The Shard

The Shard I, a photo by manchego_photo on Flickr.

Beneath the Shard, in it's last phase of construction. Taken in January 2012

Piccadilly Rain: A photo collection

Here is a collection of recent images from a shoot in Piccadilly Circus, London. Hope you enjoy!

 

 

Please also visit my Piccadilly Flickr set.

A Photo Walk on London's South Bank - Part I

Over the last year I have done a number of photo walks along this stretch of the Thames, anywhere between Westminster Bridge and Tower Bridge. I felt it was time to share some of my best images from those walks as well as provided some background for anyone else who might want to do a photo walk in this area too. Here's a basic route.

Because of it's location, the South Bank has had a varied and perhaps somewhat chequered history, still evident today. During the Middle Ages, it developed as a popular area for entertainment for Londoners. Being outside the formal jurisdiction of Westminster and the City of London this entertainment included theatres (most notably Shakespeare's Globe Theatre), prostitution and bear baiting. Later, its use changed to being more industrial, as docks were built along the bank. From the 19th Century, the area has returned to being a popular location for entertainment and is a must-do experience for any visitor to London.

With all that, the area is a perfect subject, night or day, for any photographer, either professinal or amateur. It would be impossible for me to cover all the sites and attractions in this blog, so I want to concentrate on the main attractions and offer ideas for areas to explore. My virtual walk starts from Westminster Bridge and finishes at Tower Bridge in Southwark. You can of course do as much or as little of this stretch as you like.

The first point to note is that this walk is at night, as this is when the South Bank is at it's most vibrant and when there are more opportunities to capture all the light and colour that the South Bank offers. I've also given a few links to external links to find further information about different sites and attractions.

 

Equipment

Here's a short list of the kit I've taken along with me, as a reference:

• Canon EOS 450D
• Canon EF 70-300mm 1:4-5.6 
• Canon EFS 18-55mm
• Canon ET-65B hood
• Hähnel Remote Shutter Release
• Joby GorillaPod
• Velbon CX 540 tripod

Westminster Bridge

 

Palace of Westminster (in monochrome)

My walk begins around Westminster Bridge, with the backdrop of the Houses of Parliament, or the Palace of Westminster. Along the bridge, you can play with light streaks from the traffic passing by, particularly the red London buses:

Westminster Bridge

But as a prelude to this, you can choose to start on the Westminster side of the river it is well worth walking along Victoria Embankment a few hundred metres or so, so you are directly opposite the London Eye. From here, you get a perfect view of the giant wheel (see image below). By setting a long exposure shot, with low ISO, you can get some really amazing shots. Or, if you have a remote control shutter, set the camera on BULB and you can extend the exposure even further, to achieve more extreme blurring and the light reflections in the river become much softer.

The Eye of London (in Blue)

The London Eye

The London Eye is one of the biggest attractions on the South Bank. Needless to say, the views from the wheel itself are astounding and I highly recommend it, either day or night. But an after dusk is probably the best time to go on. Taking pictures of the wheel can in itself be impressive. There are good views from behind the wheel, i.e. approaching from Waterloo Station and the walk through Jubilee Gardens.

London Eye from Jubilee Gardens

You can also try more unusual angles and perspectives. Experiment with timings and positions and find something that appeals to you. The image below was captured on a bulb setting with shutter open for more than 4 minutes, revealing some of the inner structure of the wheel.

London Eye ("Arc")

South Bank Centre and the National Theatre

 

Further along is the South Bank Centre and the National Theatre. The architecture of these buildings has divided opinion since work on the Centre began in the 60's. But these sharp angles can make for good subject matter. When taken up close, they can become quite abstract. The are also numerous neon signs and rolling bill boards which can also be used to some effect, as seen in the silhouetted statue of Lord Olivier as Hamlet.

The National Theatre

The distintive Sixties design of the arts centres can provide many different possibilities, particularly if architecture is your thing. Beyond the National Theatre there is a small underpass which has become the home for BMXers, skaters and boarders to try their skills. There's almost always something happening, and it's a good opportunity to experiment with movement:

South Bank "Street"

The South Bank book market under Waterloo bridge can also offer some interesting possibilies:

South Bank book market

The Millenium Bridge

 

The Millenium Bridge, is the newest bridge to span the Thames in London and so is a relatively new feature of the riverside landscape. Some interesting shots can be made on the south bank, or even on the bridge itself. There are several places around the bridge where you can position yourself to get some great views of the City of London. Do not be too put off by the number of pedestrians on the bridge as this can add some drame to the scene. Or if you prefer, with a long exposure of 30 seconds or more, this virtually erases most passers by from the shot. At this point, you could optionally cross the bridge and take some shots of the river and go on over towards St Paul's Cathedral. I have taken several night shots from St. Paul's Churchyard - a regular bus route and perfect for light streaks of the passing traffic.

Millenium Bridge

Millenium Bridge and St Paul's

In this image, shot with a 2 minute shutter, has removed any trace of people, despite there being a number of passers-by. It also happened that a cruise boat passed by at the same time. River traffic can sometimes be a bit slow so you can't always that busy light streak effect from on the river itself. You do have toi time it right and have a bit of luck on your side.

Tate Modern

 

The gardens and trees in front of Tate Modern offer other opportunities to play with light and architecture. At night, the actual Tate Modern building is perhaps a bit monolithic and vast to capture from this side, except perhaps with a wide angle or fish-eye lens. In the image below, I have chosen a view which centres around St Paul's Cathedral as a kind of 'anchor point' in the shot, framed by the trees and the Millenium Bridge.

St Paul's from Tate Modern

Tower Bridge

The last area I will talk about is Tower Bridge. There are good photo opportunities from along the south bank, as well as on the bridge itself, where you can experiment with traffic streaks and other interesting effects.

Tower Bridge

Here is a slightly wider shot, taking in the Tower of London.

Tower Bridge and the Tower of London

From on the bridge I had a go at capturing the flow of the traffic against the backdrop of the bridge towers.

Tower Bridge traffic

If you are visiting London for the day, and depending on the time of year you visit, you may not get chance to go out at night so, in Part II, I will cover day time shoots in this area. Well, that's it! Thanks for reading!!

My 10 of the Best of 2011

Finally got round to compiling my first 'Best of' list. Hopefully this will be enjoyable for you as much as it is for me a way of assessing what I've done and seeing if any new patterns or styles have come forward over previous years.

Well, here we go, in reverse order...

10

Primrose Hill at Night

This was taken in the autumn, the clouds were advancing quickly across the sky, accentuated by this long-exposure shot (30 secs). This was a difficult shot to take, as even the slightest wind caused vibrations through the tripod, resulting in a slight blurring of the image. This was also one of my early attempts at night cityscapes.

 9

Picadilly Rain

This was an experimental shot, when out-and-about in a rainy Picadilly, London. The puddles were perfect for reflecting the silhuettes of passers-by. The amount of light and neon was dazzling. As a final touch I rotated the image 180 degrees.

8

Eiffel Tower

An unusual angle in this photo, but I was drawn by the arcs and curves of the architecture of the tower.

7

Takeout Mopeds (Chalk Farm Road)

A local walk-about for me. Camden Lock is literally down the road and a great area for just having a play with the camera. This appeals to me because it's such a simple subject yet made to look less ordinary. It was very early and so no-one was about. These mopeds are outdoor benches for an adjacent takeout bar, one of hundreds in Camden Market.

6

Chalk Farm Sunrise (Roundhouse)

Another local landmark: the Roundhouse, framed by the iron girders of the Regent's Park Road Bridge in Primrose Hill. My instinct was completely desaturate the image to monochrome. This image for me evokes the vernacular urban scenes of Sixties London and I suspect that this view has not changed much in those 40 years.

5

Celebration Cake

I can't take any credit for producing this delicious birthday cake (courtesy @cake_butterfly), which was baked for a friend. However, it was an opportunity for me to have a go at food photography. Rather than just snapping it, I set up a black cloth background and some atmospheric lighting and used quite a narrow depth of field. As this was the first time I had done anything like this, I feel it merits inclusion here.

4

Light streaks on Westminster Bridge

This is my first attempt at light streaks, taken as part of a photography workshop group. It taught me the basics and, while not the sharpest image I've ever produced, I feel that it was a good first effort at this technique. I have since tried this style in other spots in London and I'm keen to experiment further in more suburban and "scenic" locations in the future.

3

London Eye at Christmas

This was the first time I had my Gorillapod with me - a great little minipod that is handy to have in busy and small areas. With it being festive too, it adds a a bit of magic to the composition. The long exposure techniques I had learnt earlier were also employed here.

2

Carousel

Another long-exposure shot, this was at 20 seconds. The Carousel starts to resemble a spinning top, as the light colour fuses. An expected element to the image is the figure in the centre, who passes by briefly leaving a ghostly form. The wind was noticeable at times and some elements such as the small trees are noticeably blurry. Again, this as a first-time in trying this kind of subject matter.

1

Sunrise eclipsing the Shard

Okay, technically, this was taken in early Jan 2012 but it brings me right up to date as far as this retrospective is concerned and something of a culmination of what I had learned through 2011. I had been taking a series of shots on Primrose Hill from early dawn and so this was taken at the end of my planned shoot. It was starting to become too bright soon after this, and the scene lost some of that aura and mystique. This shot really brings out the silhouettes of the buildings and the rising steam and smoke in the cold air from office buildings. It's as close as I've got to a classic urban skyline image.



All in all, a lot of new techniques learnt. All of which I hope to build on in 2012...

Hope you enjoyed!

Dawn Photography

I recently went out on a short photo shoot on Primrose Hill, north London, very close to where I live. And with it being so close to home it was an ideal opportunity to get up early and take some dawn photos. The tempature had dropped a lot over the weekend and by Saturday morning it was quite chilly, but this also gave really clear skies.

Having got my takeaway coffee I headed off up the hill, still dark but the light was growing. I knew sunrise was at 8am, giving me half an hour or so to set up and get some pre-dawn shots in too. Primrose Hill is the best vantage point in north-central London to see spectacular views across to the City and as far as Canary Wharf and the hills of Greenwich beyond. The sky had a morning glow, tinged with a low-lying mist. There was a frost on the ground which enhanced the light. After I set up the camera and tripod, fairly close to the summit, I decided to have a quick play with the iPhone. With hands shaking slightly from the cold, I tried a HDR shot with a great app called Pro HDR. The result (below) came out pretty good:

Taken with my iPhone 4, using Pro HDR

I set the camera up (my Canon EOS 450D with the standard 18-55mm lens to get some wider shots. I found the best setting at 1600 ISO, about f20, 1/8 sec, then tried a few variations in exposure.

The City from Primrose Hill

The above image has not been retouched or enhanced but is as shot. The foreground shades of the grass and trees are more natural compared to the HDR iPhone image, but the haze is still quite marked above the skyline. I swapped lens, to my EF 70-300mm zoom, so I could get some closer shots, at similar speeds, but keeping the ISO high at 1600.

Early dawn over the City

As dawn broke, the light intensified so a much faster shutter speed was required, around 1/250 sec. The sun just peaking now over low-lying cloud. Orange became the dominant colour now.

Sunrise over St. Pauls and the Shard

 A quick lens swap to get a wider shot across London came out well. Here is one of the better ones.

Sunrise over the City

 At this time of day,  the sun tracks across incredibly quickly. I swapped lenses back over once more as the sun was eclipsed by the Shard (currently under construction but nearing completion) to produce my favourite shot of the whole morning.

Sunrise eclipsing the Shard

This shot also really brings out the silhouettes of the buildings and the rising smoke from office buildings. As the sun climbed, the light intensified and shifted further towards the blue and I felt it was time to finish up. What's more is that was really cold and I was keen to get back into the warm! On my walk I took a couple more images with the iPhone, experimenting as much as anything else. These were quite pleasing too...

Chalk Farm at Sunrise

"Made in Camden"

All the above images can be found in my Primrose Hill set on Flickr.

I would have to say that I'm lucky to be living so close to such a great location for urban landscapes such as these, but sometimes the beautiful can be found in the most unlikeliest and unexpected of places. Just look around your own neighbourhood.

Pictures from MasterChef Live 2011, 13th November at London Olympia

As I perused the stalls at this year's MasterChef Live at Olympia, there was a heady mix of world coffees, spices, infusions and an assortment of other exotic aromas, all under one roof.

It's really all about the food, but it gave me an opportunity to take in the atmosphere and one or two celebrities spotted along the way. I have had an interest in food photography for a while but this was a chance to see a variety of dishes being prepared there and then. Here are a selection of images I took at from the day: