City Lights | Weekly Photo #6
I remember talking about this particular photo some time back on one of my newsletters (sign up here) because the day I took this image, I wasn’t out on a photography trip, but that doesn’t mean photo opportunities can’t be taken advantage of.
Back in March, I was at work related event on the nautically opulent Sunborn Yacht Hotel moored in the Royal Victoria Dock in East London. My colleague and I had just been to a trade show nearby and arrived at the yacht a little early, just before sunset so we grabbed a drink and headed out on deck and relaxed for a few minutes. As We sat there admiring the view playing out in front of us, I started to get the photography itch. With the sun’s orange glow just above the horizon and the city lights dazzling I had to photograph this view.
A few months ago, I wrote a “What’s in my Camera Bag” post and in this article and I talked about my different gear configurations, one being my ultra-lightweight set-up. This set up comes everywhere with me. Although since writing the post and taking this photo, I have swapped out the Fuji X-T10 for the newer X-T30, the basic kit remains the same. One of the reasons I love this camera model so much is how small and convenient it is. It takes a fantastic photo but takes up little room in my rucksack.
Where was I? Right, so, with camera in my bag next to me, it took me no time at all to grab the camera, mount it on the Manfrotto PIXI tripod and compose the shot. The entire shoot was over in about 3-4 minutes but once I knew I had captured the shot below and I had checked it was well composed, correctly exposed and sharp, my photographic itch was scratched and I could get on with my evening knowing I had the photo in the bag ready to process later.
What do I like about the image? Although it’s a rather complex composition, I love the way the photo has multiple layers. In the foreground, we have the wonderful reflections. In the mid-ground, you can see the O2 area and cable carts on the left-hand side. Then, balancing the image on the right-hand side, in the background, the high-rise buildings over at Canary Wharf. On top of this, there is some beautiful pastel colours framing the image.
Fujifilm X-T10 | XF35mmF2 | 35mm | 1/7th second | f/2 | ISO200
It’s times like these that make it worthwhile having the camera with me at all times and by putting together an ultra-lightweight kit, I know, that wherever I am, whatever I’m doing, if an opportunity to grab a shot presents itself, I’ll be ready!
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.