i'm sure there's a rational explanation

happy dragons

is that a green man i see before me ?

fine and dandy

an elizabethan music room

this triptych of portraits must have been too nice for the national portrait gallery

casting couch for the valkyries

next season's retro ... i wish

charles the second frightening the children

english chinoiserie at the V and A

the old lacquer chest

lacquer and lacquer ... masterpieces from old japan

old tins

most of the victoria and albert's possessions are conserved in very low light conditions and it is hard to photograph them without a flash ( discouraged ) and/or a tripod ( forbidden )


flash makes everything look awfully cool with any icy blue sort of light so today i tried a method which is a bit like pressing your nose to the glass


i pressed the rim of the lens casing flat against the glass


this enabled me to hold the camera fairly ... but less than perfectly ... still for some very slow exposures ... but only where the objects were at a reasonably comfortable level above the floor and a suitable distance for focussing beyond the glass

file under "champagne: for the drinking of"

georgey boy

pomona lends a hand in plutarch's garden

lot ninety-nine, laydeys'an'gennermen ... as played by george formby

nothing like this old-fashioned clockwork in your argos catalogue

the dog is bored, but even the sheep are smiling

what is she reading ?