Snow

This is a building in Wanstead Park. It's all that's left of the Wanstead Estate, there used to be a mansion and a boat house as well as this summer house. The owner of the land gambled the wealth away and now the grounds and lakes are part of Wanstead Park.

I took this photo during the snow in February. It's close to where I live so I walked there early to get some pristene snow photos.

Epping Forest

Epping Forest is to the north east of London, largely in Essex. The southern end of the forest is in east London. It's easy for me to get to any part of it and it's a nice place to spend some time.

It can be busy in places on the main paths, some of which allow horse riding and cycling. Wandering off the paths it is very quiet. It can also be very muddy!

I spotted this scene when I happened to look over my shoulder. The sun was streaming through some gaps in the trees. I'm pleased with the results, I've captured some detail in the strongly lit area and the greens and reds in the shaded parts

Sundial on Thames

This large silver sun dial is in front of the hotel by Tower Bridge. I like it as a subject. Often I've taken it with Tower Bridge in the background. Here I was going for the sun reflecting off the dial.

Parliament Sunset

This photo was taken close to where the one in the previous post was taken. Just a lot later in the day. At this point the Thames runs roughly north/south and the sun sets behind the Houses of Parliament.

Albert Embankment

This was taken on a cold morning opposite the Houses of Parliament. It's not the most colourful place during winter but it's pleasant enough with a good view across the river. Being a grey area the photo lends itself to being converted to black and white.

A couple of minutes after taking this photo a man jumped into the Thames right in front of me. A bit of a shock, but the police and an ambulance were on the scene within five minutes of me calling the police, handy things mobile phones. The guy was pulled from the river still alive, must have been freezing cold though, the temperature was just above freezing.

Barnes

Outside central London the banks of the Thames are totally different. Here I am walking from Hammersmith to Barnes Bridge. Instead of tall buildings and traffic there's housing and trees and a lot quieter. There are fewer boats on the Thames at this point as well. Teams of rowers go past at times. Yet it is still in London. This is getting close to sun set, as can be seen by the orange sky on the horizon.

Colour versions

I've done some work on the previous image but in colour. I think I was right when I was taking the photo to view it as a balck and white image. Though the skies a good colour.

The flyer for The Southerner pub (sells a nice Speights) shows up more in the colour picture as well.

Atmospheric Stairs

This is another place I had been wanting to photograph for a while. Its a stairway that runs underneath a building connecting the Strand with Victoria Embankment. The brickwork and lights give it an atmosphere ideal for balck and white.

I was a bit later getting here than I intended so didn't get all the shots I wanted. Will have to wait for the next decent weather forecast to coincide with when I can back there.

Colour or Black and White

This view of the along the Stand of the Royal Courts of Justice is one I've been meaning to photograph for some time. It's difficult to do during the day to a continual stream of traffic and lots of pedestrians.

The entrance to the court is very brightly lit so it's difficult to get the exposure right. It can be seen on the left of the picture how it differs from the rest of the building in lighting. Left of centre is a statue. It is a dragon which represents the boundary of the City of London.

Having taken the photo I thought I'd compare the straight colour shot with a contrasty black and white one. The lack of traffic avoids any dating of the image so the BW one looks old and moody, which I like. Though the cycle lane gives a clue to it being a new photo, suppose I could photoshop that out.

St Clement Danes

This is St Clement Danes, the RAF church. It's on the Strand just by the Royal Courts of Justice. There is a bus stop to the left and the light trails of a bus can be seen in the picture.

The exposure for this picture was around 15 seconds. A couple of tourists did decide to stand in front of the camera for a couple of seconds but don't show up. Never sure why people decide that have to stand directly in front of the lens, ut there you go.

Ugly Buildings and Pretty Lamp Posts

A few yards on from the previous picture. I'm now between London Bridge and Cannon Street Rail Bridge, in front of what was Ebbgate House. Ebbgate was an ugly building a grey hulk of a building sitting where a decent looking building (or park) ought to. On the plus side you could get between the building and the river and get some nice views. Southwark Cathedral can be seen and the lampposts are more interesting than the standard street ones. There's also a floating pub on the left of the picture.

I fired the flash gun once for this image. Held it off camera and fired it at about 1/4 to add some definition and highlights to what is a black post.

London Bridge - Early Morning

This is a part of London I know very well. I worked in an office close to where I took this picture. It used to be the case you couldn't walk along the path here. There were a set of steps to the river under the bridge but there was no way of crossing the inlet they were in. Now a little bridge has been built so you don't have to take a diversion.

I'm not sure when the lights along the bridge were changed to red. Looks nice though.

Driving and Taking Pictures

Bit of experimentation going on here. Taking photos from inside the car while driving. Now clearly you can't use a camera and drive at the same time so it needs a bit of work.

First set the lens to manual focus and choose a focal distance. Second enter a shutter time and an aperture. The program the camera with the remote release to take a number of pictures at set time intervals with a ten second self timer for the first picture. I then put my tripod in the front passenger seat and fixed it in place, absolute must that it cannot move. Then fix camera to the tripod and take a test shot to ensure it is pointing through the windscreen. Last stage is get ready to drive off and start the self timer before pulling away. Ten seconds into the drive the first picture is taken. Drive around at random and see what happens. I pulled over at one point and changed a couple of settings. This test was done near my house. Having got the hang of it I'll give it a go in the City in a few days time. The buildings are more interesting and lit up so should be interesting.

A clean windscreen helps.

Morning Bus

Walking through the City one morning I decided to try something I hadn't done before. Normally for low light shots I use a tripod and leave the camera still. Traffic appears as light trails, buildings are visable. This time I decided to pan the camera with a moving bus. Here's the result. I quite like it. The bus is recognisable as a bus, which is what counts.

Westminster Bridge

Between Westminster and Lambeth Bridges the Thames Path only runs on one side of the river. The Houses of Parliament sit right on the river bank on the north London side. Westminster Bridge has been undergoing some renovation recently, the lights are being restored. I like the lights on the bridge I find they are good subjects for photography.

For this shot I waited until there was just one person in shot and they were past the London Eye (the big wheel). The was cloudy but the clouds were broken with the concrete part of the bridge dominating the lower right of the photo I went for 'moody'. Using Lightroom I converted the image to a cynotype. This is an effect I like. Seems to work well with textures and buildings.

Early Morning

Still on the Thames Path, this time in the City. This picture of Southwark Bridge was taken early morning. I fired the flash gun during the exposure to lighten the darker areas.

The Beginning

Still on the Thames Path. I started at Hampton Court Bridge, the first crossing in London (or last if you're going in the other direction). It was a nice day, fairly unusual in the UK last year. The pathway is only on one side at this point and runs longside Hampton Court Palace for part of the way.

Here's the picture, a nice quiet still morning. Good for reflections in the water. Not the most exciting image but pleasing and easy on the eye.

Battersea Power Station

At some points the Thames Path leaves the Thames as buildings are right on the river bank. As one of these parts rejoins the river side I spotted this view. A traditional red phone box with the power station behind. In isn't the most colourful view in winter and the red stood out. I thought straight away that this would work being converted to B&W but leaving the box in colour, colour popping. This isn't something I tend to do, like a lot of effects it gets done to death and used where it doesn't add to the image and the effect lessens. This is only the second time I've used this effect and I think it works here.

Back - Thames path

I've been walking along the London parts of the Thames Path recently. The pathway runds from it's source in the Cotswolds to the Thames Barrier in Greenwich. The London section is easy for me to get to using public transport. In some sections it's on both banks in others just one. I'll be posting photo's from my walks, not in any particular order though.

This one was taken at sunrise. Looking south east near the Millennium Bridge. I noticed the way a shaft of light caused a distinct split in the orange sky next to the plume of steam coming from the tallest building.