Urban Mystery

More atmospheric in large ("L").

This is the colonnade behind 80 Strand (aka Shell Mex House). I didn't realise what building it was until I looked it up on my return: I knew it was 80 Strand (because I read it on a sign...), but didn't quite clock that 80 Strand was Shell Mex House... Speaking of clocks, its claim to fame is that its art deco clock face is the largest clock face on the Thames (that is a "pub quiz" type of fact...).

I took several shots of this colonnade (symmetrical and like this), but I knew that I had my blip as soon as this man appeared and waited at the far end: was he waiting for a secretive meeting, or waiting surreptitiously for a "live drop", or perhaps just waiting to meet a chum for tea...? In any case, he looks mysterious: the suited silhouette, the dark and out-of-the-way location (this is the back entrance to the building, which is found on Savoy Place which is somewhat alley-like and squashed between the buildings and Victoria Embankment Gardens)...
Blip alternative: this was going to be my blip. I was en route to meet a friend for lunch and the Central Saint Giles office complex had a fire drill so millions of people streamed out into the streets (some more literally than others...). I processed it in Color Efex Pro to make it slightly more gritty and urban-looking.

Hum, I had a nice time in town, but that was after dropping my camera off at Fixation UK to have its sensor looked at under warranty. They're going to clean it (it has oil droplets from an over-oiled shutter mechanism on it...), and are also going to map out a few hot pixels (obvious at high ISO when shooting jpeg). They even said that they'd be able to take a look at the 24-70mm lens: it is fantastic, but slightly more fantastic (sharp) at the right than at the left. Their turnaround time is usually 4 - 5 days which is very good really, but it felt awful leaving it behind with them and walking out with my bag feeling empty (well, empty but for the heavy 70-200mm: emptier...).

*Sob* I asked them to take good care of it which now feels rather silly.
My father has kindly let me use his Canon G9 all week so I can continue to blip! It is a good little camera, but I'm really not very keen on composing photographs on a screen...