A night out in London
A night time HDR shot handheld on evening in London…
I have really grown to love shooting at night. It’s taken me a while to really embrace it, but now I love it. I used to always want to quite after sunset and blue hour ended, thinking the good light was all gone. Well, it may be gone by then but in a city there is always something interesting to photograph. While wandering one evening in London, I stopped in my tracks as I approached this scene. It’s not incredible or amazing or anything, but it caught my eye and thought it was well worth a quick stop for!
London nights
A double-decker bus speeds past me in London…
I absolutely adore London. It’s probably my favorite city that I’ve ever been to. Something about it just gets to me. I spent about 10 days back in January of this year, and had so much fun wandering all over town and taking photos. I find the city to be incredibly photogenic, and of course there is a lot to see there.
One evening early in the trip I have been out shooting for a while, and stopped in for a bite at a pizza place. After warming up (and filling up), it was time to get back out on the streets. I decided to set up and do some long exposures, hoping for a double-decker bus to pass by. Luckily it wasn’t too long of a wait!
Across the River Thames
Lovely London lights at night…
Wandering along the River Thames in London one evening, I was taken by the lovely lights and reflections of said lights in the river. So I wandered and shot, picking out different buildings to try and capture the best views that I could. This one is one of my faves from that evening, with that awesome Walkie Talkie building all light up and reflecting.
London nights
Night time in London and I am wandering around with my camera…
I find London to be an exceptionally photogenic city. It seems at every turn I come across something that I want to photograph, even if I have photographed it before. Especially when it gets late in the day and the lights are coming on, it just takes on a kind of beauty that I just adore. I was just wandering in Westminster one evening and came across this intersection, and just had to shoot it!
Carnaby Nights
Night in London along Carnaby Street…
Evening in London, and I found myself along Carnaby Street. It’s a gorgeous and lively part of London, and it was my first visit there. so glad I made it!
The Scoop
A night time shot of the Shard and the Scoop, in lovely London. My kinda town!
Oh man, I have so many London photos. Just. So. Many.
I love London and when I was there earlier this year, I literally fired like a maniac. I came home with 9,000+ photos from a 10 day trip. And honestly, I could have done more but I got tired, and sometimes I get lazy. Yeah, I love to travel and take photos but we all get tired at times. Regardless, I came home with a LOT of shots that I like and that I will be sharing here over the coming days/weeks/months/years. There’s just a lot. It won’t all fit in 2018, or even 2019. So, how about you keep coming back? :-)
Modeling in London
A young lady was modeling for her boyfriend in front of these phone booths, so I let her model for me as well…
I rarely take photos of people, generally preferring to capture a scene when it is empty, or at least where a person is not a big part of the shot. But sometimes you have to make exceptions. In London one evening I was lining up to take some shots of these lovely phone booths, which are over by Covent Garden. As I got set up and ready, this girl and her boyfriend starting taking photos as well, with her modeling for him in front of them. No worries, I usually just wait these things out. But instead I just started firing, thinking that having a person in the shot actually gave it a little more interest. I find myself doing that a bit more than I used to, and am liking the results. Maybe people aren’t so bad after all. ;-)
Blue hour at the Tower of London
Blue hour at the Tower of London, and I was working the scene trying to capture all that I could. It’s a gorgeous part of that amazing city!
London is just so photogenic! I love it there.
When I visited London earlier this year, I spent a good amount of time over by the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge, taking all sorts of photos. I was especially interested in capturing the area around blue hour, when the lights come on and everything takes on a romantic glow. So one evening I was there firing away and trying to get fun and interesting shots out of it. These two are a couple of my faves from that evening.
Night at the Tower Bridge
Night at the Tower Bridge in lovely London…
More from London, and plenty more still to come!
Even though I visited London back in January, I have a long way to go towards sharing all the photos I took there. Altogether I came home with something like 9,000 photos. Now of course most of that is 3 exposure brackets, which really boils down to about 3,000 photos. Still, that's a LOT and will take me a long time to sprinkle them here onto the blog. You see I enjoy variety and therefore I don't share a lot from one place in a row. I simply get bored talking about it. In other words, I may never get them all onto the blog. :-)
Blue hour in London
Lovely London, captured during blue hour - my favorite time of day to shoot!
Ah lovely London - I just adore it there!
I do think London has become one of my favorite places in the world. Now of course there is a lot of the world that I have not seen, but having visited London now something like 8 times or so, it's WAY up on my list. Every time I visit I see new things and even seeing the same old things is fascinating to me. I also find the place incredibly photogenic. This one was taken years ago on the Westminster Bridge, looking down there at good old Big Ben. What a sight.
As with many of my photos, I edited this one in Luminar. I recorded a video a while back about this one, so if you are interested in seeing my editing steps, here you go:
Night at Covent Garden
Covent Garden in London under the cover of darkness…
Here's a pair of pics from lovely London, one of my favorite cities anywhere. Covent Garden is a great place to hang out and shoot, although at times the security guards get all fired up about tripods. So you have to be stealthy and quick to get it done! ;-)
The back alleys of London
The Shad Thames in London is well worth a stroll, day or night. It’s an industrial warehouse sort of area but it’s quite interesting and photogenic!
This is an interesting part of London!
When I visited London back in January, I made it a point to visit the area known as Shad Thames on at least a couple of occasions. It's an old industrial warehouse area and in my opinion it is quite awesome! I strolled through here during both daytime and at night and found it equally beautiful both times of day. There are some shops and eateries but mostly it seemed somewhat empty (although that could have been that it was January).
It's right by the Tower Bridge, which everyone visits anyway, so if you are going be sure and swing by here. It's on the south side of the River Thames, just off the bridge. Ask around and you can't miss it - and you will be glad you strolled through here! Oh and bring the camera! :-)
London lights
A car passing me in London was a perfect chance to capture some interesting light trails…
Oh how I love to capture light trails!
I know it's probably a bit of a cliche, but capturing light trails from passing cars is just plain fun. You are always trying to time it just right, and sometimes you miss, so you keep trying. But when you get that one perfect shot when the light trails curve out of the frame in the distance, well then it's all worthwhile! I only had one chance for this one, as the street was really empty, so I was quite happy when I saw it on the back of my camera a moment later!
Dark nights in London
A dark night in London, and I was out with the camera capturing shots of this lovely city.
An evening out and about in London with the camera - took home lots of photos!
I wandered quite a bit when I was in London back in January. Being there by myself - instead of with the family - meant I was free to do whatever I wanted, and whenever. So basically I just was out shooting all the time, which was great. I captured this one over by the Tower Bridge, on the south side of the River Thames. You can see part of the bridge way in the distance. There are quite a few office buildings there and it's a great place to wander with the camera...just sayin'! :-)
Passing lights in London
Light trails in London, such fun especially when you have a gorgeous background!
Just a simple shot, really - a few seconds when the traffic is whizzing by!
I have grown to love long exposures and especially light trail photos. They are easy to do and often come out great, or at least interesting. I just set up in a spot where I know there will be passing traffic, and wait. Once I see traffic coming, I start a long exposure and hope for the best! Sometimes it takes a few tries, but usually I get something useful.
This photo was a combination of a double-decker bus, some cars and a taxi or two. That's what is so great about doing these in London - the busses! Their lights are higher than on cars, obviously, so it helps fill the frame with more light trails. Fun, right?!
It also helps that St Paul's Cathedral is in the background. If I can find a great background, it's just a matter of time before the traffic streaks by, and I can capture it.