What's comin' will come, an' we'll meet it when it does...

This is the last post on the Europe trip. The previous post on the series is here..

The last day (day 13) of the Europe trip was spent on two things. Most of the day was an Evans and Evans trip to Hogwarts.. let's just call it that. It was actually the Warner Brothers studios shooting location for all the Harry Potter movies over 10 years that is now a Studio tour. 

As usual we had to go from Kings cross station to Victoria, then board the bus which took us to the studio in a little over an hour and we were handed tickets and told that we had a little over 4 hours to come back to the bus. We will be back in Victoria Station area at 5:15-5:30 PM. 

We also had tickets for the London Eye that evening. We wanted to see the views of London as the sun set so I could get some pictures with the daylight and some with the buildings lighting up.

First it was almost our last day and this would be almost the last time leaving the Kings Cross station. The kids were eyeing Lola's hand crafted cup cakes two days straight.. so today was their day! 

Then we were off.. 

Full disclosure. I had not read a single Harry Potter book to date. Have only watched the movies as they came out in theaters. Missed the Order of the Phoenix in theaters and caught bits and pieces of it at a later date in someones house but that was it. Was and still am a big fan of the whole series of movies. Who can resist magic?

Don't think there is a picture of me and San being happier in this trip! 

We had four hours to spend at the place and we walked through every room, exhibit and hallway and when we came out of the place it was exactly 4 hours. This included a 20 minute break to have lunch before going into the studio. 

The kids were given little Hogwart's passports and they had to find the 7 secret Horcruxes in the place.. so they were busy searching for those in the various rooms.. 

Then there was the butterbeer, which can give kids a brain freeze, has unknown health effects on muggles and gives dads wallets a cold.. 

The whole experience was amazing.. our 4 hours is condensed into the video below.. 

The skies were brilliant and my hopes for great pictures from the London eye were already high..

We reached the Victoria station, walked towards the London Eye and realized that the entire area was a circus. Apparently there was a large protest for DJT's visit to London and the wife and kids had heard about it through social media and our tour guide from the previous day's trip.

The whole place was crawling with people who had signs in their hands. 

It had become hot and a little on the "about to rain" side and I removed my jacket to avoid going into one of those dangerous "avalanche sweats" as I call it. Was also proudly wearing my 60 day Challenge Bikram Yoga San Jose T-shirt to announce to the folks on the street that I was American. 

Given the generic anti-American sentiment on the streets that day, was thinking if I should buy one of those London T-shirts.. then we realized no one cared.. The London protesters were an interesting bunch.

We got some great views of the city from the London Eye after we saw a 4D show at the basement that was part of the ticket.

A video of the London Eye experience ..

Got two pano shots from the London eye..

One from either side as our little carriage made it up and down over 40 minutes.

Slide shows of pictures from Hogwart's and the London Eye 

When we came out it was about to rain, the streets were extremely crowded with protesters and we wanted to find dinner.

San's classmate had recommended a Chat place which had 8 branches in London and was very popular, but based on the 1 hour 20 minute wait time (there were 100+ folks standing in line knowing the wait time) we decided to take his second recommendation. A place called Shapur's in Strand area.

We went to Shapur's and had a nice dinner.. 

We walked to the train station from there past the Royal Opera house which was beautiful..

Then it started raining and we realized (were actually told by someone) that this is the "typical" London weather and we were really fortunate to miss it over our three day trip. 

Apparently that is what London looks on an average day.. "like Seattle" is what we all said at the same time and walked down the steps to the train station.

The next morning we were going to take one last train ride on the Europe trip to Gatwick airport and it was going to be back in the US.. 

We thoroughly enjoyed this 14 day trip. It took a lot of planning from San and the kids and San pretty much arranged every little thing. I was happy to be on package tours so I could also play tourist and enjoy the sights with the lens or my eyes.  

It was also a blessing to be able to meet San's Sister and her family during this trip, not to mention two of her classmates and one of our family friends.

We would definitely recommend the tours we took and the Air B&B's we used in various locations. 

I also loved writing about this trip.. even though it has taken two full months to finish writing about a two week trip.

This blog is my pensieve! 

Experiments with backlight

Cowboy Studio kit -> Lighting experiment -> no one willing to help with the learning -> No problem!

Spent most of the day reading a book that will help with work. Finally finished it off. Wanted to do one last test before going to bed. The wife and kids are not going to help with this, so it became a self portrait experiment.

Key light -> Check (direct light or bounce main flash off wall)

Fill light -> bounce flash off floor

Back light -> Yes vs. No using secondary slave flash

and yes.. the "cowboy" triggered the idea of using a hat and black San Francisco jacket..

Looks like Daddy Narayanan is no cowboy. Also realizing my weight loss for the first time in a close up picture. Now I know why my mother was so unhappy with the yoga making me skinny to a point where I look malnourished! 

It is good for the tummy to be toally gone but my cheeks have disappeared as well and that needs to be looked into..

This one almost works.. except the slave flash, which is a 280 speedlite seems to flash full power. If there is a way to reduce it or put a diffuser there, that would help. Took 10 shots with different light combinations and two came out okay. Have a lot of learning ahead to figure out this whole lighting scheme..

The portaits take a backseat for now and we will do landscapes over the break!

No more holding foam boards

Child labor laws in the Narayanan household now prohibit using the little one as a "light girl" or "grip" or whatever the movie term is for a person supporting the cameraman with the lighting setup.

The lighting positions have been set after at least 20 flash photos of Jr. and the little one, who were extremely patient with daddy as he kept saying "no", "not good enough", "lets try again" etc.

Were it not for the fact that all this posing comes with the Daddy's birthday gift pacakge (pre negotiated) we would not be here within 24 hours!

You can see part of the setup here..

and the final result after minimal photoshopping..

Spent a good hour ironing the muslin cloth to take out the creases it it. One downside to ordering this online. It came nicely pacakaged like a dhoti that makes it way from India for Diwali and ends up looking like a lungi of sorts in photos because of the rectangular creases from suitcase compaction! 

Have a few more kinks to iron out and we are there!

San and the kids have made my birthday very special by getting me something that will keep me occupied and searching for perfection without leaving the house for some time.

Studio setup

The new muslin backgrounds and key light setup arrived while I was out of town earlier this week. Finally got to set it up late last night.

We now have a studio in the house that can pretty much turn night to day at the drop of a switch. 

Cowboy Studio simply rocks!

You can keep adding things to the setup over time!

This morning, my models woke up and were so surprised to see me all ready.. clicked these as they wandered in front of the muslin cloth. 

This gets pictures that give the new Portrait white look..

Cannot wait to try the black background and get some Film Noir looking shots.