Roger Bennion's photos

From Wikipedia - “Standing approximately 309 metres (1,014 ft) high, the Shard is currently the tallest building in western Europe. It is the second-tallest free-standing structure in the UK, after the concrete tower at the Emley Moor transmitting station.The glass-clad pyramidal tower has 72 habitable floors, with a viewing gallery and open-air observation deck on the 72nd floor, at a height of 244.3 metres (802 ft). It was designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano and replaced Southwark Towers, a 24-storey office block built on the site in Southwark in 1975. The Shard was developed by Sellar Property on behalf of LBQ Ltd and is jointly owned by Sellar Property and the State of Qatar."

Yesterday (28 November) was a special birthday and I was treated, by Mrs B, to a very special day in London with champagne at the top of The Shard. It was a brilliant, brilliant day! Thank you so very much, Helen xx :-) Of course, that is NOT my thumb nail but it is my glass of champagne :-) The Shard rises to 309.6 metres (1,016 feet). It has 95 levels although the highest habitable floor is level 72, the upper viewing gallery, which is 244 metres (800 feet) high.The building, served by 44 lifts, is the tallest building in western Europe. This shot was taken in the Upper Viewing Gallery.

Goin' back a few months to a candid shot taken on a very warm and sunny day in Oxford :-)

Added to ~ Soundtrack to Life There's a bridge over the water I can see it like a rainbow If you love me I'll be waiting Take me home to the other side Here comes a slightly wayward link to get to the music I am using :-) The words say “There's a bridge over the water.............Take me home to the other side”. So, this is the Palladian Bridge that goes over the Octagon Lake. If you follow the 'peeps' in red up the hill, go by the Gothic Temple, carry on to the Temple of Ancient Virtue and head through a clearing you will be taken Home i.e. to Stowe House the original Home of the Temple-Grenville family. I hope this is a good enough link :-) Possibly the first thing that comes to mind when hearing the name Bekka Bramlett is that Bekka is the daughter of music duo Delaney & Bonnie. But, I have never understood why Bekka is not a major star in her own right!! Please watch/listen here - Take Me Home - Joe Cocker & Bekka Bramlett

Extract from www.stowe.co.uk/house - “From sixteenth-century sheep farmers to nineteenth-century dukes, the Temple-Grenville family made their name by marrying heiresses and following their political ambitions. They were able to work their way up the title ladder and make their mark on north Buckinghamshire with the creation of Stowe. The history of the Stowe estate is a long one and its magnificence is still visible today, despite the decline in the family's fortunes. Saved by the creation of Stowe School in 1923, both the house and gardens are undergoing long-term restoration, and are visited by thousands of people every year.”

Happy Fence Friday :-)

I've always wanted to be an artist like Monet, Cézanne, Renoir etc. But, the best I will ever manage is to draw matchstick men....very badly :-) Over the years I have tried lots of 'painting/drawing' type software with varying degrees of success :-) Just recently I have re-visited the FREE 'GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP software)' and been having fun with their filters! This was done with one such filter :-) I promise NOT to use this effect on every photo I upload from now on :-) p.s. I did upload the 'normal' version of this shot a while back :-)

~ Explored! ~ Thank you very much :-))) Temple of British Worthies & Canada Geese(I think they are Canada Geese) ~ Reflected :-) Original shot in Note.....I think :-)

~ Explored! ~ Thank you very much :-))) Happy Fence Friday :-) Norbert (Tacheles) has suggested I add this to 'Soundtrack to Life' with a link to the classic "Our House" by Madness. A great idea, Norbert and love the video :-) www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwIe_sjKeAY So, now added to the Group :-) Cheers, Norbert :-) Added to 'Soundtrack to Life' www.ipernity.com/group/362993

I was so glad I waited around for the sun to come out :-)

~ Explored! ~ Thank you very much :-))) Cycling in Broad Street

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them." ...............................................Robert Laurence Binyon

Added to Soundtrack to Life I don't know the young lady in my shot but she was leaving Broad Street in Oxford so I figure this links to “Time for the Leaving” by Magna Carta :-) I have a sort of 'claim to fame' re Magna Carta. I guess it would have been in the early 70's when we went to see Magna Carta live in concert; in Bletchley I seem to remember :-) Anyway, they walked through the audience on the way to the stage and either Chris Simpson or Glen Stuart trod on my toe :-) I had also forgotten how tasty the guitar playing is on this track :-) Please listen here - www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX8cSh9O330

An extract from Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stowe_House - "The Temple of British Worthies designed by William Kent and built 1734-5. Built of stone, it is a curving roofless exedra with a large stone pier in the centre surmounted by a stepped pyramid containing an oval niche that contains a bust of Mercury, a copy of the original. The curving wall contains 6 niches either side of the central pier. With further niches on the two ends of the wall and two more behind. These are filled by busts, half carved by John Michael Rysbrack these are John Milton, William Shakespeare, John Locke, Sir Isaac Newton, Sir Francis Bacon, Elizabeth I, William III and Inigo Jones the other eight are by Peter Scheemakers these are Alexander Pope, Sir Thomas Gresham, King Alfred the Great, The Black Prince, Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Francis Drake, John Hampden and Sir John Barnard (Whig MP and opponent of the Whig Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole)."

~ Explored! ~ Thank you very much :-))) Taken on 31 October; the warmest UK Halloween on record! George (tiabunna) invited me to add this shot to HFF ! So, it is either late for last Friday or early for this Friday (7 Nov) :-) Happy Fence Friday!

Added to 'Soundtrack to Life' www.ipernity.com/group/362993 This is a heavily shaded part of Stowe Landscape Gardens and this combined with shooting into the light made me figure that I should try bracketing the shots :-) So, this is one shot at the given exposure plus shots at one stop under and one stop over. Then I processed the three shots in Photomatix. And, finally, I added some soft focus in Photoshop :-) Sounds like a recipe :-) Taken on 31 October; the warmest UK Halloween on record! I didn't know what music to choose then I came across a song I had kinda forgotten!! And, that is "Forever Autumn" by Justin Hayward :-) Please listen here - www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsCdlX-5UjE

Happy Fence Friday :-) Flooding around Thame in Oxfordshire.

Added to 'Soundtrack to Life' www.ipernity.com/group/362993 Now, is this - Yona and The Red Trousers singing “Gaya” ??? or “Gaya” by Yona and The Red Trousers ??? or even Gaya Yona with her group The Red Trousers but, if so, wot is the title of the song ??? Perhaps “שיר מקיר" is a clue here ??? :-))) Listen/Watch here - www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWoWi78CLpQ