BROMLEY LIFE: AT HOME AS A KENT PHOTOGRAPHER!
Well, we have been here for a few months, and I guess we are starting to get our feet under the table. Bromley still has many surprises in store, though: I only discovered today that if you walk past the wonderful Churchill Theatre you enter an enormous park, with pond, ducks, children’s play area and the rest.
Life has been so busy, with photography being especially full-on. My big worry about moving out of Camberwell was that my local photographer’s profile would take a big hit. This has been the case to a degree, but I have also been found already by Bromley people Googling headshots, photo lessons and looking for a Bromley wedding photographer.
If you are looking for a photographer in Bromley, for your wedding, event, family or headshots, please don’t hesitate to contact me for a quote today!
TO BROMLEY: SETTLING IN
We have now had our first main holiday from a base in Bromley. Not for the first time, we went to Croatia. How we love the coast and islands of that marvellous country! Today in Bromley the temperature is back up to Balkan/Mediterranean highs and I went for a stroll in the town centre to blow the cobwebs off, get some sunshine and take some pics with a new (to me) camera.
Buses at Bromley South Station
The Post Box, Rafford Way, Bromley
In preparation for some forthcoming photo lessons I am giving (including a group photo walk in the City) I recently bought an old Canon 5D Mk ii. More about that camera in another article – for the moment suffice to say that I felt the need to get my head around the weird menus before trying to teach Canon users.
All the photos in this article were taken with the Canon paired with a very economical 50mm f1.8. This shot of our nearest post box shows just how rich the colour can be from cameras of that vintage – I love it!
Today I “discovered” Bromley Park. Just walk past the theatre and you are there – and what a great space it is! It was walking in there after some happy interractions with stall-holders in the market that made me feel, all of a sudden – Living and working as a photographer in Bromley is going to be all right!
Pigeon shot with a low camera. When we say, “Birds-eye-view” we often forget that this is just as much a bird’s perspective as while flying. Small aperture, slow shutter speed – trying to get a sense of movement.
Bird’s Eye View
On the Incense Stall, Bromley Market Square
One reason I went into the park was because the guy (Mr Tomlinson, I think) who runs the Incense Island stall had suggested it! I have noticed his stand every time I have been in the centre – your nose notices it before your eyes do. A good chat and a few photographs later, and I was in Bromley Park for the first time.
With a full frame camera and a 50mm lens, you need to be fairly close to people to take their picture – which for me generally means asking permission. I think that is courteous anyway – and I didn’t have a single refusal on my walkabout today. All part of establishing Andrew King Photography in Bromley and its community!
Carrying a camera forces you to look – up, in this case. The surprisingly ornate façade of the Aberdeen Buildings is a reminder of local French influence. The exiled Napoleon III lived at Chislehurst and shopped in Bromley, and the architectural style here definitely owes more to Paris than to London.
Why Aberdeen, though? Because the shopkeeper (a Mr Borer) whose premises occupied several frontages back when the building went up was a Butcher – and the Francophile Frontage actually salutes Scottish beef! Info in this section from Bromley Civic Society.
The Aberdeen Buildings, Bromley High Street
119 to Bromley North
Partly in preparation for my forthcoming photoclass, I thought I would test out the old Canon at slow shutter speeds (low ISO and small aperture) and try to capture some buses with a panning action. I was interested in whether with the amount of light flooding Bromley this afternoon I would be able to force the camera slow enough to get the effect I wanted. At an artifically low ISO of 50 and down at f22 I managed it!
So here we are – settled in Bromley. It seems a long time since I last wrote a “Bromley Life” piece for this blog. I am hugely relieved that online searches for “Wedding Photographer in Bromley”, “Bromley photography training” and “Bromley headshots” are definitely beginning to find me! I hope there will be much more. But for now, here is a little article in praise of our new home.
