Londontastic is an exciting new tour operator offering free walking tours in the heart of London - one of the busiest, diverse, historically and culturally rich cities in the world. Just spending a few afternoons walking around the West End reminded me of the abundant photographic opportunities at every nook and cranny. Even a nature lover like me who prefers fields, farms and fresh air to lively urban areas can't help but wonder around in amazement at how much this metropolis has to offer for everyone! Click here to find out more about Londontastic and perhaps register your interest in a free tour (although some parts of the website are still under construction).

Click on an image or hover over it to read the captions.

Technical details: Sony a850 with Tokina 19-35mm lens.

A very belated Happy New Year everyone. Apologies for the delay - I've got a several exciting 2013 posts coming very soon!

Wanted to share some highlights of the year in an end-of-year collage.Actually, I've only included the second half of the year (1/2 / 2012 ?) since the blog was started in July. Looking through, I feel privileged to have had so many stunning opportunities to attempt to capture this variety of visual beauty. Click on the images to take you to the relevant posts from earlier this year. Unusually, photos are square-cropped here so not in original shape. Alternatively you can see the images in their normal form in the slideshow below.

Comments / feedback welcome - just click on the "add comments"  text at the bottom on this post.

Slideshow of above photos. Hover over the photo and click "play".

My Body Temple is an exciting new "Green Chemistry" business, founded by  specialising in beauty and health products made from 100% natural ingredients. It was lovely to take some photos of their festive product launch, smell some innovative aromas (orange, white tea and mint shower gel or vanilla and white chocolate body lotion, for example) and meet several happy customers.

Their mantra: "Nature’s Answer to Natural Beauty. Natural beauty is all around us. Our aim is to bring the natural beauty of the forests and meadows and the banks of streams into our products and to you. From the great beauty of the natural world comes the inner joy and inner calm that we find so fulfilling. Nature sustains but it is also a rich reservoir of ingredients that are beneficial for our health, skin and beauty and are free from unnatural additives that cause long-term damage to our skin. "

MBT is a family-run company managed by Shraddha and Rajiv Bhuva, a consultant pharmacist and dental surgeon respectively. More details are available on their site at mybodytemple.co.uk and products can be purchased online at celebratory launch prices.

Technical details: Tamron 28-75mm lens, photos shot in raw with minor exposure / colour / white balance edits before conversion.

Madafu Moxie is a budding African fashion brand, specialising in Kai pants. Below is a sample of pre-edit product photos taken with Heer Raja, co-founder of Madafu Moxie.

Technical details: Sony 35mm lens; all unedited  and  straight  from the camera.

Below is a selection of initial pre-edit photos taken for AfrIn, an aptly named new fashion brand offering African-Indian fusion clothing. AfrIn is based in Nairobi, Kenya.

AfrIn Owner and Designer: Poonam Vora
Models: Yvonne Wanjiku and Maureen Nkatha

Technical details: Sony 35mm lens; all unedited  and  straight  from the camera.

Below are some photos taken for banner-style headers for the Fulchand Keshavji Shah website - a bookshop in Kisumu.

Technical details: Sony 35mm f1.8 lens, all photos are cropped to the necessary ratio, and lighting levels slightly adjusted in some photos.