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pauldebois

Photographer based in London. Work: Lifestyle, gardens, landscape and people.
Photos & features through: www.gapphotos.com
Alter ego: rowing coach.

Mortlake and Chiswick Bridge last night. Scroll

Mortlake and Chiswick Bridge last night.

Scroll left for full size panoramic.
@lulucycles_and_rows @hbven @_me.lina_s @dangillmo
#mortlake #rowinglife #ptrc #putneytownrc #flatcalm

The Barn Elms Plane or 'Barney', apparently the ol

The Barn Elms Plane or 'Barney', apparently the oldest Plane tree in London. It is absolutely huge, though the scale is difficult to gauge unless you stand next to it.

According to my tree map of London it was planted in 1680. Not convinced it can be that precise. But it also says it's very difficult to find. That I can confirm. It's on publicly accessible land in dense woodland. But depending on the direction you approach it, there are boundary fences, a lake and a small river to throw you off course.

The London plane tree is thought to be a cross between a Spanish plane and American sycamore. They are very tolerant in cities, coping better than many species with pollution. Maybe thats why we have many large mature examples around London.

#documentingspace #treeshapes #naturalsculpture #treelines #greattreesoflondon #londontrees #greattrees #barney #barnelms #londonplane #platanushispanica

Looks like a fledgling great tit. Most years a fam

Looks like a fledgling great tit. Most years a family seems to take up residence in the bush next to the house. The adults are very skittish and would never let me get this close. But this little fellow seems to have no fear.

#greattit #gardenwildlife #urbanbirds #londonwildlife #birdfeeder

Fun and games at Henley Masters! Always good to

Fun and games at Henley Masters!

Always good to meet the guys from Norwich RC - and well done to them for winning again. And winning the F 4x category overall. See you next year! 😊

@rowinglife #henleymasters #regatta #scullinglife #tidewayscullers #tss

Everlasting pea, Grand Union Canal. The perennial

Everlasting pea, Grand Union Canal. The perennial version the of sweet pea we normally see. Not as sweetly scented though.

Random wildling on the towpath. I think spent compost from containers is emptied along the canal at various times by people living on the water. And the plants reappear for a year or two.

#kensalrise #grandunioncanal #willesden #everlastingpea #perennials #wildlings #summercolour #wildflowers #canallife

Waited for a while for the thunder storm to pass t

Waited for a while for the thunder storm to pass through, but worth the delay. 😊

#scullinglife #ptrc @ptrc #kewrailbridge #isleworth

Roselily 'Olympia'. In their third year in a cont

Roselily 'Olympia'.

In their third year in a container in the back garden, they seem to be very tough. Although we water them, it's only when we remember, which in this weather, probably isn't quite enough.

A heady scent very similar to stargazer lilies.

#flowers #flower #flowerphotography #flowerphotographer #floral #gardenphotography #gardenphotographer #gardeninglife #petals #gardencolour #plantingideas #urbangarden #smallgarden

Wandering, Kew Gardens. Magnolia grandiflora and H

Wandering, Kew Gardens. Magnolia grandiflora and Holm oak

#flowers #flower #flowerphotography #flowerphotographer #floral #kewgardens #oak #magnoliagrandiflora

Early morning - Teddington and Richmond #ptrc #s

Early morning - Teddington and Richmond

#ptrc #scullinglife #riverthames @putneytownrc #teddington #richmond

Cool summer evenings - from the archive. #landsca

Cool summer evenings - from the archive.

#landscapephotography #getoutside #cloudscape #sunsetphotography #riverthames #thames #exploringlondon #secretlondon #strandonthegreen #mortlake #chiswickbridge #moonrise

Riverside wandering this week - Richmond and Kew.

Riverside wandering this week - Richmond and Kew.

1. Poplar leaves, white Gaura lindheimeri, hawthorn and speedwell
2. Wild rose and crab apples
3. Austrian pine bark and oriental cork oak
4. Orange wild rose, wildling seed heads

#richmond #kewgardens #flower #flowerphotography #flowerphotographer #wildflowers #wildlings #seedheads #flowerdetails #treebark

Mortlake and Strand-on-the-Green. Water margins

Mortlake and Strand-on-the-Green.

Water margins - Purple loosestrife, water hemlock and Mexican daisy.

#wildflowers #wildlings #naturephotography #landscapephotography #londonsriver #urbanriver #citywaterways #londonsbridges #chiswickbridge #beautifullondon #strand-on-the-green
#mexicandaisy #waterhemlock #purpleloosestrife #thamesfootpath

Orchid cyanotype prints, c 1997-8 A simple proces

Orchid cyanotype prints, c 1997-8

A simple process derived from architects blue prints, Victorian photographers adopted it for continuous tone images.

A light sensitive solution is painted onto paper in a darkroom and allowed to dry. You need a negative the same size as your final print which is placed directly onto the paper and exposed to a UV light source. More often than not, sunlight. The print is then developed in water.

Complete with tests and darkroom notes written at the time. After 25 years, an addendum would be never use cow gum to stick down prints as it stains!

#historicphotos #documentaryphotgraphy #fromthearchive #traditionalprint #darkroom #journeyswithfilm #cyanotype #alternativeprocesses #fromthearchive #orchid #phalaenopsisorchid

Wandering, Kew Gardens. I rarely take a camera in

Wandering, Kew Gardens.

I rarely take a camera into the tropical or temperate glasshouses at Kew. The humidity and temperature change can cause condensation to form inside lenses. But the ambient conditions outside over the last week have almost matched those inside!

#flowers #flower #flowerphotography #flowerphotographer #floral #temperategreenhouse #tropicalgreenhouse #kewgardens

First tentative paddle in 10 days..getting back to

First tentative paddle in 10 days..getting back to normal at last!
A lovely evening to be on the river.

#ptrc #scullinglife #riverthames @putneytownrc #chiswickbridge #mortlake #barnesbridge @putneytownrc

Boxes of things. Prints, envelopes, card folders,

Boxes of things. Prints, envelopes, card folders, albums, frames and loose negatives. Leftovers from my mum's house clearance a couple of years ago.

Always fascinating rummaging through old photos, though finding negatives that have fallen out of their protective sleeves always bothers me!

A rare photo of my dad, who was nearly always behind the camera. Though I've not a clue who took these. And a badly faded colour print of me with my brothers. Snapshots never change!

#snapshots #familysnaps #monochrome #oldphotos #memorabilia #artofthesnapshot

The first orchids I've found this year. Tricky thi

The first orchids I've found this year. Tricky things, you usually find them unexpectedly. But I was told that I might come across some here...Hartslock Nature Reserve in Oxfordshire.

Today it was common spotted-orchid and pyramidal orchid. Lots of butterflies with other wild flowers too.

Hartslock is beautiful chalk hill site overlooking river near Goring-on-Thames. Worth a visit earlier in the season next year to see some particularly rare species.

#flowers #flower #flowerphotography #flowerphotographer #orchids #commonspottedorchid #pyramidalorchid #wandering #flowerhunting

Having spent a few days indoors looking at photogr

Having spent a few days indoors looking at photographs, it was nice to get back in the field yesterday with a camera. Observations at Kew Gardens.

#flowers #flower #flowerphotography #flowerphotographer #floral #lilypads #kewgardens #waterlily

Notes and momentos. I came across this postcard to

Notes and momentos. I came across this postcard today, sent by Beth Chatto, after I made portraits in her gardens in 2009. A lovely reminder of the visit when so much business is carried out using transient methods of communication now.

She invited me back and I did go once more, again for new portraits. One was used on Catherine Horwood's biography of Beth. And she displayed the hands photo with many others in that project in the garden cafe. Hence the postcard.

Quietly spoken and very friendly, it was lovely to find that someone of such significance in the industry had time to sit and chat over a cup of tea and biscuits afterwards!

#bethchatto #notesandmomentos #postcard #gardenphotography #portrait #fromthearchive

The judging panel at 2025 RHS Photography Portfoli

The judging panel at 2025 RHS Photography Portfolio Exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery, which runs from 13th June - 27th July.

With 18 portfolio finalists, we awarded the highest number of golds since the exhibition first came to the Saatchi Gallery - and the winners will find out tomorrow!

This is the fifth year the exhibition has been held at The Saatchi Gallery @saatchi_gallery and they have made another brilliant job of all the displays, which includes the RHS Botanical Art exhibition.

Thanks to fellow judges @richardwilf @photoartitude @boursnell @hevphoto and Arabella for making this such fun.

#flowers #flower #flowerphotography #flowerphotographer #floral #nature #garden #gardenphotography #gardenphotographer #gardencolour #plantingideas #instagarden #bloom #nature #flowerportrait
#exhibition #saatchigallery #rhs #rhsportfolio #competition #artphotography

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