Trying not to produce something too much like The Exorcist film poster, I had to grab this shot of a BMX left in the gathering gloom. It had rained really heavily earlier in the evening and there was a slight mist decending.

I could hear people talking as I took it:
"There are some people taking photos"
"Are they taking pictures of us?"
It was only when I got home that I saw I'd caught one of them in the shot.

He must have been sitting very still.

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Tags:   Oxford UK Night BMX geotagged geo:lat=51.7623 geo:lon=-1.27128 ge:tilt=-2.10001e-11 ge:head=-74.9836 ge:range=599.965 flickrfly

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The Major/Jester of London, Boris Johnson, announced that the snow shouldn't be taken as, cripes, some kind of mass skive for the people of Britain. Which is all well and good but, as you can see, there wasn't much of a bus service from Crystal Palace this morning.

In fairness, I usually travel in by train or bike but Sydenham rail station looked much like this scene, but without so much as a stationary vehicle and I didn't think 23mm tyres (about a 1cm square contact patch), and six inches of snow go well together. And not just because of the metric/imperial confusion.

It meant I got the day off work. Or, at least the opportunity to finish-off all sorts of bits-and-pieces on my laptop, from home, which felt pretty much the same. I couldn't resist wandering about a bit to grab some snaps and top-up my caffeine levels (Though improbably enough, I didn't have a camera, so had to borrow this one). And it was magic.

It was like the mornings of my childhood where we tuned into the local radio station, my sister and I desperately hoping school had been closed (and Mum dreading the prospect, I suspect). I don't remember having such great snow since then and I never expected to see it in London.

Tags:   Boris Johnson Mass Skive London Bus Snow London Crystal Palace Snowbound Day off London Bus Snow

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I've taken plenty of photos of sunsets over the past couple of years - including many of the sun sinking behind the Olympics, west of Seattle. I'm familiar with the idea that the results will be more photogenic if there are a couple of clouds in the sky, for the last rays of sunshine to reflect off. I've got used to the idea that the light will continue to change, right until it fades completely, painting the sky with a range of oranges, reds and purples.

I've seen little to match this, though. The white, moon-like sand helped - reflecting the sunset's colours. Having a view out into the Gulf of Mexico, giving an uninterrupted horizon plays a part, too. But it was still sensational to behold.

I've written before about enjoying the 'sweep panorama' feature on Sony cameras but I don't think I've ever been so glad to have it close-at-hand.

Tags:   Sunset Pensacola White Sand Fort Pickens Sky on fire

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Oxford's lights shine in the distance over the flooded Port Meadow. The colours are exaggerated because it's an almost 5 minute exposure (269 seconds), lit both by streetlamps and moonlight.

In spite of the large amounts of media attention, Oxford was lucky to avoid the worst of the flooding. But this shot gives some impression of how close things came.

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Tags:   Oxford UK Flooding Flood Port Meadow Night Long Exposure geotagged geo:lat=51.78451464919689 geo:lon=-1.286712298830594 ge:tilt=6.859156159679589 ge:head=166.9906193361067 ge:range=5067.943435983955 flickrfly VLE

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Yes, this is what I do in my time off work - I go cycling on my own.

I was hoping to find a hill with a view of the Oxford skyline in the background, but had no luck. Then I found a private road called "The Ridings," which seemed the ideal place to celebrate the arrival of my Faema jersey.

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Tags:   Marwood Cycling Oxford Faema Molteni Campagnolo Pinarello Merckx Woolistic Campag Rapha geotagged geo:lat=51.7519385025018 geo:lon=-1.193534681368863 ge:tilt=-0.0001258764390593744 ge:head=139.2364044170042 ge:range=3216.833650790342 flickrfly Clones Bicycle

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