This chap was giving out leaflets outside of the Tower of London, not actually sure what for as I didn't take one (oops).
I figured he would be a good target for the first of my street portraits
Having abandoned the idea of permissive street portraits, I set out to find other things to photograph in London. I tried to find a new perspective on St Pauls and I know that there is a view from the near by shopping centre.
I've spent quite a long time walking over and around Tower Bridge over the past few weeks (And taken quite a lot of photographs of it too). This one stuck out for me, taken over near Butlers Wharf after a recent shower, the sky was clear leaving this fantastic reflections.
Having walked the streets for the past few weeks I wanted to get to a point of elevation to really appreciate the city sprawling out in front of me. I booked my self a visit to the sky garden atop the building lovingly called "The Walky Talky"
Tricky getting a good shot from here because of the vast amounts of glass, thankfully the 6D mark II has a flappy screen so I was able to hold the camera above my head to avoid any nasty reflections.
Shad Thames is located across the Thames from my office and I discovered it whilst searching online for old cobbled streets a few weeks back. On the day this was captured I encountered an Injured fox, after calling the RSPCA and them turning up an hour later I had hoped that I had an image I could use of the fox. As it turns out I didn't manage to capture anything I could use :(
This is actually a stitched vertical panorama as my 24lens just wasn't wide enough for me to get the shot that I wanted.
I hadn't considered it previously but having my subject for Project 52 as London generally means that I am photographing unnatural landscapes created by others. This image really brought it home to me, realistically the real beauty in this photograph was put there by another human I have just taken a photograph of it.
I asked around at work about potentially interesting locations and one of my colleagues suggested a visit to Monument for the view. Whilst he was showing me his photos on his iPhone he swiped past one looking down the steps and I knew instantly what the photo I wanted to get was.
A difficult shot to pull off due to how dark it was and also how heavy a full frame DSLR is when you have your arms outstretched, but I just about managed to pull it off.
Its amazing how much you can get away with on modern cameras, still amazes me that this was shot at 12800 ISO!
Whilst conducting one of my research sessions I came across a fascinating place called "Highgate Cemetery", which a lot of you are probably aware of. An absolutely fascinating place which I think I will be returning to.
I didn't come away with the shot I wanted as it is on the other side I believe so I suspect I'll be making a return visit.
I think we can all agree that this isn't what I would normally shoot, and I think that is the biggest benefit of this challenge, that it is expanding my horizons.
So hard to narrow it down to just one shot for this week. The snow storms have made everything much more interesting. Sadly on the day that this was taken it didn't start snowing until AFTER my lunch break but I snuck out when it really started coming down and my options were limited.
This was stitched from 8 images as my lense just wasn't wide enough.
Walking around near Tower Bridge, I noticed a set of stairs leading to the foreshore which just needed to be investigated. Sooo many interesting things down there, as well as so much glass! Obviously being covered lighting was a bit of a nightmare but I think I just about managed to pull it off
Belated image due to having last week off, so I wasn't in London. Took this as soon as possible on Monday so worst case scenario I was 12 hours late. Sorry.
Been to this location many times over the past 11 weeks but haven't found the shot I wanted, I almost missed this one too.
St Dunstan-in-the-East is a fascinating place, its an old church that was damaged in the great fire of London, repaired, blew up in the second world war at which point they gave up repairing it and turned it into a garden instead.
I'll be entirely honest, I didn't realise this actually existed until I stumbled upon it whilst walking around London before work.
I stood in awe of the craftsmanship, and realise we just don't make anything like this anymore. Everything is printed or cast or manufactured by machines, such a shame that I don't think we will create any real beauty ever again.
From Wikipedia;
The Albert Memorial is situated in Kensington Gardens, London, directly to the north of the Royal Albert Hall. It was commissioned by Queen Victoria in memory of her beloved husband, Prince Albert who died of typhoid in 1861. The memorial was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the Gothic Revival style. Opened in July 1872 by Queen Victoria, with the statue of Albert ceremonially "seated" in 1876, the memorial consists of an ornate canopy or pavilion, in the style of a Gothic ciborium over the high altar of a church, containing a statue of the prince facing south. The memorial is 176 feet (54 m) tall, took over ten years to complete, and cost £120,000 (the equivalent of about £10,000,000 in 2010). The cost was met by public subscription.
I found another fox in the centre of London just outside Southwark cathedral. It had no problems sitting around letting me capture lots of photos. Strange that I have been closer to foxes in the city than in the countryside
What I consider to be one of the many icons of London
While walking the streets of London looking for something interesting I came across this old building down a side street.
Wilton's is the world's oldest surviving Grand Music Hall. Over 300 years it's evolved from Victorian sailors' pub to music hall, Methodist Mission to rag warehouse, eventually falling derelict before reopening as the exciting venue it is today.
Sometimes it pays to stop and look up every now and then
Only had one day in London last week so really had to work hard to nail it in the time I had. Wanted to show the movement of people across the station but didn't have my tripod, think I just about managed it handheld.
This building is just around the corner from my office and I've been eyeing up the art deco exterior for a while but never found the right framing. Well I just received a 14mm lens and this seemed like a good candidate
All Hallows by the Tower is the oldest church in the City of London and was founded by the Abbey of Barking in 675AD, 300 years before the Tower of London. An arch from the Saxon church can still be seen today. In the crypt beneath is a second century Roman pavement, discovered in 1926, evidence of city life on this site for nearly two thousand years.
It didn't feel right to not include the iconic Baker Street in this project.
OK, not the usual shot of city hall I'll confess.
T-Rex sculpture outside city hall to promote the new Jurassic World movie.
Waiting for a train at Paddington I decided to investigate the surrounding area and came across this foot tunnel under one of the nearby roads. I sat for a while and tried to get a good silhouette.
I seem to keep stumbling across movie sets whilst walking the streets of London, and I happened across these two taking a break just round the corner from the set.
Had a good mooch around Brick Lane, (which I'm sure I'll be making a return visit to) but these dumpsters caught my attention.
Love the green tiles in the passageways at embankment
I walk past the Royal Exchange each day and at the start of the project I had some good shots of the exterior all lit up at night.
Whilst I wait for the nights to draw in once again so I can get the shot I'd like I thought I'd have a look around and came across this wonderful ceiling in the entrance.
This is an important milestone, week 26, halfway through the project!
Eyed this shot up a while ago just outside Tower Hill station. I sat patiently waiting for anyone to walk past matching the pose of the background.
Found the contrast between the new and old, warm and cool, interesting.
Pass these mirrors everyday and thought it was about time I took a self portrait
Wandered into another of the MANY churches in the square mile, and I just loved the ceiling.
Fantastic reflections from the windows near monument.
St Pauls from a slightly different perspective
Revisited the Brick lane area and well I have a thing about dilapidated doors
An example of why I always try to carry my camera everywhere. I was rushing back to the office and saw these chaps hanging around. Only took one frame and only noticed the chap checking his phone when I got it uploaded to the computer.
There is no doubt that the Gherkin (30 St Marys Axe) is an interesting piece of architecture, indeed I have many images of it these past 35 weeks already but none that I felt were good enough.
I was actually walking back from elsewhere in the city when I noticed this art deco style building called Holland House, and then the reflection of the Gherkin in its Windows, the single orange lamp towards the bottom also caught my eye and I knew exactly the image I wanted to create.
There are 426 escalators on the London Underground system and to be honest I think we take them all for granted. Imagine having to walk almost 60 metres up/down stairs at Hampstead (The deepest station).
Roman numerals inscribed under a bridge near Tower Bridge to show the water level.
Happened to head to Temple to get a shot of the old strand station but didn't realise it was London Fashion Week. Lots of models strutting around on the street outside and loads of photographers. Thought it would be a good time to get over my fear of photographing strangers.
I went in search of trees this week for some autumn colour and happened across this little chap instead.
Visited the Excel centre for work and obviously took my camera. Loved this moody shot of one of the cranes in Royal Victoria Dock.
Week 41/52 - Moody Sky over London City Airport
I walk past this most days on my way to Lancaster Gate tube station. On this particular morning I got on the early train and was presented with this most wonderful light and sky so I thought I'd take a walk through Hyde Park and stopped for this shot.
I get on a tube at this station everyday and I like the contrast of the shiny tiles with the rough wall (And its in the centre something which I seem to enjoy apparently)
The Lloyds Building also referred to as the Inside-Out building is in my opinion one of the more interesting buildings in the square mile. It was designed in such a way that all of the lifts and pipes were on the outside giving it a nice clean interior.
Unusual for me this wasn't taken on my DSLR but instead on my new phone the Huawei Mate 20 Pro
Stumbled across this alley one direction had a view of the walky talky and the other the shard. Think I'll revisit for a shot the other way once they have moved the roadworks at the end.
Given this is just outside my base of operations in London it didn't seem right not to include it in this project
Another one shot on the way home on my phone. Over the past year I've watched this building slowly being completed and on this night there were some low clouds causing the blue and red lights on the top to mix causing this strange purple glow.
A view of the Tower and the Shard. When working on this image I ended up zooming all the way in on the Shard and you can see the silhouette of someone stood up there.
Christmas has arrived at the Royal Exchange at Bank
Had a number of shots for this week, but I like this one at lot for some reason. It breaks almost all the rules of composition yet I find it incredibly intriguing.
I saw this shot last week whilst exploring the tate modern, but I wasn't happy with the way I had it composed. Trouble is when I returned this week, I had a hard time finding the window again and it took two visits to finally find it and get the shot I wanted.
Didn't seem right not to include a Christmas tree for the final shot.
Merry Christmas Everyone!
