We all had a great time, Rob and Neil know London well and took us to some great places.
> 
> I need to advance my kit and skills for the next meet as I feel I missed opportunities.
> 
> Neil, I love the pic of the old man, you did really well to spot and capture that one, the rest of us were a little to slow.
> 
> Tony, the candles are really cool. You have some really good one's on your site, would be good to post them.



Simon, I think your kit is fine - I know you posted in your other thread about having to change lenses a fair few times, but in that sort of situation where you are inside, outside, near and far then you will need to do that - thats part of the reason for being able to have interchangeable lenses. 

All I took were the 17-40, 50, and 70-200, so I probably had less range than you, but thats ok for me - any longer lens and I would have just had a load of blurry photos (unless I got a beast like Robs of course) also don't be afraid to change ISO as and when you need to - I always used to keep it on ISO 100, until I got fed up with shake shots.

Oh, and most of the shots on my site have been posted - I'm treading water till you, Rob and Chris post some! 

Keep at it mate - don;t be afraid of experimenting, you wouldn;t believe how many folders are on my PC which start with 'crap ...'


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## tempra

LaFoto said:
			
		

> Oh wow, these are so cool. And what lovely weather you had yesterday. Here it was plainly horrible all day long!
> But you got "dead men in purple socks" lying down in the park even! How funny is that!!
> Very nice candid shots, all of these! I really like this kind of photography (and shhhh: you gotta take pics of distinctly South East Asian looking - is this politically correct enough? - tourists taking photos of each other, don't you? Either while they pose or while they are at work? More shhh: I took some photos of the kind in DC, too, but never tell! Who knows, I might have become the subject of other people's photos, too, and they now laugh about me --- and I only smile, mind. Very benignly!)



Heh, this girl asked Simon to take her photo with her camera, I think everyone else got the same shot of her at the same time from a slightly different angle - Just Simon din't get to take his shot home with him


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## Simon

Tony, Thanks for the tips yesterday, I have been trying diffirent things out with the ISO.

I am just a bad workman blaming my tools, I still have lots to learn as I have thousands of pics that are really bad.

Here are some of my good one's, well, for my standards.



















http://www.gosnap.co.uk/photo-gallery/albums/userpics/10004/DSC_0016mod.jpg


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## Chase

Great stuff guys! Hopefully the wife and I will make it out there to go shooting one of these days.

Keep 'em coming!


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## tempra

Like the guy on the staircase very much!

Very retro


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## danalec99

Great stuff!!! 
Keep 'em coming!


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## Simon




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## Rob

Righty ho, here's my take on things!

The city





A flower





St George and the Dragon at the Royal Courts of Justice





Dragon again





Random bloke





No title required





Simon doing the thing





Street performer in Covent Garden, a silly little man who liked to turn his back on us... we are not perturbed by this and continue shooting until we get the shot... bwahahaha





Tempra, Tony 





The first pub of the day, The Imperial off Leicester Square where we had lunch


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## Rob

Lensmeister, Neil and me (shot by PlasticSpanner, Chris)






Street artist in Leicester Square





Tony again





Chinese protest against a list of things including organ harvesting, human rights, women's rights...





And again





Eros at Picadilly





A statue of a famous person (probably)





The sad man





The finish of the London Marathon being set up





Tony with Isoletta


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## Rob

Which way?





Duck





The Dead Man





Neil, Lensmeister





Simon, Simon





London





The guys doing the squirrel thing





Chris, PS shot from a couple of hundred yards out





Neil and Simon






Simon in action


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## Rob

Neil and Chris





Couple kissing





BBC Outdoor Broadcast Unit





The guys





Squiggle





The sharpest pro on the block.. full sun, compact camera, tripod and girlfriend.... wonder what the shot was like?





Westminster Cathedral





Inside... complete with ambient singing!





Light a candle for me





Chris came back to Bromley with me as all the hotels were booked, and we.... went to the pub surprisingly. Here's Tim, on his birthday... drunk.





Another of my friends called Tom





Right, that's probably enough pictures for you! Hope you enjoyed them as much as we enjoyed the day and the splendid weather! You must all come to the next meetup!!

Thanks for looking!

Rob


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## tempra

Thats a cracking lens Rob! Plus you get to keep fit carrying it around 

Where did you get to today?


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## Rob

tempra said:
			
		

> Thats a cracking lens Rob! Plus you get to keep fit carrying it around
> 
> Where did you get to today?



We haven't been anywhere really - tried to drive to Greenwich - bad idea - marathon. So... Chris is still here with me in Bromley and has been helping edit the pictures and sort the wheat from the chaff. We'll probably drop by the pub in a minute! 

Rob (+Chris)


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## LaFoto

Ah. Lovely new additions to this thread. The UK threads tend to really thrive, don't they? Coooooool. And believe me: I do plan to be there when there's the next meet-up on 2/3 September. Are those dates quite fixed as they are? Then I can plan ahead and put them down in my calendar. And for me it may well be London again, since I find so much has changed, plus the photo ops are neverending there (apparently, by the look at your pics up here!). And then I hope to meet you all again or for the first time, like Tony and Chris and Rob (again) and Simon and Neil first and other folks such as our archangel on board, and so many others who REALLY should start planning for September NOW. These meet-ups are unbeatable fun!


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## Simon

Nice one Rob!

It doesnt look like I'm putting my back pack on :er: 

Great shots, that's an amazing lens you have!






Thanks for organizing the day, I learnt a lot form it, plus it was good fun!!


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## mentos_007

Ron what an amazing set of pictures! and can I tell you that I love your lens... so... now I love your 100-400 lens and Tony's 50 lens...  

Thanks for sharing those!

And don't fotget about me when you'll be going to the pub with Chris!!!!


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## Fate

Great shots all  Wish i could have been there!


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## PlasticSpanner

OK I'm still here with Rob!  (Just pinched his computer for a while!)  These are the better shots from my P&S (I don't do digital! )

My first shot of the day in London , A statue of Newton outside the British Library.






St George's Dragon!






A funny building! (Dunno what it is called, sorry!)






Street performers in Covent Garden.






This guy turned his back on me 3 times! :x  Maybe I should have given him some money first? 






Rob in the Intrepid Fox! (Chiller & Ravens kinda pub! )






Outside Westminster Cathederal.






And inside!






And finally where I stayed for the night (after a night out in Bromley with Rob & Tom & friends! ) Sundridge Park Mansion.


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## PlasticSpanner

mentos_007 said:
			
		

> Ron what an amazing set of pictures! and can I tell you that I love your lens... so... now I love your 100-400 lens and Tony's 50 lens...
> 
> Thanks for sharing those!
> 
> * And don't fotget about me when you'll be going to the pub with Chris!!!*!



We forgot about everything except Beer & Noodles!


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## Rob

Simon said:
			
		

> Nice one Rob!
> 
> * It doesnt look like I'm putting my back pack on *:er:
> 
> Great shots, that's an amazing lens you have!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for organizing the day, I learnt a lot form it, plus it was good fun!!



Who's a little teapot then?? :lmao:

Rob


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## Simon

Hey Chris,

I didn't pay any money either!


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## Corry

Great shots everyone!


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## LaFoto

Chris, what will your film photos be like if you say you "don't do digital" and the outcome is this!?!?! Something that will definitely be worth the wait. You will post some more of your photos from that meet-up, won't you? I am so thrilled with this thread, it is such fun to look at.


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## MommyOf4Boys

Squirt that one photo of the round building is so awsome, especially if you use the wheel on your mouse to scroll down, it pops out at you and looks like it is growing when you roll the wheel of your mouse slowly downward to see more!! Kind of like an optical illusion.
THese are some fantastic photos all!  I really got a chuckle out of the photos and comments by you guys on the men all set up and shooting with their little p&s cameras.  Too funny!


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## Lensmeister

Thanks Rob for the coordinating of it all ..... Next time I suggest we send plasticspanner a lovely map, timetable and route guide to London ...


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## bigfatbadger

Very cool shots everyone, I would have struggled to get anything from this, but you all did extrmely well. Cool shots!


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## Rob

Right, I'm gonna add some text, now that I've got a bit of time on my hands!! 

PlasticSpanner arrived in London first at about 9am. That last statement is very funny if you were with us. PS walked to Kings Cross to get a ThamesLink train down to Blackfriars (5min journey). We spoke on the phone for a bit (9.30am). Simon then phones and says he'll be arriving on time at 10.30. I hang round Blackfriars station, trying not to look too much like a you-know-what.

Ten thirty arrives and I meet up with Simon and Lensmeister, we give PS a ring. He's still waiting for a train. Lensmeister tells me there's train problems... I say to PS, maybe think about another mode of transport, there's no trains probably, we wait and wander around Blackfriars station area. We wait. We wander. I take my first picture, of the river - OXO tower, millennium wheel. I take a flower bed picture of a tulip.

Sure enough, 11am comes around - no trains. PS goes in search of a 63 bus, as the circle line is out. Every bus stop is too busy, so he starts walking. *Eventually*, he arrives to cheers of celebration - pretty much a three hour journey for 1.9 miles. Oh well.  We consider welcoming PS off the bus in a deluge of pap-style camera action, but in the end - it's the fifth bus we thought he might have been on, so we don't bother!! 

We meet at the junction of Fleet Street and Queen Victoria Street and start walking west towards, well, the west end. Fleet Street is a great historical street which used to be where all the newspapers were based. I point out St Brides, the famous church upon which wedding cakes (in layers) are based. We walk up to the Royal Courts of Justice and Old Bailey and take some pictures of the street and the dragon in the middle of the road. Some of us take the pictures from the middle of the road.

After Fleet Street, Lensmeister leads the way round the back streets of Aldwich (where that funky building was) and we stop by the Old Curiosity Shop, of which, shamefully, I have never heard. Some backstreet trickery and good general navigation from Lensmeister, see us arrive in the thronging Covent Garden. There's always sights to see there, street performers are of a much higher standard than most towns, although that day it was mostly the "standing really still type". We snap a few of them, but generally, they're narky about it (presumably you should give them your money first!). The gold bloke is a veteran photo-mucker-up and manages to spoil most of the shots - a mere trifle to us - I think we all got a good one of him anyway. I think it was about this time, that the trademark TPF salute was invented... You must now all copy this over the globe at every meet-up ok?

We move on, as I reckoned it was pub time. We tried to get into the Punch and Judy, which overlooks.... the Punch and Judy show. They're closed for a private party. 

We mooch round the backstreets of theatre land over to Leicester Square. A fire-engine makes a pretty damn impressive U-Turn in the no-U-Turn zone of Kingsway. It's about 1pm now (I think) and we're in need of both solid and liquid refreshment. After getting the wrong street a couple of times (can you tell I'm now navigating?) I finally hit a fave London pub - the Imperial Arms (3rd left off the top of the square). Here we get stuck into the first pint of the day, and order some typical pub grub. Lensmeister has Sausage and Mash and gravy, Simon (I think?) has Ham Eggs and Chips, I have Ham Egg and Chips.... so what do the Northerners have??? Yep, Pie, Chips, Peas and Gravy. Everyone is happy with their food and we lark about with the cameras, swapping a few lenses, bodies, and generally doing the meetup thing. It's too dark really in the pub to get many decent ones, but I borrow some of Tempra's short range L glass and manage a couple of vaguely respectable shots.

I should point out at this point that Lensmeister is a football fan of enormous proportion and gives us the benefit of his no-doubt excellent knowledge of the sport at length.  Fittingly enough - St George's Day upon us, and a traditional English pub encourage this support of our national game.

Suitably refreshed, we orbit the Swiss Centre and return to Leicester Square and take pictures of the ever-present street portrait artists. A demonstration happens by - a small group of Chinese people making a large number of points, mostly human-rights based. I think we impressed the general croud and probably the demonstrators as we appeared at the same time as them, banged a few shots off and then left - looking like "pros" huh?

We then carry on West and make our way to Piccadilly where we all take the usual Eros and sign shots. That TDK stand must be one of the most photographed places in the world.


...continued....


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## Rob

...continued....


After Piccadilly, we move up through Soho to the Intrepid Fox. It's a fave of both myself and Lensmeister. You darksiders would love it. As it's Goth/Indie/Rock/Punk/Metal it is DARK inside and photography isn't really the done thing. I have my back to the room, but the guys manage to bang off a couple of subtle-ish shots before we get sat on by bikers. PS manages a quite frankly amazing shot, given he was using a PNS camera in bugger-all light.

We move off through the sex shops and back streets of Soho, remarking about the loss of Raymond's Revue bar. We are in need of some stimulation and I manage to lead the way, vaguely respectably (i.e. directly without getting lost!) to Bar Italia, where we all get double-espressos (thanks Simon!) and take them to Soho Square. The square is packed with totty and a couple of the guys do some bird-spotting. I shall let their wives/girlfriends beat the truth out of them if they're reading! 

We move past the finish of the London marathon, which was rather disappointing photographically - loads of clutter and no real opportunity to isolate the flags. 

We then head for St James' Park, which is one of the (you-guessed-it) Royal parks in London. I have to admit to having never walked around it before. We do some bird-spotting, of both varieties. We walk all around the park, taking shots of each other (usually whilst giggling) and the ducks, squirrels, dead people etc. (he wasn't really dead, but he'll be sorry if he passed out drunk in the sun!). I am persuaded... very reluctantly... to make an arse of myself by doing the, now ledgendary, TPF camera salute in front of only about 5,000 witnesses. Luckily, I wasn't embarrased in the slightest and happily joined in straight away without protesting at all. Much.

We all manage some great shots of each other and the wildlife in the blazing sunshine. We then hang around outside Buckingham Palace for a bit, deciding what to do.... can you guess??? Yep, pub. We take a few shots of that funny (Japanese?) young man using a tiny PNS camera on a tripod in the full-sun. Perhaps he has shakey hands? Anyway, we move on.

We walk from the Queen's house down to Victoria station (and the pub), but via Westminster Cathedral. It's like a normal Catholic church, multiplied by ten. We walk around quietly, listening to the haunting sounds of the choir, trying to take pictures subtley as there's a service, but it's in a sub-bit - where LM's mum got married! There's near enough no light in the place, so photography is tricky. It's also echoey... very echoey... to the point where a zoom lens causes a racket. We keep things respectful and avoid getting too close to the people worshipping and we squeak and pad around as unobtrusively as possible. We manage to leave without a scene.... Except PS, who gets lost. Lost. In a church. A small ruckus later and PS has found us again, cunningly hidden outside the church. 

We proceed down Victoria Street to the lady's very own station. Oh, is that a pub we see? Simon has to bid us farewell and the remaining four of us climb the stairs to the not-so-glamourous, but effective, Weatherspoons pub in the station. It has an outside balcony, and the guys manage a couple of shots off. Lensmeister bids us farewell and the three of us have a couple more beers - only fair really. Tempra needs to get on a coach and bids us farewell (after a few beers).

It's only PS and me left in Victoria now, so we decide it's probably time to sort out a beer. I call Pete who kindly books him a hotel in the Sundridge Park Mansion. We catch a slow train to Beckenham Junction and head to my local. It's Tim's birthday, and although I've said I couldn't go due to the meet-up, we're there. We have a beer or three to celebrate. We decide it's time for some food, so I take us down to Mizo's Noodle Bar - it's cheap, cheerful and pretty much impossible to finish your plate. My friend Tom finished his plate. Even PS is impressed. He was more impressed when the doggy bag came out and Tom took our leftovers back to the pub and finished ours too. That boy can eat. We have a few beers. We have a few beers.

We manage to get one of the youngsters to give us a lift back to mine and Pete drops PS down to the mansion. The drive way is over a mile long, and cab drivers drop people at the front gate for a laugh. No such treatment with BMW cabs!  We make it to the building and there's some kind of massive wedding party and it's a state. However, we manage to get PS's room sorted and I depart. Without a drink... really.

Sunday sees an okish morning, but not great. I pick PS up as agreed and we slink down the driveway. As nobody managed Sunday, we decide to drive to Greenwich. Our slightly hung-over brains don't add "London Marathon" to "Starts in Greenwich", so we promptly get stuck in road closures and traffic. We tour some of the less salubrious areas of London and return via my old school to Bromley. We post some pictures, edit some pictures, and hang round... then... guess..? Yep, pub. We have a very quick drink in the Slug and Lettuce in Bromley before I say goodbye to Chris at about 6pm. He may... just may... have made it to Victoria by now. I'm pretty confident he won't have made it to Euston though!!  Prove me wrong mate!

Anyway, I shall stop boring you now. I make no apology for chronological, or even chronic innaccuracy - I was having a beer at the time.

TPF meetups are great, and YOU, yes YOU reading this.... YOU are coming to the next one - no excuses.

Thanks for reading!

Rob


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## Corry

Aaw...thanks for the write up Rob! 

Sounds like you guys had a blast! Seriously...I need to win the lottery so Ican just travel around to all themeetups all the times.


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## tempra

Think thats about it Rob - and here's your lunch again


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## ShutteredEye

I love seeing these meetup photos, makes this board so much more personal!


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## Lensmeister

Great write up Rob mate ..... 

I was laughing the whole time reading it.  Very accurate ..... 

And not just a footy fan a MANIC footy fan I am ... sitting here at 11.30 at night in my football shirt ... 

Great day out for I think ...


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## Lensmeister

Simon said:
			
		

> Nice one Rob!
> 
> It doesnt look like I'm putting my back pack on :er:
> 
> Great shots, that's an amazing lens you have!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for organizing the day, I learnt a lot form it, plus it was good fun!!




Is Simon doing a Ricksby out of Rising Damp ?

OR does no one remember that ?


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## Rob

Lensmeister said:
			
		

> Is Simon doing a Ricksby out of Rising Damp ?
> 
> OR does no one remember that ?



Well, I get it anyway! :lmao: Don't tease... oh hang on, I already have myself! 

It was great to meet both you guys IRL for the first time! I do hope September is in your diaries already!

Rob


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## Lensmeister

Yeah informed the wife I was going to a cheese down the pants weekend ..... 

Started a thread for it too .... http://thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=479513#post479513

Maybe throw a few Ideas together.


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## Rob

Right, it's getting late and I have to go to bed soon! However, I need to add a few things:

Firstly, thanks to all the chaps who made it for making the day enjoyable. A big well done to Simon, as he really didn't know what he was getting himself into, yet still made the plunge and came and saw a bunch of strangers.

Secondly, great photography guys. Not only me, but a couple of friends have commented that it's not very easy to tell who's pictures are who's. This I take as a reflection on the general high standard.

Thirdly, beer. We all need another one.

Fourthly, if I'm going to make an idiot of myself, I at least demand that people from far-flung places make a similar effort - meet up with your fellow TPFers in obscure places and take a picture of yourself, with camera raised in the TPF salute. In fact, go out now and do it.

Fifthly, vote London for the next meetup.

Thanks to those who came, and those who have bothered to get this far in the thread!!!! 

Rob


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## PlasticSpanner

Great write up Rob! :thumbup: 

I did actually consider walkiong from Euston to Blackfriars since I calculated it to be about 4.5 km, but wanted to "have a go" on the trains/underground! (Yeah, why??????)

Unfortunately, someone dropped a wire (damaged cables!) and all the southbound trains went down the pan!  Rob found out about this 10 minutes before I did! 

I managed to work out I wanted a number 63 bus, as did about a hundred other miffed travellers!   I decided to walk it by now and 20 minutes later a 63 buss passed me almost empty so I elected to get one at the next stop.

So that was why I was late getting to the start!


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## PlasticSpanner

Then I got locked in Westminster Cathedral! 

Well, not really! The entrance is kinda through a side door that isn't that visible from inside, and the big doors inside were closed and had a barrier in front of them!

I thought someone had closed them and locked me inside. Trapped for a 2 hour church service! :shock:

Panic set in and a second tour of the entrance area revealed the hidden exit!


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## lostprophet

I am so, so ,so, sooooo SORRY
I had a nightmare weekend and to make matters worse I left my phone at work so I couldn't even phone you Rob to say I wouldn't be able to make it. 

Love the pictures, looks like you had a great time AND I WILL BE THERE IN SEPTEMBER

Andy


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## mentos_007

I read the whole story! Thanks for sharing!


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## Simon

Sorry for the delayed response, I've not been on for a few days.

Nice write up of the day Rob. I'm glad you didn't mention about my camp pose, that could have been embarrassing. :er: 

I'm looking forward to the next one and hope to meet more TPF members.

Thank you to Rob, Neil, Tony and Chris for all your tips, and making it the great day it was.


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## duncanp

Will ve coming in september, and so should nitefly and maybe fate... looks like you had a great time!


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## Antarctican

What an entertaining thread to view/read!!


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## JTHphoto

gotta love that p&s on a tripod in the middle of the day...   really liked your cathedral shot rob (exterior)... but you all had some amazing results... really enjoyed viewing/reading this whole thread... :thumbup:


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## Ian_W

Excellent photos - feel free to add your settings to the photos - personally I like to see what ISO, focal length, speed etc., are for the photos - helps us not so confident ones to recreate similar images


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## Rob

Ian_W said:
			
		

> Excellent photos - feel free to add your settings to the photos - personally I like to see what ISO, focal length, speed etc., are for the photos - helps us not so confident ones to recreate similar images


Download Opanda's EXIF Information viewer. When it's all installed, you can just right click on an image and view the EXIF data - I leave all mine intact even when I'm posting here - so you'll be able to see what I edited it with as well as what I used to shoot it!

Here's a sample of the amount of info which is encoded in one of my pictures:

[Image]
Make = Canon
Model = Canon EOS 20D
Orientation = top/left
X Resolution = 72
Y Resolution = 72
Resolution Unit = inch
Software = Adobe Photoshop CS2 Windows
Date Time = 2006-04-23 14:15:14
White Point = [313/1000, 329/1000]
Primary Chromaticities = [64/100, 33/100, 21/100, 71/100, 15/100, 6/100]
YCbCr Coefficients = 299/1000, 587/1000, 114/1000
YCbCr Positioning = co-sited
Exif IFD Pointer = Offset: 412
A401 = 0
A402 = 0
A403 = 0
A406 = 0
A500 = 22/10

[Camera]
Exposure Time = 1/320"
F Number = F8
Exposure Program = Normal program
ISO Speed Ratings = 100
Exif Version = Version 2.21
Date Time Original = 2006-04-22 15:41:45
Date Time Digitized = 2006-04-22 15:41:45
Components Configuration = YCbcr
Shutter Speed Value = 8.32 TV
Aperture Value = 6 AV
Exposure Bias Value = -0.67EV
Metering Mode = Pattern
Flash = Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode
Focal Length = 100mm
User Comment = 
Flashpix Version = Version 1.0
Color Space = Uncalibrated
Exif Image Width = 595
Exif Image Height = 800
Focal Plane X Resolution = 3959.322
Focal Plane Y Resolution = 3959.322
Focal Plane Resolution Unit = inch

[GPS]

[Interoperability]

[Thumbnail Info]
Compression = JPEG Compressed (Thumbnail)
X Resolution = 72
Y Resolution = 72
Resolution Unit = inch
JPEG Interchange Format = Offset: 1146
JPEG Interchange Format Length = Length: 7213

[Thumbnail]
Thumbnail = 119 x 160

To summarise that, you can tell that I had the camera in Program (idiot) mode, and shot at f8 at 100mm for an exposure of 1/320th of a second at 100 ISO. A bright day in other words!

Rob


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## Lensmeister

Rob said:
			
		

> To summarise that, you can tell that I had the camera in Program (idiot) mode, and shot at f8 at 100mm for an exposure of 1/320th of a second at 100 ISO. A bright day in other words!
> 
> Rob



Rob loves his little green square box on the dial don't you Rob ?


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## PlasticSpanner

I found out what the green box is for yesterday at my sons 2nd birthday party! 

It's for when you give the camera to a friend to use to get yourself in some shots too!  :thumbup:


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## Rob

Lensmeister said:
			
		

> Rob loves his little green square box on the dial don't you Rob ?


Yeah, cock-up mode *is* my favourite. 



> I found out what the green box is for yesterday at my sons 2nd birthday party!
> 
> It's for when you give the camera to a friend to use to get yourself in some shots too!  :thumbup:



True!

Rob


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## PlasticSpanner

A few shots from my films I finally developed. I gave up waiting for Jessops to complete my order for processing chemicals and ordered them from NovaDarkroom instead!:thumbup: 

Some flowers.







The Glass building in front of Westminster.


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## Corry

Nice shots!   I love the lines and perspectives in the last two!


(there, happy?)


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## Lensmeister

Nice ones mate ..... seems like ages ago we all did this ,...... 

Roll on September eh?


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