Posts Tagged ‘London’

Rebranding

Posted: 25/11/2013 in photography
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Greetings to all my loyal friends and followers, I thought that I would take a little time out to share a few things with you.

My new camera (Canon EOS 6D for those of you not paying attention) has finally arrived, I can’t recommend that you stay further away from www.valuebasket.com , yes I got a fantastic deal but their customer service is non existent and their lead times in today’s world are just unacceptable, especially seeing as they felt the need to lie to me about them on a regular basis. I could have dealt with a three week lead time if I’d been told that’s how long it was going to take at the point of order, instead it began at 3-5 days then 7-10 days then 7-10 working days, then in the next few days with none of their staff having the first idea what was actually going on. Still I have my baby and I’ve named him Luke, he is an ugly baby, but boy oh boy does he take some purdy pictures.

As I am now taking my photography more seriously as a business I was having a difficult time explaining the brand behind Mr Bunny Chow, and whilst Mr Bunny Chow is going nowhere I am now going back to my roots as a blogger on these pages and have re-branded  my Facebook page to my real name www.facebook.com/robtwigwood and also launched a very simple professional site www.robtwigwood.com please check them out and let me know what you think.

Since Luke arrived I’ve been lucky enough to go out on two occasions with Lee from Lenses of Croydon and Inner Circle Photography, last weekend we went into London to look at the Taylor Wessing Portrait Exhibition in the National Portrait Gallery followed by a wander around Borough Market. This was definitely a learning process for me, I adore the way that Luke’s depth of field is super shallow in comparison to  my experiences on a crop frame camera, I am not going to get too geeky on you here but I definitely need to be super careful not to over use this. It is also incredible how much clearer photo’s are at much higher ISO’s than my older camera. I am a very happy boy.

see what I mean about the super shallow depth of field

see what I mean about the super shallow depth of field

pretty owl biscuits

pretty owl biscuits

loved how vibrant these olives looked

loved how vibrant these olives looked

mmmm bacon

mmmm bacon

could this cheese seller be more French?

could this cheese seller be more French?

yummy cheese

yummy cheese

pretty merengues

pretty meringues

This Saturday Lee and I again ventured into London to go on a photowalk with the internationally infamous Australian Photographer and Youtube celebrity Matt Granger. The walk was pretty fun and it was great to meet so many like minded photographers, although as it was super busy we didn’t get as much time to pick Matt’s brain as we would have liked, just observing the way in which he interacts with people was fascinating. I managed to pick up a few shots that I was really happy with. While I’m here I’d like to highlight the http://www.savethesouthbank.com/ website, as I passionately believe that this park is culturally important to London and would hate for it to disappear.

tracking shot within the South Bank Skate Park, again please sign their petition.

tracking shot within the South Bank Skate Park, again please sign their petition.

just a candid portrait I liked

just a candid portrait I liked

Lee being Lee

Lee being Lee

the winter sun catching St Pauls

the winter sun catching St Paul’s Cathederal

Matt Granger (in the middle) being creepy with an Ice Light

Matt Granger (in the middle) being creepy with an Ice Light

could you get a more London shot of London?

could you get a more London shot of London?

So what next for me and Mr Bunny Chow?

I am currently taking bookings for next years wedding season so please do put me in touch with anyone getting married, having babies or doing anything else they might want photographing, I believe my rates are highly competitive and I’ll always do my best to work within any budget.

Hope you are all well

TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow (aka Rob)

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Photoboto’s

Posted: 01/07/2013 in photography
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Calling all photographers,

for a long time now I’ve followed a wonderful blog with a huger readership called PhotoBoto’s, they were supporters of this very blog from the very early days and were even kind enough to feature one of my shots http://www.photobotos.com/my-leopard/ a little while back.

They are currently reaching out to their readership to go forth and seek out other photographers to share their shots and their stories with them to feature. So without further ado, I implore you my readers to dig through your archives and submit a photograph to them via this link http://www.photobotos.com/submit-a-photo/

I can’t promise you that your fortune will be made, but a little extra exposure (do you get the pun, do you, do you?) can’t hurt.

I promise I will get around to sharing some of my photography with you again soon, It’s been building up and up so I’ll just chuck in a quick one from our recent holiday.

Landie at Sunset

Landie at Sunset

Take care and TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow

Where were we?

Posted: 29/05/2013 in photography
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A couple of weeks ago I created a post asking for advice from you my dear friends of the blogosphere and in return I offered a print to my favourite comment, we’ll get to the winner in a moment but I just wanted to apologise first for being so quiet of late, I’ve been incredibly busy around the house with the boys. I’ve also been out and about on the town with the wonderful creative partnership that is Lenses of Croydon I’m really excited to have become involved with them and no doubt you will be hearing more from me about them in the coming weeks months and years.

I have decided for the time being not to exhibit my work, this is in the most part due to the cost vs. reward I’m sure you all understand that raising kids is not a cheap exercise and whilst I’m fairly confident that the exhibition would have just about broken even I’m not confident that any real money would have been made and when belts are as tight as mine and Mrs BC’s even the small outlay is beyond the current budget.

I of course reserve the right as always to change my mind in the future when metaphoric belts are loosened.

Thank you all for your feedback I greatly appreciate it.

Back to excuses, I have managed to complete a diploma in photography, I doubt it’s going to make me any money either but I thoroughly enjoyed it and certainly learned a fair bit. Since completing it I’ve enrolled on another course with www.camera-school.co.uk. I’ve picked up a little freelance web design work for a local photographer and am deep within the throes of forcing my eldest to abandon Nappies/Diapers in favour of the big boys toilet. My youngest also stole my mouse and has a habit of switching off the computer in the middle of whatever I am doing so if this post seems disjointed that would be because I’ve abandoned and returned to it several times in fits of rage.

Oh yes, my favourite feedback actually came through Google+ and was made by an old school friend the hugely talented musician Matthew Gair, I’ve written about him before although not for some time so please do take a moment to give him a listen.

I’ve included a few recent pictures below from my adventures with the Lenses of Croydon Family for your perusal and commenting pleasure.

Big Cock

Big Cock

Man in a snakeskin suit

Man in a snakeskin suit

Desire

Desire

Smile London

Smile London

Thank you all again

TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow

god I’ve been hopeless

Posted: 23/11/2012 in being dad, Bunny Chow, Mr Bunny Chow, photography, Project 52
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I disappeared there for a while, I am truly sorry about that but I will be back properly soon but I think it’s about time I gave an explanation or two as to where I’ve been.

Are you ready for it?

Are you holding your breath?

Are you excited?

Ready?

Wait for it!!!!

Wait for it!!!!

Bugger I’ve got you all worked up now and the honest truth is I don’t have much of an excuse short of work pressures and a blown up laptop which I could have gotten round by just getting off my fat lazy arse and using the desktop PC that lives on the other side of the room. I have also been very bad about reading and commenting on many of the blogs that in the past I’ve been very good about spending time interacting with, sorry.

I haven’t abandoned photography though, I’ve still been taking pictures almost every day but again plead the above when it comes to editing and sharing.

I do have some news though, I’ve decided to retire, like soon, like at the end of the year.

Well I call it retiring, Mrs Bunny Chow tells me that I will be something called a house husband or her cook, clean and junior bottle washer (she’ll always be the chief) which amounts to much the same thing in my book.

It’s a decision I’ve been putting off making for sometime as because as much as I like to pretend that I am a modern metro-sexual man the reality is I’m rather boorish and scared of being trapped in a small home with two little people who will look to me for entertainment once I have banned daytime television as I don’t want them to grow up as Croydon oiks looking to loot and pillage for entertainment as they age.

Still economics have forced my hand and I’ve had to suck up my ego and accept that Mrs BC is smarter and wiser (read earns more) than me and as such it is my duty to voluntarily remove myself from the world of the gainfully employed and insert myself fully functioning as some sort of domestic god/children’s entertainer and educator. In theory once the boys are older and the costs of childcare reduce I will be able to re-insert myself back into the world of the employed. I have certainly discussed the possibility or reemployment in the future with my current employer and he was at least mildly enthusiastic if understandably unwilling to make a guaranteed commitment.

Well there you have it.

I don’t promise to improve the frequency of my posts in the coming month but normal service will hopefully resume once I have settled myself into a routine of art projects, duplo and visits to places that dads go, MacDonald’s shamefully sprang to mind ahead of the library and park, thankfully I don’t like MacDonald’s.

TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow

 

Project 52 Week 37

Posted: 18/09/2012 in Bunny Chow, photography, Project 52
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oh what a hopeless host I’ve been, I can only apologise it’s been a hectic couple of weeks on both the home and work fronts.

on a positive note I’ve entered one of the Trip to Brighton pics in a photography competition on the dreaded Facebook and would be hugely honoured if you’d click on the link and vote for it by clicking like on Facebook. I’m not much of a facebooker but please feel free to add me there if you want to.

The theme for week 37 was in the garden and I’ve ummmed and ahhhed over long and hard, my own garden is definitely not for public consumption at the moment and I’ve done dozens of roses at night for you so I thought I’d share this technically terrible but still rather fun shot of the blogs namesake Bunny Chow chasing a fox in a neighbourhood garden (the gardens attached to a block of flats I don’t make a habit of traipsing through people’s back gardens)

Bunny and Master Fox esquire

I apologise for the terrible quality, it was taken with my 50mm and a big arse flash gun

Until next time

TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow

 

more adventures with Mr Litebeer

Posted: 08/09/2012 in Croydon Riots, Oiks, parking
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Here we go again I have worked myself up into teeth spitting fury and frustration, I’m sure that those of you who go to the effort of reading this rant will think by the end that I am a sad, arrogant arse and I wouldn’t blame you for feeling that way because it’s probably true but I cannot help but share this with someone especially as Mrs BC has given up listening to me pontificate my frustrations.

A few of you who have stuck with me for a while now may remember my two-part series from October last year which if you don’t you can read here and here but if understandably you can’t be bothered to go back to my earlier rants I’ll give you a brief background, My kids go to a nursery school which is set within the grounds of a privately run but government-funded high school, their basic tenet is to make profit and take control of a school that was failing under government control. To earn the big government moolah they have to show lots of shiny statistics that include things like reduced exclusions etc. this is very easy for them to do as they basically just ignore every behavioural problem that they can.

The school is run by a slimy young businessman who in these pages I have named Mr Litebeer, I met with him last year to complain about a specific indecent I witnessed and he chose to brush under the carpet. Since then our paths have barely crossed, barring a minor rant from me about the amount of litter around the school which to his only credit in all of my dealings with him did improve for a few days thereafter.

Yesterday though I found myself trying to drop my boys off and all the allocated nursery parking spaces had been occupied by builders skips, delivery vans etc. as I was on my way to work and time was of the essence I chose the first available parking space which I will freely admit is clearly marked Principal.

Ten minutes later I returned to find the following note (only names have been edited otherwise it is as written)

PLEASE DO NOT PARK IN THIS BAY CLEARLY MARKED “PRINCIPAL” 

THERE ARE YELLOW BAYS CLEARLY MARKED “CUTE SHINY NICE KIDS NURSERY” FOR YOU TO MAKE USE OF.

THE PRINCIPAL

of course I being an arrogant arse myself I could not leave this be and drop this so decided to respond to Mr Litebeer thus

Dear Mr Litebeer, 

Thank you for the note you left on my car this morning.  Whilst I appreciate that the bay I was parked in is CLEARLY MARKED “PRINCIPAL”, somehow the yellow bays clearly marked “CUTE SHINY NICE KIDS NURSERY” seemed to be full of delivery vans that were clearly making deliveries to the school. 

If you are unable to ensure that your delivery people park in spaces other than those clearly designated CUTE SHINY NICE KIDS NURSERY, I am afraid that I will be forced to continue to park wherever there is available space. 

However, while writing, I would comment that one of the principal tenets of secondary education is readying young men and women for the real world and that as PRINCIPAL your primary role should be setting an example of how to earn the respect of others.  Your note definitely does not set any such example. 

With this in mind, I also would like to bring to your attention that I have seen no marked changes in student behaviour since we met last year (the incident where one of your male pupils punched a female pupil in the face and you chose not to punish them).  I do realise that since the majority of construction has ended there is less interaction between pupils and Cute Shiny Nice Kids’ parents, yet we are still forced to endure daily lashings of loud and disturbing swearing, tomfoolery and disrespect for their elders – never taking into account the impressionable young ears surrounding them.  

It is ultimately your responsibility for making sure that the pupils are aware of the nursery school children and the public in general and that they conduct themselves appropriately.  It may appear that in today’s society swearing is commonplace, but it is still generally unacceptable in polite society and allowing it to continue on school premises to me shows a lack of control by the school over the pupils. 

Yours sincerely

The concerned parent of the next generation

Mr Bunny Chow

 

this solicited the following response from Mr Litebeer.

Thank you for your observations which I refute.
We do not tolerate swearing on the school premises and deal with it whenever we hear it. I agree that it is not necessary in polite society.
I will ask our site team to remind deliveries not to park in the Cute Shiny Nice Kids Nursery bays. 
If they are occupied, as they sometimes are, as often more Cute Shiny Nice Kids parents arrive at once than there are spaces, please feel free to park on the yellow hatched drop off zones that run along the kerb before the bays you parked in. Many Cute Shiny Nice Kids parents do this currently when they need to.

Smarmy Litebeer

Principal
Scummy failed Government Academy 
I know, I know I should probably have dropped it at this point but couldn’t resist a final dig, below is my final ignored email.
Mr Litebeer, 

Many thanks for your prompt response, I regularly make use of the cross hatched area as you suggested but as I’m sure you noticed when parking this morning that too had a delivery vehicle in it. 

As for swearing and intolerable behaviour may I suggest spending time listening to and acting on the complaints of the public rather than blindly believing that your pupils behave in exactly the same manner as when in your presence.

If you would like to meet with me again to discuss the behaviour of your pupils I’d be more than happy to take the time. 

Regards

Mr Bunny Chow

I know, I am such a boorish arse of a human being and quite rightly the Nursery have put out a general email reminding all parents that we should only be making use of our designated bays and not inconvenience Mr Litebeer into having to park in the bay next his own and walk a whole extra two feet to his office. None of this changes that I cannot contain my wrath that this smarmy, greasy, nasty little administrator has been entrusted to raise hundreds of the next generation of oiks as they transition into adulthood. It leaves me angered that it is only a year since the riots that brought London to its knees yet this total lack of interest in the behaviour of oikish youths by the very people being paid vast sums of money to educate and mould them into acceptable members of society.

I am honestly surprised that we have not had a repeat of the looting and burning of our area if this is the attitude of the system.

I should probably stop now before I break my keyboard by typing too forcefully.

TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow

 

 

Urgent Appeal !!!

Posted: 26/07/2012 in Africa, Bunny Chow, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe
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As many of you know I’m a Zimbabwean by birth and still have a great draw to my homeland. I have made Britain my home but left my heart in Africa.

As such when I see things like this post below from my father on his own blog www.birdingzimbabwe.com I feel not only outraged but saddened at the continued rape and pillaging still being wrought on so much of Africa in order to make that elusive quick buck. Please read the post and sign the petition regardless of where in the world you might be.

Many thanks and TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow

Hi All

Well the Hwange trip Post will have to wait because something else has come up.

Harare is well-known internationally as a fantastic city for birding for the “special” vlei species (a vlei is a natural wetland or seep).  Various Cisticola’s, Crake’s, Flufftail’s and the more colourful Bishop’s and Widow’s.

Vlei’s are enormously important for much more than just the birdlife !! The torrential tropical rainwater is held back by the ‘sponge’ action of the vlei and then released slowly into the downstream waterways over a period of many months. This water is cleaned and purified in the process and of course flooding is also averted.

One of the biggest vlei’s is the Borrowdale Vlei.

It is under threat !!

See below……….  please assist………….

Here’s the petition for forwarding to your friends:

Stop Loss of Borrowdale Vlei

Plans are underway for construction of a massive shopping centre called the Mall of Zimbabwe on what is left of one of Harare’s few remaining wetland areas, the Borrowdale Vlei. These plans are going ahead despite the fact that an independent environmental impact assessment has not been undertaken.

The ecosystem services of flood attenuation and water purification are being over looked and the full environmental ramifications need to be carefully considered. In addition, wetlands play an important role in absorbing water in the wet season and then releasing this water in dry seasons. There are 6.5 million people living within the catchment system linked to the Borrowdale Vlei who are dependent upon the water it stores and then releases. We therefore urge Vice President Mujuru to consider an alternative site for the Mall of Zimbabwe.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Stop_Loss_of_Borrowdale_Vlei/?tta

Reblogged with permission from Tony Wood (c) www.birdingzimbabwe.com

Who are you?

Posted: 25/07/2012 in Africa, baby preparations, being dad, Bunny Chow, Courtney Boots, Mr Bunny Chow, ouch, photography, Project 52, Rhodesia, Zimbabwe
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when I first started this blog I’d never even read another blog or even given much thought over to blogging as a means of communication.

My early posts were mostly long rambling complaints about terrible customer service I’d received from a succession of terrible companies and restaurants and I was seething and boiling over to the point of driving my nearest and dearest to distraction so rather than continuing to vent my frustrations on those nearest me, I started ranting, initially on blogger and then shortly after emigrating wholesale to WordPress. Rather than finding a niche early on as my anger faded I began doing a few reviews and even wrote what remains my biggest hit as far as search engine traffic my glowing review of the service provided by the Courtney Boot Company. As a side note, nearly a year on from getting my boots back I’m still wearing them daily.

I also began writing a few posts about becoming a father for the second time and my thoughts and feelings surrounding that as almost everything I read or heard would discuss the mothers thoughts, fears and perspectives, that’s not to put those down it’s simply a comment about the lack or support I could find for us blokes who’re too tough and macho to talk about our feelings with real people, and where there is plenty of support out there for mums there’s not a lot out there for dads.

In the run up to the new year I gained a little fervour for food blogging and launched www.mrbunnychowcooks.com which initially gained great traction but fell largely by the wayside when I managed to stab myself and began my Ouch series, I also began my project 52 at the start of the year, rekindling my long-held passion for photography and bringing another change of focus to these pages.

Anyway what I’ve been meaning to get around to with all of this rambling is what initially brought you to www.mrbunnychow.com do you visit regularly, do you know me personally, do you like reading about me blowing a gasket, do you like looking at pretty pictures, do you subscribe or just pop in occasionally having seen a link or comment on another site.

Blogging success has never been and never will be my aim I’m just a curious geek wondering who my readers are and why you are.

Please do comment below and let me know as much or as little about yourself as you are comfortable with.

alternatively you can always send me a private message via rantingmrbunnychow@gmail.com

I hope you’re all well out there

TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow

Project 52 Weeks 25 through 30

Posted: 24/07/2012 in photography, Project 52
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tut tut tut I have been naughty, I apologise for my laziness when it comes to my original photography project, I have been shooting through out my times of absence and although I was distracted by the scavenger hunt from Nick and Shannon and then my ouch series but I think it’s high time for a bit of a catch up, the pictures were all taken in the correct weeks I’ve just not had the time or perhaps just not made the time to edit and post them here.

Week 25 the theme was love and as I’m in a rush and still feeling anti computer and lazy I’m just going to go with a cliché night shot of some roses.

Love

Week 26 the theme was water and again I’m going to stick with roses

Water

Week 27 the theme was red white and blue.

some people take patriotism a touch too far

Week 28 the theme was my home town which as I don’t live in what I consider to be my home town wasn’t easy so I’ve used my adopted home town of Croydon instead. As Croydon is a pretty grimy, dingy and depressing place I’ve tried to reflect that in my chosen editing style for this shot of Croydon’s iconic 50p building. It has been identified before as one of Britain’s biggest eye sores although I quite like it.

Croydon

Week 29 the theme was Summer/Winter and as it has been such a crap summer so far I’m again going to share a picture of a dripping wet rose with a grey miserable sky as I’ve yet to get a pretty summers day captured on sensor.

global warming my arse, this is summer?

Thankfully the weather this week is a vast improvement but seeing as I’m still pretty down I’ve stuck with gritty black and white for week 30’s theme of The S-Curve

I promise I’ll do my best to get things back on track and my posts up to date moving forward.

Both this months project from Nick and Shannon and Week 31’s suggested post are “silhouette” so hopefully I’ll be able to combine them and bring you something new and exciting next week.

As I’m sure you can tell from the above pictures themselves I’ve been pretty disheartened and feeling sorry for myself over the last couple of weeks but the sun is shining today and my hand is feeling better every day so whilst I have a few more dark and dreary things that I want to share with you in the pipeline fingers crossed that this dreariness is all in the past now.

TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow

Project 52 Week 24

Posted: 14/06/2012 in photography, Project 52
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the theme this week was architecture and given that I’m lucky enough to live in a city full of wonderful architecture all I had to do was get on a train and take a picture of St Paul’s, the Tower of London, or even one of the modern monstrosities like the Shard or Gherkin.

Now where would the fun be in that, it’s just not my style to do things the easy way and anyway I really wanted to try to capture some of the gritty old buildings in my own town of Croydon (a suburb on the Southern outskirts of Greater London) it doesn’t have the best reputation and I’m sure that some of you at least will remember the images of large swathes of it being on fire during last years rioting.

I’ve lived here going on for 10 years now and despite one burglary have been fortunate enough to personally avoid any incidences of street crime or antisocial behavior, maybe I look tough or maybe I just look poor, I certainly am not stupid enough to think that this isn’t a tough area and I don’t take too many risks.

anyway this weeks theme has turned into a bit of a photo essay with lots of grimy gritty shots and odd injections of colour.

end of terrace

Above is the end of terrace shot I chose for my actual project submission mostly because I like the strong contrast and lines.

opposite end

This is the opposite end of the same row of terraces.

Grimey Pub

despite walking past this pub almost every day it is so dingy and grimey that I’ve never even ventured through its doors and I like pubs with atmosphere and sawdust on the floor.

honestly it’s lovely

There’s a really odd mix of light industrial buildings mixed in with Victorian era terraces, if it wasn’t for all the satellite dishes this picture could have been taken any time in the last 100 years.

what happened to the window

see there is colour here, one wonders what happened to the window though.

union doors

I love the way these doors look like a union flag

door to nowhere

I can’t recall if it was the door or the pipe that were wonky

an injection of colour

I just liked the lines and colour of this factory

come and visit

it’s a truly lovely corner of south-east England

beach house anyone?

I can honestly think of no reason why there is an Art Deco beach apartment block in the middle of this industrial estate.

who knows

again I’m at a loss as to the point of these decorative touches.

it’s not all bad though

there are some truly lovely architectural touches too.

And nature is even trying to reclaim some of the more hideous buildings

There is even some interesting textures available to be had

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this little porthole into my local architecture and the area where I live.

Next week we’re going to be talking about love and what that means so keep your diaries free.

Please let me know what you think in the comments section below

TTFN

Mr Bunny Chow

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