150 Seconds in London | Weekly Photo #36
This is my own take on a classic composition of Tower Bridge with the Girl and the Dolphin fountain in London taken back in 2018. It’s a popular location for photographers and tourists alike as it provides a great view of some of London’s iconic landmarks. This particular long exposure photo is a personal favourite of mine which I have printed large and hanging up on my wall at home.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 16mm | 150 Seconds | f/11 | ISO200
Before I speak about the photo itself, I wanted to talk about how this shot reminds me of the patience needed while out and about taking photos like this in London. This is such a busy spot and it was such a nice evening so there were quite a few people about, trying to grab a peek at Tower Bridge. Normally when taking long exposures, if the exposure is long enough, someone walking into my shot won’t register in the final image but if they stop, even for a short while, I will get a blurry, messy figure in the scene.
Being someone who likes my cityscape images clear of people and with so many people stopping to look at the view, as much as I tried, I could not get a clean image. Every time I thought the coast was clear, I fired off a new shot only for another person to walk into the scene and stand there long enough to be visible in the final image. I won’t lie, it was incredibly frustrating and if I was that way inclined, I may have asked some of the people to move out of the way while I took the shot but firstly, I don’t have the front to do this and secondly, what right do I have to do that anyway? Being there photographing this location gives me no greater rite of passage and everyone is entitled to stand where they like and take in this epic view even if it means me missing the shot altogether. So, I just stood there, waiting patiently for a gap in the foot traffic with no outward signs of frustration and while I still had good light, I was eventually rewarded with a 150-second window without someone stopping for too long enabling me to capture the image.
This photo was taken on my Fujifilm XT2 and wide-angle XF10-24mm lens. Using a wider focal length of 16mm meant that I could capture the entire scene without it looking squashed in and leaving the architecture enough room to breathe. I used my Formatt-Hitech 10-stop filter to give me the 150-second exposure allowing me to capture the movement in the clouds perfectly resulting in a kind of frame around Tower Bridge which I think works really well here.
I also have another black and white, long exposure of a slightly different composition which I published in week 21 of this Weekly Photo series. You can see that image here: Deserted City | Weekly Photo 21.
I was (and still am) really pleased with this photo. the light and movement of the clouds were just perfect and although it’s not too often I get the right conditions for taking a long exposure photo at sunset, I’m glad I was able to stay patient and wait it out as it paid off in a big way!
Until next time.
Trevor
This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.