I managed to get some time yesterday in the Kelvingrove museum in Glasgow. This is an amazing, classical building on a grand scale. Photographically the challenge is that the pictures have to be handheld as it is a busy museum and a tripod is considered a trip hazard for visitors. The light is low except through windows so the contrast is huge, a tripod would really help to do HDR as well as to cope with the long shutter speeds. Anyway, handheld it was!

This is the main entrance hall with its magnificent organ. They do regular recitals.

Some people love this exhibition room with its bizzare heads, others hate it. I kind of like them.

Another of the same room. The bare bulbs favoured by the curators are a photographic challenge; in low light they simply burn out in the picture.

We are not amused.

All of these are black and white as the mixture of tungsten spotlights and daylight windows is kind of horrible in colour.

One of the two main entrances with its oh-so-macintosh look and feel. Poirot is just about to walk through the door.

We all have a favourite thing in a museum. This is probably mine. A real Mk5 (I think) Spitfire from the Glasgow Squadron. The engine has been removed, but otherwise it is the real deal. With the taxidermy victims below, it is completely odd and out of place, but that’s kind of likeable.

This corridor has my favourite portrait selection on it. But like all lines of archways it is just photographically an irresistible cliché.

This is Stephenson in bronze. Classic author and unless the sculptor exaggerated, a striking man.

On a technical note, I used my basic Sigma 10-20 ultra-wide zoom for many of these, and it is worth noting that the distortions introduced at the edges are kind of horrible. I suspect this is where Canon L lenses and other mortgage-requiring glassware really make a difference.

I’ll post a selection early this week and ask for your help with choosing for the “Inside a building” round of the APOY contest. Thanks for looking.