An abandoned car in West London, England.

Last weekend I was out in West London for a meal with friends and saw this sorry sight in the local shopping mall.

Seems like it’s been there for some time with no one bothering to either remove it or claim it.

I have a photography trip  to Bhutan planned for this September.  To reach there I’m to fly via Bangkok (one of only a handful of places Druk Air – the Bhutan national airline – has flights from).

If you’ve read the news at all lately  you must have heard about the violence happening in Bangkok right now.  The US and British Embassy have closed and are urging people to avoid travel to Bangkok.

I will be the first to admit that my understanding of the situation is fleeting at best.  One alternative I have to avoid the violence is to fly via Kathmandu. However, the general population of Thailand don’t have much of a choice – it’s their home.

I really do hope it all dies down – not only for my flight but for the people of Thailand.

3 Elephants stand waiting for their plinths in South London, England.

I like this one as it shows the elephants free standing, without their plinths to stand on.  That is all.

(If you’re interested you can see a whole load more I posted here:  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=169962&id=108357544596&ref=mf)

An elephant poses in the rain with some Nuns on the Run in South London, England.

As part of the Elephant Parade campaign to raise awareness of Asian elephants I offered to help by photographing the installation of one of the sites – the More London site by the River Thames.

Was an early start – 8am – and little did I know it was going to be raining for pretty much the entire day.  I also didn’t know that Barnardos was holding a run nearby too.  Made for an great photo opportunity though

It’s amazing just how much work goes into taking some elephants and placing them on plinths…18 of them at this one site alone.

The elephants were slippery due to a combination of the rain and some weird coating on the surface.  It took about 3 or 4 people to lift it onto a small board with wheels (try to imagine that – an elephant on a mini skateboard).  Not to mention the 25 concrete blocks that had to be placed inside each plinth after it had been placed…

My two 5D cameras were a little splashed and I cowered under an umbrella most of the day – for the sake of the cameras, naturally.

Thankfully, those cameras worked great the entire day and are still working just fine.   And after all, it was all done for a good cause so was well worth it.

An airplane leaves behind contrails in North London, England

During the recent flight ban no aircraft were seen above the skies where I live.  They are usually a common sight so at first I didn’t really notice they were gone.

Then one day I looked up and there they were – back again!  Was a strange sight having not seen any for a few days.

This picture was taken in the garden whilst I was at home with a cold.