A makeshift window and vase with a view of St Paul’s Cathedral in the background. Taken at the Level 2 Gallery of the Tate Modern, where an artist called Haris Epaminonda was exhibiting. Would have tried to get a better frame when I took it, but it’s a bit of a sneaky shot as I’m not sure of the photo-taking policy in that particular gallery!

I was in New York exactly a year ago, where they were all over Central Park and Greenwich village. Here in London you will find plenty of cherry blossoms in the parks and suburban front gardens.

These photos were taken in various locations throughout the Finchley area of North London.

View of trees from my north London garden.

Another abandoned shopping trolley gathering snow.

We didn’t have a white Christmas, but we had a white London the week before. This time, I didn’t have a chance to venture out to Primrose Hill or Regent’s Park as usual! Even so, I still enjoyed the snow.

Digital Photography for the Older and Wiser

Time for a shameless plug: over the past few months I’ve been busy writing a book, Digital Photography for the Older and Wiser. As the title suggests, it’s aimed towards over 50s who’ve had no experience with digital photography. It covers everything from the basics of taking digital photos through to sharing, organising and printing them. I had a thoroughly fun experience putting the book together!

Out in mid-January 2010 and published by John Wiley and Sons, the book will make a great gift for anyone who’s just bought or received a new digital camera. And to be honest you don’t have to be old to get something out of it!

Digital photography has become such a part of modern-day culture, and hopefully the book will cut through all the technical jargon and give people confidence to embark on this thoroughly enjoyable hobby. I also explain how to use free online tools like Picasa and Windows Live Photo Gallery to make basic retouches to your photos. And let’s not forget: what makes a great photo doesn’t have anything to do with how many megapixels your camera has! So the book does include a couple of chapters dedicated to general photography tips.

Digital Photography for the Older and Wiser is available to pre-order from Amazon.co.uk for £11.69 (and on Amazon’s US site you can be alerted to when it’s available).

I’ve had great help from people who’ve contributed photographs to the book, and you may even recognise a few of mine that have graced the pages of the London Photos blog over the years!

Counter-terrorism legislation, which comes into force today, means if a photographer takes a photograph of a police officer, they could be arrested and possibly put in jail for potentially taking a picture that ‘is likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism’.

The photo of me below, taken way back in 2001 before 9/11, was back in the ‘good old days’ when you could ham it up in front of riot police.

In protest to the Section 76 of the Counter Terrorism Act 2008, hundreds of photographers descended on to Scotland Yard and took endless photographs of the police there.

You can read more about the legislation at the British Journal of Photography’s website.

About nine months ago I mentioned the Downing St petition asking for clarification on photographer’s rights. The response was that:

There are no legal restrictions on photography in public places. However, the law applies to photographers as it does to anybody else in a public place. So there may be situations in which the taking of photographs may cause or lead to public order situations, inflame an already tense situation, or raise security considerations..

Each situation will be different and it would be an operational matter for the police officer concerned as to what action if any should be taken in respect of those taking photographs. Anybody with a concern about a specific incident should raise the matter with the Chief Constable of the relevant force.

Oh, and today the Olympic torch has been moving across London amidst much controversy and it’ll be passing by my way in a couple of hours, so who knows what’ll happen…