Weightless

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These are lifesize fibreglass replicas of dolphins, porpoises and Orcas hanging in the British Museum (Natural History), in London. The sculptures are wonderfully realistic and when viewed from an angle that minimises their suspension it seems that living creatures are drifting overhead. From this perspective they do indeed seem weightless, and the dizzying effect of the image is its strength. The lighting was once again in the cracks for my filmspeed, but this is a solid shot. As an interior with fair lighting, flash would have been ineffective, especially given the distance to the subject matter. Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. December, 2006. Image by Mike.

Grace, in Greened Bronze

A million photographers must have recorded this statue since it was unveiled in 1973. It's a fountain on the banks of the Thames, maybe fifty metres east of the north end of Tower Bridge. It's at least double-lifesize, maybe more, a near-realistic portrayal of a sea nymph in weightless play with a dolphin, a beautiful piece reflecting England's historic affinity with the sea. The lighting conditions were very difficult, as the early December sun was sinking fast behind the high-rises of London on that Sunday afternoon in 2007. I could play the sun for all it was worth and go for lens-flare, or de-emphasise the sun and try for some sort of dramatic backlighting. I shot many frames all around this fountain but somehow the severe silhouetting of both the statue and Tower Bridge itself has always struck me as the most dramatic. I hesitate to gamma-correct the image or enhance it any further: this is one of those cases when it really did look just like that on the day! Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Photo by Mike, 2007.