Christmas Lights In London

Here's my favourite front garden in Harrow on the Uxbridge Road on the left driving towards Hatch End. They have different lights for every holiday season. I have a post on the pictures I took for Halloween. Here's Christmas, snowman, santa and more.

The more you look the more you see. Everything is moving, animated. The archway over the path to the front door has flashing lights. A frieze over the ground floor flashes on and off and on again. Everything twinkles.

When I looked at my photos afterwards, I discovered new amusements. The sign at the front requests: Santa please stop here. The figure on the front of the house is climbing a ladder to the window.

A see-saw goes up and down at the front. I took a series of stills, then thought, I ought to take this moving. My first thought had been to take only still photos. They are easier to edit. You take several and cut out any which are totally blurred. You cut distracting background, bits that are blurred.

Movies are more difficult to edit. It takes longer. You have to go to a movie editing programme. You get annoying sounds.

But when you have a moving scene such as this, it's worthwhile taking both movies and still photos.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.