BLOG ARCHIVE
2 Minutes in London | Weekly Photo #18
This week’s photo is a long exposure photo of the London Eye taken on a late summer’s evening in 2018. On top of the story behind the photo, I also share some of my other long exposure articles that will help anyone looking to improve their long exposure technique.
Long exposure photography in London has been a passion of mine for a number of years now. I love the way this technique allows me to capture the changing light, motion and even colour over relatively long periods of time all within a single frame. This can create stunning ethereal photos which allow the viewer to witness a scene in a way they wouldn’t usually see with their own eyes even if they were standing next to me while I captured the image.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 24mm | 121 Seconds | f/10 | ISO200
Taking a long exposure of the London Eye
This photo was taken in September last year. I chose this location to capture a long exposure of the London Eye as I like the way it allows you to see down the river towards the buildings near St George Wharf in the distance which adds some great depth to the shot. If you time it right, you can avoid the boats that run up and down the river creating a nice simplified, clutter-free look. Although the sky was pretty clear, as the sun went down, some beautiful pastel colours appeared across the sky.
I took this photo with my Fujifilm XT2 and my trusty XF18-55mm. Using my Formatt Hitech 10-stop ND filter, I was able to change this photo from around a 1/8th of a second exposure to 121 seconds.
I have written many blog posts about taking long exposure images including why I do it, how I do it and so on. So, instead of repeating myself once again, I will list some of my most popular posts below for you to read at your leisure. So, if you have a few minutes, grab a coffee, settle in and have a read.
Slowing Time: Why The long Exposure?
How I take Long Exposure Pictures
My Top 5 Long Exposure Locations in London
Lastly, if you haven’t done so already, sign up to my newsletter and you will get a PDF eBook which lists my 10-step guide to take better long exposure photos. Click here to visit my Subscribe Page.
Thanks for dropping by.
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.
On Location Photographing Ghent
In August 2019, I visited Ghent with my family and took my newly purchased Fujifilm X-T30 so this article is part travel blog and part gear review with some photos of the city thrown in for good measure.
Ghent, Gent, Gand, whatever you call this city, one thing is certain, this city is a great place to visit and quite possibly Europe’s best-kept secret. Travellers heading to Belgium for a short break usually head to Brussels (Belgium’s capital city) or Bruges, which is a small and very charming chocolate box city around 45 minutes from Ghent but judging by most of the people I spoke to about my upcoming trip to Ghent, it would normally be followed by the question “Where’s that?”.
Having already visited Bruges in August 2018 and had a great time, my family and I decided to spend another long weekend in Belgium, this time visiting this beautiful medieval city. As we live in the South East of England, Belgium is such a convenient place to visit as it’s only a short drive to the Channel crossing and around 90 minutes’ drive once we had crossed the English Channel. In total, a 4-hour door to door journey. Not too bad at all.
If you missed my “On Location” post covering a previous trip to Bruges I took in 2018, you can find it here: On Location Photographing Bruges.
Fujifilm XT-30 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/640 Second | f/2.8 | ISO160
What photography equipment did I take to Ghent?
This is a photography blog after all. Not long before heading to Ghent, I had retired my Fujifilm X-T10 and purchased the X-T30 as my lightweight alternative to the XT2 workhorse I tend to use on shoots. On this trip, I took both cameras but I only used the XT2 once during a sunrise shoot and used my X-T30 during the day as I thought it would be a good opportunity to really get to know the camera and put it through its paces. Although I didn’t take all of the gear out with me each day, below is the list of kit I took on the trip:
Fujifilm X-T30 Body
Fujifilm XT2 Body
XF10-24mm Lens
XF18-55mm Lens
XF55-200mm Lens
I mentioned above that I had recently retired my X-T10. In fact, I do still have it and one of my daughters decided to use it as her main camera while we were in Ghent. She shot with the 35mm F2 lens on the camera and came away with some fantastic photos of her own.
A little bit about Ghent
Ghent is a port city in the north-west and Flemish region of Belgium situated about an hour’s drive from Brussels and 45 minutes to Bruges. Dating back to around the 7th Century when it’s first two Abbeys were founded, the city flourished to the point that in the 13th Century, it was Europe’s second-largest city north of the Alps, second only to Paris. Now a university city boasting museums, churches and a charming stretch of river, this city has a great mix of historic and modern cultures.
Fujifilm XT-30 | XF18-55mm | 55mm | 1/420 Second | f/4 | ISO160
Instead of documenting our trip chronologically, in this post, I will cover some of the places we visited with some photos and useful information along the way.
Gravensteen Medieval Castle
First up is this charming but brutal looking Gravensteen Castle located along the River Lieve. Also known as the “Castle of the Count”, this 12th century stone castle has all of the usual medieval features you would expect such as a moat, turrets and arrow slits. Built originally as a fortress, over the years it has been used as a courthouse, prison and strangely, even a cotton factory.
Fujifilm XT-30 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/500 Second | f/6.4 | ISO160
If you decide to venture inside the castle, you will find the inside rather bare so I recommend the audio tour. It’s a bit tongue-in-cheek and a little lengthy so allow extra time as you wander the castle but it is the best way to learn all about its history.
Rooftop views of Ghent from Gravensteen Castle
We visited the roof of the castle which provides some great rooftop views of the city. As you can see below, I used some of the arrow slits to frame some of the city’s other buildings.
Fujifilm XT-30 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/850 Second | f/3.6 | ISO160
Along the River Leie (Lys)
Ghent’s city centre is located along the River Leie and it is such a charming stretch of river and between St Michael’s Bridge and Grasbrug, it is particularly popular with the best of the chocolate box architecture. As we wandered around the city, we really enjoyed walking along both the River Leie and offshoot stretch of water names River Lieve (indeed the names are incredibly similar). Parts of the river had a kind of Amsterdam feel with colourful flower baskets and bikes leaning up against the rails.
Fujifilm XT-30 | XF18-55mm | 22mm | 1/1700 Second | f/4.5 | ISO160
Using the Fujifilm X-T30 as a travel camera
As we wandered around, I was glad I chose the Fuji X-T30 as my “walkabout” camera. This small camera that packs quite a punch was equipped with the standard zoom 18-55mm lens which, when combined, felt nice and light whilst capturing some super sharp images. I also had an incredibly light backpack as I decided to only take one other lens with me from the hotel. Using the X-T30 takes so much friction out of the photography process as the tactile controls and manual dials mean I can compose and adjust settings really quickly. With Fujifilm really upping their focus game with this camera, taking photos while walking about was nice and easy and my family didn’t have to stop too often while I was taking photos.
Fujifilm XT-30 | XF18-55mm | 55mm | 1/1,000 Second | f/4 | ISO160
Saint Michael’s Bridge and Saint Michael's Church
The building of St. Michael’s Church started around 1440 and continued into the 16th century whereby 1566 two levels of the tower were completed. Due to religious conflicts, construction stopped until the 17th Century when in 1623 building restarted to repair and complete the tower. Although a design for the tower was proposed, funds dried up and the tower was never built leaving an odd-looking flat roof where the tower should be. I took a photo of the church from atop the Belfry of Ghent which you can see below showing the church and its flat-roofed tower. To me, it doesn’t look right at all as I am used to these types of religious buildings having impressively tall spires and not at all flat roofs.
Fujifilm XT-30 | XF18-55mm | 55mm | 1/5th Second | f/4 | ISO400
Built-in 1910, the neo-gothic St. Michael’s Bridge is probably the most popular bridge in Ghent. Providing great views of this beautiful stretch of river as well as an iconic view of Ghent’s three towers, it’s arguably the best vantage point in the city. I cover the three towers further on in this blog.
Fujifilm XT-30 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/2,200 Second | f/4 | ISO160
St. Nicholas' Church (Sint-Niklaaskerk)
I mentioned above that Ghent has three towers that dominate the city skyline and St. Nicholas’ Church has one of them. This is the first church we ventured into as when we travel, we like to experience both the external and internal architectural details historic buildings like this have to offer. It was also a good opportunity to put my X-T30 through its low-light paces. More on that below.
In the early 13th century, the building of this gothic church was started and continued throughout the remainder of the century. It also houses an impressive and quite famous organ built by the French organ builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll. There is a photo of the organ below and although I wasn’t aware at the time of its importance, I certainly remember how striking it was when I saw it at the time.
Fujifilm XT-30 | XF18-55mm | 30mm | 1/950 Second | f/6.4 | ISO160
While wandering inside the church photographing the ornate details and impressive architecture, it gave me an opportunity to test the low-light capabilities of the X-T30 camera. Using both the optical stabilisation in the XF18-55 lens and increasing the ISO, I was able to keep my shutter speed high enough to avoid blur whilst handholding the camera and retaining enough quality in the image. I would regularly up the ISO to 1600 or even 3200 and the photos still had low noise levels and were really quite good.
Belfry of Ghent (Het Belfort van Gent)
The second of the “Three Towers” I will feature in this article is the Belfry of Ghent which is the middle of the three towers in the photo below. It’s a 91-meter tall medieval tower constructed in the 14th century. Over the years, the Belfry was used as a lookout tower and more famously, the city’s bell tower that kept time for the locals for many years.
We climbed the tower, well, I say we climbed but we got the lift when we were about halfway up due to some little legs getting tired. As we climbed there were a few rooms to both rest and learn about the tower’s history. I took a few photos of the bells as we climbed but the real treat was when we arrived at the top of the tower. The views! You can take some great rooftop photos of the city including a nice view of the St. Nicholas' Church from the rear which you can see in one of the photos below.
One word of warning. It is single file around the top of the bell tower so there is not a lot of time to take photos before you feel compelled to move forward to avoid holding other people up. If you want to spend some time up there, you may have to walk around the top a few times to get all the shots you want.
Fujifilm XT-30 | XF18-55mm | 55mm | 1/500 Second | f/4 | ISO160
Saint Bavo Cathedral (Sint Baafskathedraal)
Last but not least of the Three Towers is Saint Bavo’s Cathedral which stands just two metres shorter than the Belfry of Ghent I wrote about in the previous chapter. Although construction began on this gothic church in 1274, subsequent construction projects took place throughout the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries.
Personally, I thought this church has the most impressive interior of those we visited. The ceiling and alter alone are just beautiful. I really enjoyed walking around playing with the tactile knobs and dials on my X-T30 camera locking in the settings needed to take pictures in the low light conditions. Again, I was really happy with how this powerful little camera performed.
Fujifilm XT-30 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/3,000 Second | f/2.8 | ISO160
..and finally, the beer, trams and chocolate!
No visit to Ghent could be complete without visiting the many chocolate shops and drinking the local beer. We had some frequent pit-stops as we wandered around and the local beer went down a treat. If you ever visit Ghent, try the Leffe Blond. It’s my favourite and can also be purchased in the major UK supermarkets in the craft beer aisle.
As far as our kids were concerned, visiting the chocolate shops was probably their favourite part of the trip. They liked to wander into the shop in hope that they would be handing out samples. Of course, once we had tried every type of chocolate on offer, we had to buy some!! It was delicious!
While in the chocolate shops, I opened up the aperture on the camera as far as I could which allowed me to capture sharp images handheld in the low light and provided some nice bokeh too!
Fujifilm XT-30 | XF18-55mm | 33mm | 1/150 Second | f/3.6 | ISO160
Getting around on the trams is super easy and, in my opinion, more comfortable than the buses and taxis. It’s also free to travel on public transport when you purchase a Ghent Citycard making it both convenient and cheap!
I’m really pleased I took my Fujifilm X-T30, as this small, lightweight powerhouse of a camera never missed a beat and took some great quality photos. That coupled with the analogue buttons and dials I find so useful when changing settings on the fly, I was able to focus on taking photos rather than constantly fiddling with the camera’s menu. Battery life seems to improve as mirrorless camera technology moves forward and I was able to last almost all day on a single charge but I had a few spares just in case.
Why you should visit Ghent
Hopefully, you got a good taste of what Ghent has to offer from this article but it’s by no means complete. In the few days, we had to spend in this city, we saw and did enough to feel satisfied we had gotten under the skin of the city and didn’t leave feeling we missed out but there were, however, many other places to visit I didn’t cover such as the art museums and city parks but this time round we didn’t have enough time to get to them all. Maybe that’s a good excuse for another visit in the not too distant future!
On a final note, I mentioned earlier in this article, I had my Fujifilm XT2 with me while in Ghent and used it for an early morning sunrise shoot which I will be sharing soon in a followup post in the next couple of weeks so stay tuned for that. Alternatively, signup to be notified of all website updates here.
Cheers!!
Fujifilm XT-10 | XF35mm F2 | 35mm | 1/640 Second | f/3.6 | ISO200
Illuminated River | Weekly Photo #17
This week’s photo is a London cityscape taken at night showcasing the new light installation at London Bridge which was recently installed as a part of the new Illuminated River project.
With the summer ending and the nights drawing in, I’m looking forward to getting out and taking more photos of London at night. This photo was taken a few weeks ago as I wandered the north bank of the River Thames in the hunt for new compositions of London’s iconic structures. As I wandered towards London Bridge, I remembered it had recently had its lights updated as a part of the Illuminated River project (more on that below). Architecturally, London Bridge is a little underwhelming and it’s not always easy to get an interesting photo of it but I have seen this composition before and with the Shard in the background and the bridge creating the obligatory lead-in line, I had my composition locked in.
On to the tripod went my Fujifilm XT2 and wide-angle 10-24mm lens. I then waited for the lights to change so I could capture all those vibrant colours along the side of the bridge. I used an aperture of f/10 to help keep the image sharp from front to back but also, it helped me create these great starbursts throughout the image. The bright white starburst that seems to be floating above the bridge, that would be the moon. Pretty cool, right?
Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 15mm | 6 Seconds | f/10 | ISO200
The Illuminated River project
There is an interesting project happening along the River Thames called Illuminated River. This is a long term, multi-year project to roll out new, modern, low power light installations across 15 bridges in central London meaning not only will all 15 bridges get a fresh new look at night, but it will also be more environmentally friendly to run them. So far, 4 bridges are complete including London Bridge above. This cohesive art installation will stretch 2.5 miles along the river, making it the longest of its kind in the world and having looked over the proposed designs on their website here, I think it is going to be a fantastic addition to this great city.
Photographing London Cityscapes at Night
In recent years there seems to be a more conscious effort to implement new and upgrade existing lighting schemes across the city. I guess this is helped by the emerging brighter, low power technologies the city architects and designers can take advantage of but whatever the reason, the results mean we can now capture some fantastic night-time cityscapes across the city.
Until next time.
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.
La Piazza Desolata | Weekly Photo #16
Have you ever wanted to experience a city like Venice and have it all to yourself? In this article, I talk about capturing this sunrise shot at St Mark’s Square and I also list 3 reasons why I think everyone should try to venture out before sunrise when visiting a new, normally busy location.
This is a very empty St Mark’s Square in Venice. I had just completed the 10-minute walk back from the Ponte dell’Accademia Bridge where I had captured the classic view of the Grand Canal at sunrise and I found myself in a very quiet St Mark’s Square. It feels both odd and exhilarating to be in a place on your own which is normally overrun by thousands of people and I wasn’t going to miss this opportunity to capture such a beautiful city in this unique way.
I share many more photos of my trip to Venice in my two-part blog post:
Fujifilm XT-10 | XF18-55mm | 34mm | 6 Seconds | f/8 | ISO200
After a short while wandering the piazza, photographing the ornate architecture and soaking up every ounce of the history as possible, I started to head back towards the Bacino San Marco. I noticed the sun lighting up the tower that belongs to the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore across the water, basking in gloriously warm sunlight and with the Lion of Venice up on the column appearing to stand and welcome the new day, it was an image I had to capture.
With such a large space in front of me, it was inevitable that one or two people would now be in the shot so I decided to use my Formatt-Hitech 10-stop ND filter to create a long exposure and as long as those one or two people kept moving, they would be rendered invisible in the scene. That’s exactly what happened and with the Fujifilm X-T10 (my camera of choice at the time), XF18-55mm lens mounted on the tripod and my settings locked in, I went about capturing the scene in front of me.
It took a few tries to ensure I didn’t capture any people, but I got there in the end and the resulting photo is one of my favourites from that entire trip.
Whenever I visit a new city, I make a point of venturing out at the break of dawn to enjoy the unique experience of having a normally busy location all to myself. Whether you take a camera or not, I have listed three reasons why everyone should give it a try.
3 reasons to photograph a city at sunrise
#1 You get the best light of the day.
Ok, this is a subjective one but to me, there is something quite magical about the light at sunrise. I love a good sunset like everybody else but with sunrises harder to capture because all of the getting up early nonsense, it seems just a little bit more special when out experiencing it. That coupled with the long shadows and warm sunlight, it can be such a beautiful time to be out with the camera.
#2 You get the whole place to yourself
As I mentioned above, if you like photographing iconic locations then you will no doubt have to point the camera upwards or include the crowds of people in your photos unless you visit early in the morning. Most tourist hotspots will start to get busy just after breakfast as the hotels usually have set times and tend not to serve much before 7 am. This means any time up until 8 am will be the best time to capture the morning light without lots of people in the shot.
#3 You get to do more.
Whenever I travel with my family, I will always schedule in a sunrise shoot so I can get my photography fix in before breakfast. Sunrise is a perfect time to focus on photography especially when travelling with friends and family. It enables you to get a few hours of dedicated photography before meeting back up to spend a full day doing other activities not necessarily related to photography.
I hope you found that useful and as ever, feel free to leave a comment about your own sunrise experiences in the comments section below.
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.
Sunset Over Westminster | Weekly Photo #15
In this week’s “Weekly Photo” article, I talk about the benefits of re-processing old photos and take the opportunity to re-edit an old favourite photo of a sunset in London.
When I first took this photo of Westminster from Waterloo Bridge, I absolutely loved it. So much in fact that I created a blog post demonstrating how I post-processed the shot from RAW to the final edit.
Fujifilm XT-10 | XF18-55mm | 23mm | 58 Seconds | f/11 | ISO200
I originally took this photo while on a walk along the River Thames in 2017 as I was trying to recreate an image I once took at night but this time during the golden hour. If I remember correctly, the golden hour came and went without much of a show but once the sun had dropped under the horizon, the sky was illuminated with these pink and magenta colours. It really was quite beautiful.
Back in 2017, I was still using my first (and still favourite) Fujifilm camera, the X-T10. I used a 10-stop Formatt-Hitech filter which gave me the 58-second exposure resulting in the smooth river and spinning motion in the London Eye. With very little wind, the clouds hardly moved during the exposure so there were no long, streaky clouds you can often find in long exposures which I think, in this particular image works rather well.
Why you should revisit your old photos.
Fast-forward nearly 2 1/2 years and I just happened to be browsing through some older images and came across this photo and I was a lot less impressed with how it turned out. So much so, I decided to have another go at editing the image. I’m so glad I did.
I like the way the image has more contrast and instead of the image being almost all magenta, I brought back some of the blue tones in the shadows and yellows/oranges in the sky nearer the sun. Finished with a bit of dodging and burning and a slightly tighter crop than before, I was done.
Going through this process got me thinking about the benefits of revisiting your older photos which I have listed below.
#1 You might find images you once overlooked.
When I first import and process my photos in Lightroom, I search for images that are sharp, well composed and properly exposed. I would normally have an idea as to the image I am looking to capture which means I may overlook other, perfectly good images. Going back and looking again without any agenda means I occasionally find really good images I once overlooked as it didn’t fit my needs first time round.
#2 Your styles and interests may have changed since you took the original photo.
Photographic styles and interests inevitably change over time and photos you once took that didn’t align to your photographic interests at the time or didn’t suit your previous processing style may now be just the kind of images you currently create.
#3 You can take advantage of new processing skills or the latest software tools available.
You may have photos in your library that for reasons of skillset or software limitations, you were never able to get the look you were after. As skills and software improve, you may now be able to process that image the way you wanted.
So, that’s it. I would love to hear if you have any more thoughts on revisiting older photos that I haven’t covered. If so, please leave a comment below.
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.
My Top 10 Photography Spots in London
I showcase what I consider 10 top photography spots in London. I will take you on a trip along the River Thames from Westminster to the Isle of Dogs giving you useful information about each location such as how to find the spot and the best time to photograph it.
I have been taking cityscape photos of London for many years now and with so many famous views available to photograph, I wanted to share some of my favourite spots to capture this great city.
Photographing London’s iconic locations
In this article, I will be taking you on a journey along the River Thames from west to east as we visit 10 of my top spots to capture a cityscape in London including how to get there, when is best to take photos and if the locations are tripod friendly or not.
When you have finished reading this article, why not check out some of my other “Photographing London” posts.
My top 5 free rooftop locations to photograph London
My 10 top tips for photographing London
My Top 5 Long Exposure Locations in London
#1 The Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben) from the South Bank
As mentioned above, we are working west to east and the first stop of my top 10 photography spots in London is Westminster and the Houses of Parliament. This is a great location to capture a cool bridge shot leading you across the River Thames to the Elizabeth Tower. The photo shown below was taken in 2017 as, at the time of writing, this view of the tower is obstructed by scaffolding as a 4-year renovation project is undertaken to preserve this iconic London structure which means we will be able to admire and photograph this cityscape for years to come. Roll on 2021 when we hope the work will be complete!
When is the best time to photograph this spot?
If are you after a sunset photo from this location, I advise you to avoid spring and autumn months as the sun will set directly behind the buildings and create a huge amount of dynamic range which most cameras will struggle with. During the summer and winter months, the sun will set either side of the tower reducing the dynamic range just enough to capture the colours of sunset and the architecture on the far side of the river. Capturing this location in the morning is less challenging as the sun will illuminate the Palace of Westminster making it much easier to capture but you may not get such a dramatic sky.
Can I use a tripod?
Yes, you can. There are no rules that prevent the use of tripods but as the location can get busy during the day and into the evenings, you should choose your spot carefully to avoid it being bumped into by other people.
How do you find the location?
The closest underground stations are Westminster (Jubilee Line) and Lambeth North (Bakerloo Line) and from there, head to Westminster Bridge and on the eastern side (South Bank) with the bridge on your right-hand side, this scene should be directly in front of you.
#2 The London Eye from the Golden Jubilee Bridge
I have been photographing this second composition ever since I started photographing London. I love the way the London Eye is dominant in the frame and towers over the smaller buildings that surround it. As you can see from the image here, this is a cracking location to capture the London Eye as a long exposure which I cover in a previous post featuring my top 5 locations to capture long exposure photos in London.
When is the best time to photograph this spot?
The photo above was taken during a late summers evening which is a perfect rime to capture the colours in the sky. Although the River Thames runs east/west, this view actually faces south due to a bend in the river so sunrise is off to the left and sunset is off to the right. Both times of day are great to photograph this scene. If you want to capture the river with less traffic, then the early morning is probably best otherwise you may end up waiting some time for a clear river in the evening which is what I had to do for the shot above.
Can I use a tripod?
Yes, you can. When setting up your tripod, especially when taking a long exposure, try to keep the legs away from the edge of the bridge as it’s a popular spot for people to cross the river and its quite common for people to jump on the rails which could cause the tripod to shake at the wrong time during a capture.
How do you find the location?
There are actually two Golden Jubilee Bridges, each one flanking the Hungerford Bridge. You want to be heading for the bridge on the south side. The nearest tube station is Embankment and this composition is taken from the “north” side of the river.
#3 The London Eye from Waterloo Bridge
It’s always good to find different and unique views of iconic locations and the third location in my top 10 spots to photograph London provides just that. You get a fantastic view looking down the River Thames and being slightly behind the London Eye provides a different perspective. This location is also fantastic for long exposure shots as shown in my blog post My Top 5 Long Exposure Locations in London.
When is the best time to photograph this spot?
Personally, I prefer the golden hour in the summer. The sun sets just off to the right of this view which provides warm, directional light across the image and the sunsets can be beautiful when captured from this spot on Waterloo Bridge.
Can I use a tripod?
Yes, but watch out for pedestrians, especially in rush hour as the path is a little narrow and a lot of commuters cross the bridge to and from work.
How do you find the location?
From the south of the river, head across the Waterloo Bridge on the left-hand side about 1/4 of the way across. Turn to your right and the view seen here should be in front of you.
#4 St Paul’s Cathedral from London’s South Bank
What I like about this 4th spot in my list is how it looks at night with the artificial lighting in the landscape and along the pathway which provides quite a romantic feel to the image. You could imagine a couple walking along the path on a cold winter’s evening and capturing them just as they are under the street lamp (I think I now have a new shot idea for this coming winter so stay tuned!).
When is the best time to photograph this spot?
This is an early morning or late night-spot. If taking a night-scape like the one above, then it will need to be a late one, like after 10pm as this is a very busy walkway and capturing it without people means being there at a quieter time.
Can I use a tripod?
Yes, tripods are fine at this location but like some of the other places in this article, it is important to find a spot away from where people want to walk. When it is quieter, people are happier to walk around you but during busy periods, you are best to be out of the way.
How do you find the location?
This spot is on the south side of the Thames in between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge. The nearest Underground stop is Waterloo Station on the Jubilee Line but what I like to do is walk along the South Bank from Westminster and as long as you stay on the Thames path along the South Bank then you will get to this spot after only a few minutes. Once you can see the dome from St Paul’s Cathedral, Blackfriars Bridge and some of the buildings in the city, you are at the right place.
#5 St Pauls Cathedral from the Tate Modern viewing platform
This is one of my favourite spots to capture St Pauls Cathedral and the first of two rooftop locations on this list. The composition isolates the cathedral somewhat from “modern London” allowing it to stand proud like it once did way back when. I wrote about this image in one of my weekly photo blog posts. With a cafe up on the viewing level, it’s a great location to grab a coffee and admire the view of London.
When is the best time to photograph this spot?
If you want to capture St Paul’s Cathedral at night, then it’s a much more pleasant experience doing so in the warmer months as you are quite exposed to the elements when on the tower and it can be rather cold but with the sun setting later, you should aim to visit on a Friday or Saturday evening, when the museum is open until 21:30. Otherwise, you can catch a nice sunset or night-scape image during the winter months any day of the week, just wear an extra layer or two!
Can I use a tripod?
No, the museum has a strict rule about the use of tripods. To get a sharp image in low light, you can try to use a table top tripod like the Manfrotto PIXI which I carry in my camera bag and balance it on the corner of the railings or on the floor but just be careful as it’s a slightly risky manoeuvre. My advice is to make sure that whatever you do, you keep the camera strap on in case the camera slips.
How do you find the location?
Tate Modern is located along Thames Bankside on the South of the river, opposite St Pauls. Just use the main entrance to the museum and head to the back where you will find the lifts up to the viewing level.
#6 The City of London from the roof of St Pauls Cathedral
Although this is probably one of the oldest viewpoints in London, it’s a recent addition to my top 10 photography spots in London. What I like about this location is the 360-degree views you get around London. You can capture The City, The Shard and around the other side you can capture Tate Modern and the London Eye. There are so many photo opportunities but my favourite has to be the ever-changing city skyline as shown below.
Quick Tip: Although it costs around £17 online (£20 on the door) to visit the Cathedral, UK tax payers can gift-aid the cost of the ticket and receive 12 months free access from the time of your first visit. It’s a fantastic deal if you want to visit again within the year.
When is the best time to photograph this spot?
As the opening times to the cathedral are what they are, most of the year, the Cathedral will be closed during the best of the light but there are two times of year when you can catch some epic light. First of all, during December and January, the Cathedral is open just long enough to capture the golden hour and sunset. In addition, during August, St Pauls Cathedral opens later on a Thursday until 21:30 which presents another opportunity to capture London during the best light of the day.
Can I use a tripod?
No, there is a strict “no tripod” rule within St Pauls Cathedral. Even if this rule didn’t exist, there simply isn’t enough room to set up a tripod in the Golden Gallery, right at the top of the dome.
How do you find the location?
As this is such an iconic landmark, finding the spot isn’t very difficult as the instantly recognisable dome can be seen from around the city and the Cathedral has its own tube station of the same name. More importantly, it’s about getting to the right vantage point which is the Golden Gallery, located at the very top of the Cathedral’s dome and to do so, you need to be fit and able to climb 528 steps. Although it’s not quite as high, if 528 steps are too many, the Stone Gallery offers similar views whilst knocking off around 150 steps from the climb.
#7 Tower Bridge from the Tower of London
Still working towards East London, location number seven is a classic view of Tower bridge. There are so many places to capture this epic landmark but the cobbled street and ornate lamp add a nice finishing touch to this composition. If you like to add people to your photos, then this spot is perfect as you can place someone walking along the path or even sitting on the bench looking out across the river.
When is the best time to photograph this spot?
This location lends itself to a sunrise shot in the colder months during December and January. The sun creeps into the frame on the left adding some nice sidelight to the bridge. In addition, this is the only time of day where you can catch the location free of people. As soon as you get to 8-9am, people flock to the location meaning you cannot take this shot without a bunch of people in the scene.
Lastly, if you want to capture this location at night, a word of warning, it shuts at 9pm every night and if you are set up on a tripod the guards will start to usher you out at around 20:50 so they can lock up on time.
Can I use a tripod?
Surprisingly so, yes. Even though this is private property, it seems the management team at the Tower of London are happy to allow tripods even though it can get very busy during the day which is quite refreshing to say the least.
How do you find the location?
Tower Hill is the nearest tube station located on the other side of the castle. otherwise on the south of the river, London Bridge Station is the closest. Head to the north side of the river, directly in front of the Tower of London and you will see the spot along the river.
#8 More London from Tower of London
This is fast becoming one of the most iconic views in London and is in my top 10 spots to photograph London for that very reason. It encompasses More London, City Hall, The Shard, HMS Belfast and in the background, London Bridge. It’s a rather modern looking view of the city with lots of reflective glass that can vary the look of the buildings depending on where the light comes from and the type of light available.
When is the best time to photograph this spot?
The summer months are best when photographing this location as the sun is further over to the right during the golden hour. During the colder months, the sun will be directly behind The Shard resulting in the buildings being silhouetted which does not make such a good photo.
Can I use a tripod?
Yes, whether you take the photo from Tower Bridge or in front of the Tower of London, tripods are allowed. Just be careful as this area gets very busy and I advise anyone to tuck themselves out of the way as much as possible to avoid the tripod legs tripping someone up or being kicked by a passer-by.
How do you find the location?
This is one of my favourite views in London but compositionally, it can be tricky to capture and whereas a lot of people will try to capture the scene from directly opposite in front of the Tower of London, I prefer to capture this view from the north end of Tower Bridge as I prefer a slightly higher vantage point looking further down the Thames and with the Shard directly the middle, the image looks a little more balanced in my opinion.
#9 Tower Bridge and The Shard from The Girl and the Dolphin Fountain
Number 9 on my list is a great location to capture Tower Bridge with some foreground and background interest. The Girl and the Dolphin fountain creates a great focal point and if you stand in the right place, you can use the statue to frame the iconic bridge. If you are lucky and the clouds are moving towards you then this can make a great long exposure photo as seen below. The smooth lines created by the movement in the clouds can help frame the overall image nicely.
Quick Tip: I recommend taking a wider lens with you if you intend to shoot this location as it allows you to capture the entire fountain along with the bridge.
When is the best time to photograph this spot?
From a light and weather point of view, both morning and evening light can create great images but to make the capture process easier, I recommend a sunrise shoot as this location is very popular with tourists and in the evening, it is really hard to get a clean shot without people wandering into your frame. The location is far less busy first thing in the morning.
Can I use a tripod?
Yes, but be aware and courteous to people around you as the best composition is in the middle of the public footpath. I have shot this location many times and never been bothered by the tripod police.
How do you find the location?
The closest tube station is either London Bridge or Tower Bridge. The location is on the north bank of the Thames. On one side of Tower Bridge, you have the Tower of London. This location is on the other side of the bridge. The fountain is right on the edge of the water so you can’t miss it.
#10 Canary Wharf from the Blackwall Basin
Last but not least in my top 10 photography spots in London is this epic view of Canary Wharf over on the Isle of Dogs. It’s a great spot to capture the high-rise buildings such as One Canada Square and with the still water in the Blackwall Basin, you can capture some really cool reflections which is not normally possible along the River Thames due to its choppy waters.
When is the best time to photograph this spot?
An early morning shoot is a good time to capture this scene as the sun will light the front of the buildings. Alternatively, if capturing a sunset, aim for June or December as the sun will set furthest to each side of the frame minimising the chance of the buildings being silhouetted by the sun.
Can I use a tripod?
You can use tripods from this location.
How do you find the location?
From Canary Wharf Station on the Jubilee line or South Quay on the DLR, head east to find Preston’s Road. Head north from there and just after crossing a bridge there will be a residential area on your left where you will see the scene above
So there you have it, my Top 10 Photography Spots in London! There are so many other great locations to capture the city from down in the streets, along the Thames and up high looking over the rooftops.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, do check out some of my other posts to help you take the best photos of London
My top 5 free rooftop locations to photograph London
My 10 top tips for photographing London
My Top 5 Long Exposure Locations in London
Until next time.
Trevor
Dramatic London | Weekly Photo #14
This week’s photo was another cityscape from St. Katherine Docks in London and instead of a long exposure, I battle with some huge dynamic range to eventually produce this image with some dramatic sky over London.
When it comes to photographing London, it’s been quite a slow summer. Apart from being busy with a few weekends away, my motivation to photograph London has waned a little during these hotter months. I’ve heard a lot of other photographers say the same but this is the first time in years of photographing landscapes it has happened to me. It won’t be long before the days grow shorter and it gets colder so I’m sure I will be out more regularly soon enough. The break from shooting London has been good for me as I have taken the opportunity to capture other locations such as Brighton as you can read about in this recent post On Location Photographing Brighton. That being said, I did manage a few trips out over the summer months and a few weeks ago I popped back to St Katharine’s Dock and took this week’s photo.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 25mm | 1/10th Second | f/8 | ISO200
Sometimes a photo just comes together with only a small amount of effort, the scene’s exposure is well balanced, the light is great and it just needs a small tweak in post processing but more often than not, the photo takes much more work and this image was no different.
As with my previous visit to this location, I had originally intended to capture a long exposure photo to help simplify the image a little but after trying out a few different exposure times, I wasn’t happy with how the sky was turning out. The shapes caused by the movement in the clouds wasn’t particularly pleasing to the eye and I was much more drawn to how the sky looked as is, without the movement.
The biggest challenge I had to deal with when capturing and processing this photo was the huge dynamic range between the darkest and lightest areas. I decided to bracket the shot while out in the field but in the end, I used just the +1 exposure as the other, darker images had too much noise and lacked definition in the shadows when I tried to recover them. Working on the brightest of the three images, I darkened (dodged) areas of the image to bring back that dark, moody look I remembered while out in the field and I was able to recover most of the highlights due to Fujifilm’s excellent raw files so only a small part of visible sun remains blown out. I don’t normally like any of my images to have blown out areas but the only exception to this rule is when photographing the sun or artificial lights at night as all cameras will struggle with these and trying to recover these will likely cause the affected areas to look grey and messy. Leaving them as is results in a much more natural looking image.
If I were being super critical, which I try to do with all of my images, I would say the water, architecture and clouds create a particularly busy composition. In such situations, I sometimes take a long exposure to smooth out the water or sky but as mentioned above, that doesn’t always suite the final image.
Thanks for stopping by this week.
Until next time.
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.
London in the Mist | Weekly Photo #13
Along with this week’s photo taken from London’s Sky Garden, I share some tips to take better photo from behind the glass ensuring sharp, clean photos.
This is a photo of East London and specifically Canary Wharf taken at sunrise from the Sky Garden located 37 floors above London’s streets. During the winter months, you can book an early morning visit to this fantastic viewpoint from 7am making it a great spot to capture a sunrise over London.
Having already photographed the sunrise on this particular morning, I was greeted by some beautiful low-lying mist across the city creating a great sense of separation and depth. I really like the glimpse of the River Thames in the mid-ground, the strong shapes created by the buildings over at Canary Wharf and the subtle contrast from the cranes in the foreground.
See my previous article titled “Photographing London’s Rooftops” where I showcased other photos captured from this and other rooftop locations.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 55mm | 1/2000th Second | f/3.5 | ISO200
It’s a little tricky to get a clean, sharp, reflection-free image when shooting up in the Sky Garden. With the dirty windows and no tripod rules you have to get a bit creative so here are a few tips to help you.
The no tripod rule:
Some locations that have a no tripod rule turn a blind eye to the mini tripods but having tried this in the Sky Garden, I was quickly corrected by the staff, so for this location big or small, you can’t use a tripod. Improvising, I laid my camera bag on the floor right up against the window and used it to rest my camera on. It was a little tricky but it did the trick and my images were nice and sharp.
Shooting through dirty windows:
This one is simple. get the aperture as wide as you can. Use f/2-4 if you can get that wide. Shooting these distances won’t give you any depth of field issues but even though most lenses are not their sharpest wide open, that’s the trade-off to render all of the marks on the window out of focus and invisible in the final image. Also, with a wider aperture, you will have a faster shutter speed which helps combat the no tripod rule above.
Avoiding the reflections on the glass:
When taking photos through glass windows you will no doubt have some trouble with reflections. The cheap and easy way to avoid this is to place the end of the lens right up against the window. Although this might be effective, it restricts you to the angle you can shoot so you might not be able to capture the ideal composition. The alternative is to invest in a lens hood. I use the Ultimate Lens Hood which fits around the end of the lens and creates a reflection-free area when pressed up against the window. I find it still a little tricky to use but at least I can capture the compositions I want.
I hope you find these tips useful in the future.
Until next week.
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.
3 Minutes in Brighton | Weekly Photo #12
After a few hours wandering around Brighton taking photos of the seafront, I captured this 3 minute long exposure of the Palace Pier whilst I sat on the beach, relaxing and taking in the last light of the day.
This photo encompasses so much about why I take long exposure photos. The calm created by the velvety clouds and sea with the pastel like blend of light as it changes throughout the long exposure and the main subject standing out without distractions competing for attention.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 28mm | 181 seconds | f/9 | ISO200
In my pursuit to capture more photos down on the south coast, I once again travelled to Brighton on a warm July’s evening to try and capture a few images I had planned. I wrote about it a bit more in my latest “On Location” post titled On Location | Photographing Brighton Beach where it became apparent that the particular style of image was not going to be possible on this trip so after a couple of hours of photographing the seafront, I wandered to this spot by the Palace Pier to relax, capture the scene in front of me and enjoy the sunset.
As the sun was setting, I set my Fuji XT2 camera on the tripod which was only extended quarter height as I was sitting down on the beach, I mounted my Formatt-Hitech 10-stop filter onto the front of the lens and with the cable release in hand I went about capturing the image. (Read more about how I take long exposure photo here).
Sometimes I wonder if the images we take reflect the mood and environment we took them in and judging by the resulting photo, I think there is certainly a lot of truth in that as for the 30 or so minutes I was sitting on the beach, there was a relaxed, peaceful vibe. With the smooth look created by the 3-minute exposure and the pastel colours in the sky, I think this shows through in the image too.
A beautiful end to a beautiful evening.
Until next time.
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.
Solitary Gondola | Weekly Photo #11
I set out to capture this classic Venetian cityscape while the light was good and with a clear focal point in the shot. It is not often that a particular photo I am after comes together, but on this occasion, I was happy with the result. Jump into the post to read how it went.
“This was Venice, the flattering and suspect beauty – this city, half fairy tale and half tourist trap, in whose insalubrious air the arts once rankly and voluptuously blossomed, where composers have been inspired to lulling tones of somniferous eroticism.”
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/40th Second | f/9 | ISO200
This photo was taken on my second visit to Venice and having already captured a sunrise image from this spot (links below), It’s such a classic and instantly recognisable viewpoint which I wanted to capture another photo but this time, towards the end of the day and including a point of interest. I arrived on the busy Ponte dell’Accademia Bridge around 5:30pm, still some time before sunset and as expected the Grand Canal still had quite a few boats on the water.
I take a lot of cityscape images and as you may have read in other blog posts I have written, I like to declutter the compositions removing distractions and simplifying the scenes as much as I possibly can. In the case, the boats on the water were creating the clutter in the image resulting in no clear focal point in the composition. So, I did what I had too, and waited patiently for a gap in the traffic.
It was probably 20 or so minutes later when the traffic reduced so I just needed that focal point I was after. Keeping an eye on both sides of the bridge I noticed a single gondola sailing underneath my feet and as it entered my frame, most of the other boats had left it, allowing me to capture this iconic cityscape with the focal point I was after. I didn’t have an opportunity to wait for the second gondola to leave down a side canal as in no time at all, boats started to enter the frame once more. I felt confident that I had captured the best version of the image I could that evening. It’s a great feeling when you feel you have a keeper on the memory card and can’t wait to get it back to the computer to process.
The settings I used were fairly standard, and I was able to use a low ISO, f-stop of f/9 at 1/40th second exposure as I had my tripod to avoid any nasty camera shake. I processed the shot in Adobe Lightroom to emphasis the nice blues in the water and sky and lighten up some of the architecture that frames the shot.
This became my favourite photo of the trip which I printed and looks fantastic on paper. I say it all the time, “print your photos!!”.
I have written a number of other posts covering my trips to this city and a few notable posts are listed below:
On Location Photographing Venice - Part One
On Location Photographing Venice - Part Two
On Location Photographing Venice in Black and White
If you ever have the chance to visit Venice, I highly recommend it as I for one can’t wait to be back, surrounded by the deep history and beautiful architecture once more.
Until next week.
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.
St Paul's Cathedral | Weekly Photo #10
I love to look at old paintings of how London used to look with St Paul’s Cathedral dominating the skyline and this photo reminds me somewhat of those images and a time before the rest of London grew taller.
This photo was taken from the 10th floor viewing platform at the Tate Modern, London. Every Friday and Saturday night the museum is open late, meaning you can capture this great view of St Paul’s Cathedral at sunset or under the city lights pretty much all year round.
London has had a surge of high-rise buildings being erected over in the city in recent years and although it probably is necessary progress for the capital and are themselves great to photograph, they now dominate the skyline meaning some of the classic London structures such as St Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London have never looked so small up against them. It’s for this reason I like this photo so much as without the modern, taller buildings in the shot, the cathedral is able to dominate the skyline like it has done for the last 300 or so years.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 33mm | 0.8-12 seconds (bracketed) | f/6.4 | ISO200
It’s not easy to capture a longer exposure up at the viewing level as like most other locations like this in London, there is a strict “no tripod” rule which in all fairness makes sense here as space is limited and everyone wants to get to the best spots and take in the view.
I was however able to use my perfectly compact Manfrotto PIXI tripod which is a fantastic little tripod, strong enough to support my XT2. To get this image pin sharp with up to 12 seconds of exposure time I had to balance my mini tripod carefully on the railings at a point where it turned 90 degrees so all three legs had somewhere to rest. In fact, that was the easy bit, the harder job was keeping hold of the camera so it didn’t fall and at the same time as holding it, not introduce any camera shake while the image was taken.
All in all, this final image is made up of 5 separate exposures from -2 (0.8 seconds) to +2 (12 seconds) as it was the only way I could ensure the details in both the shadows around the darker parts of the buildings and highlights caused by the city lights were retained. I merged the exposures in LightRoom and set about the post processing of the image.
I love to look at old paintings of how London used to look with St Paul’s Cathedral dominating the skyline and this photo reminds me somewhat of those images and a time before the rest of London grew taller.
I hope you enjoyed the photo. As ever, leave a comment with any feedback or questions.
Talk to you next week.
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.
St Katharine Docks | Weekly Photo #9
Even if conditions aren’t great for landscape photography, there is normally a photo to be had by changing up your technique. I was in two minds to head out on this particular evening but persevered and captured this black and white, long exposure photo of Tower Bridge and The Shard from St Katharine Docks in London.
As I sat at my desk in West London looking out of the window, it wasn’t looking very hopeful for a successful photography session in London. I’d already checked my weather apps and although it initially looked promising, by late afternoon the sky was still flat and rain was in the air.
I left work for the day and as I wandered towards the station, I was in two minds. Should I go take photos, or, with the weather so bad, should I just head home? With little chance of getting good light or a cracking sunset I almost threw in the towel but then a thought struck me. Am I giving up to easily? I stopped in my tracks and stood there whilst I decided what to do. With the conditions as they were, best case I could grab a cracking black and white long exposure, worst case I could scout and explore for next time, when conditions were improved.
I jumped on the underground which took me into central London. I decided to head towards Tower Bridge which is a great spot, providing many photo opportunities facing different directions which certainly helps when you are using the moving clouds or directional light to aid your composition. Having checked the direction the clouds were moving, I decided to set my camera up at St Katherine Docks looking west towards Tower Bridge and the Shard.
To capture the shot below, I used a Formatt-Hitech 10-stop ND filter which gave me an exposure time of 28 seconds catching just enough of the movement in the clouds and smoothed out the Thames helping to simplify the composition and allow the architecture to stand out even more. If you want to learn how to take great long exposure images, you can read my 10-step process by signing up to my newsletter here.
Top tip!! While out and about taking black and white photos, use a black and white film simulation such as Fujifilm’s Acros so you can actually see what your images will look like as you take them. It’s a great approach to get the best results when purposely shooting black and white.
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF10-24mm | 17mm | 28 seconds | f/9 | ISO160
It would have been easy for me to just head home and not take a single image but I’m really glad I didn’t. Many photographers reach a certain point where they don’t feel pressured to capture a photo every time they head out. I realised some time ago that once I enjoy the experience as well as the results, I don’t need to capture a “keeper” during every trip so the pressure reduces, patience increases and the results improve. It’s worth thinking about.
Until next time.
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.
Wollestraat | Weekly Photo #8
There is only one way to capture a city without all of the other people in your photos, and thats to get up early. In this weeks article, I share one of my favourite photos of Bruges taken in 2018 just a few days before I head off to Belgium once again.
I don’t think I have ever shared this image on social media but it is one of my favourite photos from a trip to Bruges in Summer 2018. The main reason I’m sharing this photo now is that in a few days, I will be going back to Belgium, this time to spend some time in Ghent and I’m really looking forward to wandering the streets, photographing the city and of course grab the odd beer or two. Although, still to confirm, there is a chance we will be stopping off on the way back to spend a day in Bruges which will be great way to end the trip.
I wrote an “On Location” post covering my previous trip to Bruges in 2018 which you can find here.
Fujifilm X-T2 | XF18-55mm | 46mm | 1/40th second | f/7.1 | ISO200
Like most European cities, Bruges is choc-a-block during the day, especially in the summer months but I like to remove distractions and declutter my cityscape and architecture compositions as much as I can and the only way to do this is to venture out in the early hours whilst the city is still sleeping. I’ll do this at least once on most of my trips as it’s the best time to wander the city as, apart from the odd early-bird, I tend to have the place all to myself to photograph the streets and architecture.
I really like the way the road takes the eye through this photo from front to back, framed by the charming buildings that flank the street on each side. I wanted to keep the ISO low and the aperture no wider than f/7.1 to keep as much of the scene as sharp as possible and noise free so with the resulting shutter speed being 1/40th second, I needed to use a tripod. With the streets so quiet, I wasn’t getting in anyone’s way and I could take my time composing the shot.
I plan to take my Fujifilm X-T30 to Ghent next week and I will write an “On Location” article about my visit which I will post on my blog soon after my return in August
Talk to you soon.
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.
On Location Photographing Brighton Beach
I live so close to Brighton but I rarely visit just to take photos, so this year I’m trying to put that right. This article covers two recent visits I made to capture the best spots on Brighton Beach at both sunrise and sunset. In the post, I feature photos of the West Pier, Palace Pier and the British Airways I360.
I have been a frequent visitor to Brighton for years. Although I don’t live too close by, I have lived within an hour’s drive of this “city by the sea” for all of my life. Brighton has a cool, positive vibe to it, especially during the summer months when the city is buzzing with locals and tourists enjoying themselves at the seaside. I have a lot of fond memories of the many times I have visited Brighton. I had my stag do in here, it was the first place I drove too after passing my driving test and I now regularly visit with my family to paddle in the sea and eat fish and chips on the beach creating new memories for us all to look back on.
All that being said, for some reason, I rarely visit with the purpose to just take photos. I suspect, living closer to London, the draw to head north from where I live has always been stronger but this year I am determined to head south more often.
I’ve already visited Brighton half a dozen times this year and two of these were specifically to take photos. The first was an early morning in April. I went with the intention of capturing an epic sunrise shot of the West Pier. A classic subject, which I have my own vision as to how I want to capture which depends a lot on the elements all coming together and on this particular morning, I knew as soon as I arrived that this day was not the day I would get that shot.
So, with the intended image no longer an option, I decided to put the tripod away and just wander along the seafront searching out a few compositions as I went.
Armed with my Fuji XT2, I walked between the two piers, using the warm early morning sunlight to help create different compositions of beachfront. Below are 9 of the photos I took on this particular morning, all with the Fujifilm XT2 and XF18-55mm lens except the close up shot of the West Pier which was taken with the XF55-200mm. Select each photo to see the camera settings I used.
Fast forward to July and with a few hours to spare, I drove back south to Brighton to grab a few more photos down at the seafront, but this time during the sunset hours.
Ever since it was erected in 2016, I hadn’t yet captured any photos of Brighton’s most recent addition to its coastal skyline, the British Airways I360. It’s a unique structure, contrasting against the traditional, ornate Brighton architecture and I for one, really like it. It looks kind of retro-futuristic and what I mean by that is it looks to me like something people in the 1950s would have predicted we would have built today along with the flying cars and gravity suites that is.
For this outing, I once again had my Fujifilm XT2 with my 18-55mm and 55-200mm lenses. I knew that to capture the I360 the way I wanted I would need the extra reach of the 200mm and helped by the optical image stabilisation, I was able to handhold the first shot below and keep it nice and sharp while zoomed right in.
Fujifilm X-T2 | XF55-200mm | 200mm | 1/1,700th second | f/4.8 | ISO200
I have always admired Brighton’s beachfront bandstand. Originally opened in 1884 and restored to its former glory in 2009, I love the ornate Victorian architecture. I have tried to capture this central composition for some time now but every other time I visited, it was either closed or conditions were not good enough to show it off properly. With the sun low and casting a beautiful warm glow across the structure, I grabbed the wide angle XF10-24mm lens and captured the photo below. What was important here was to ensure I had the camera absolutely central and level to make sure the final shot looked symmetrical.
Fujifilm X-T2 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1/110th second | f/11 | ISO200
I used the 55-200mm lens to get up close to the I360 in the photo below as I wanted to capture those fantastic reflections in the underside of the pod.
Fujifilm X-T2 | XF55-200mm | 200mm | 1/340th second | f/6.4 | ISO200
I mentioned earlier in this blog that I have a particular photo I want to capture of Brighton’s West Pier and even before I set out, I knew conditions wouldn’t be right for that particular shot but I had another one in mind to capture a long exposure photo of the Palace Pier as the sun was setting. With so much going on architecturally I knew that by capturing the pier as a long exposure photo, all of the details in the sky and water will be rendered smooth and the entire composition would be simplified and less distracting. I used a 10-stop Formatt-Hitech neutral density filter to capture this 3 minute exposure below and if you want to read more about how I take long exposure photos, take a look at this post: How I Take Long Exposure Pictures.
Fujifilm X-T2 | XF18-55mm | 28mm | 181 seconds | f/9 | ISO200
I finished the evening on the Palace Pier to capture the view down the coast towards the I360. With the last of the sun’s light illuminating these fantastic clouds through a thin gap near the horizon, I wanted to use them as the backdrop to both some closeups and wider landscape shots of the view in front of me. The red glow beneath the I360 pod works fantastically with the magenta glow towards the bottom of the frame.
This was a tricky image to capture while keeping as much noise out of the photo as I could by using a low ISO. I was in an exposed spot on the pier and the wind was strong and by using a longer focal length, this combination was just enough to introduce a bit of camera shake. I opened up the aperture to let a little more light in, reducing the exposure time just enough for me to capture the two closeup compositions below.
Fujifilm X-T2 | XF55-200mm | 141mm | 1/9th second | f/4.4 | ISO200
Fujifilm X-T2 | XF55-200mm | 200mm | 1/2 second | f/8 | ISO200
Fujifilm X-T2 | XF18-55mm | 55mm | 10 seconds | f/10 | ISO200
Printing Your Photos
Both the image above of Brighton’s beach as the light was fading and the long exposure of Palace Pier are probably my favourite images of the evening. When I take images I really like, I like to make a print as it brings the photos to life.
Viewing photos on screen is fine but it doesn’t come close to seeing your work printed.
If you are interested in my printing process, take a look at this post here where I walk through printing an image I took of The Shard, London.
With the city lights shining bright and the vibrant blue tones, I decided to use a metallic gloss paper to print this image and I’m glad I did. It gave the final photo a fresh, vibrant finish which suites the subject incredibly well.
So, when you capture an image you really like, do consider printing the image yourself or via a trusted lab. You will not regret it!
As ever, please leave comments below if you have any thoughts or questions relating to this post.
Until next time.
Brutalist Theatre | Weekly Photo #7
This week’s post walks you through my thought process as I composed and captured this photo of the Royal National Theatre on London’s Southbank.
This is the architecturally striking National Theatre, located on London’s South Bank. When first parts of the structure were completed in the 1960s it was voted the ugliest building in Britain by Daily Mail readers of the day. Although opinions will be still be split, it is now described as post-modernism architecture and a Grade II listed landmark.
I took this photo while out and about on a wet, rainy walk about town with my Fuji XT2 which you can read more about here: Capturing London on a Cloudy Day and not long after the rain cleared, I found myself wandering along the Thames and crossing Waterloo Bridge. I have shot the National Theatre before but usually from ground level but this composition from the bridge caught my eye as I wandered past.
It was the strong lines that got my attention. I particularly like the way they zigzag from right to left, front to back, but also act to lead the eye into the main structure and its impressive shapes and angles. It was all coming together nicely, but the space on the bottom left was bothering me. The image needed something (or someone) to add a little balance and a focal point.
The seating area is framed nicely by the theatre’s strong lines, so I stood there, poised, camera at the ready, while I waiting for the right person to walk into the frame. It had to be a single figure walking across the space to work in this shot and after just a few minutes, this lady strolls into the frame and with that bright red coat contrasting against the muted, grey colours in the buildings and sky, I knew I had my focal point. If the lady was waiting towards the building, thus, into the scene, it would have been perfect, but let’s face it, there is no such thing as a perfect photo.
Fujifilm X-T2 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/350th second | f/3.6 | ISO200
One last point to note. I deliberately left the bird that is flying through the frame in the shot. I could have easily removed this in post processing but after some deliberation, I decided it was to stay. Maybe its adding a little disorder to a photo that has straight, rigid lines and otherwise a lot of order. Maybe its just to make the viewer wonder what it is and why it was left in the image. Photos are there to make you think and sometimes, my own photos make me wonder and ask questions.
Until next time.
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.
City Lights | Weekly Photo #6
I carry my camera with me nearly everywhere I go. This came in handy on one particular night when out of no-where, a photo opportunity presented itself.
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.
The West Pier | Weekly Photo #5
Not usually one to take black and white photos, when I arrived to take this photo of Brighton’s West Pier, I knew a colour photo wouldn’t work. Read how I was able to visualise the final image while out on location helping me achieve the look I was after.
I don’t take a lot of black and white photos. If I take a photo and cast the colour away at the editing stage, I feel I’m taking something away from the image I originally took. It makes no sense to me that I would find a composition in colour, feel it worthy enough to hit the shutter, only to remove a major part of the image later on. In my brain at least, it doesn’t make a lot of sense.
That being said, some photos, from the get-go are best taken with a black and white conversion in mind. This is usually when the colours in the image are muted or distracting such as the photo of Brighton’s West Pier below.
This Grade II listed pier, located in Brighton, UK has had a pretty rough time. Closed due to safety concerns, funding secured for restoration only to be destroyed in an arson attack leading to the restoration project being cancelled. It’s a shame that such a significant piece of architecture ended in this way but thankfully, with the ruins now taking on a new life as a kind of urban sculpture, they are now a popular attraction on the South Coast of England being cared for by the West Pier Trust.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 12mm | 199 seconds | f/7.1 | ISO200
When I rocked up to capture this image a few months ago, I immediately knew it had to be a minimalistic black and white shot. The clouds lacked definition, the water was murky and the pier’s usually red, rusty colour was brown and boring. On this day, a minimal, black and white long exposure image was the best option for me.
On to my Fujifilm XT2 went the wide-angle 10-24mm lens. I positioned the tripod dead centre and mounted my filters. All of this is pretty standard for a long exposure image but one other thing I did was change my settings and enabled the Across black and white film simulation. As I mentioned before, when I see in colour and like the photo, I want to preserve this as much as possible but now, with the film simulation enabled I could literally see what the final image would look like, without any colour, as I took the shot.
Although I love the Fujifilm simulations, the final image above was converted to black and white from the colour RAW file back in Adobe Lightroom as I wanted to tweak the image to my liking. Apart from the conversion to black and white, I darkened the sky and emphasised the pier’s silhouette and reflection in the middle of the frame. Lastly, I added a vignette around the image to draw the viewers eye into the middle of the frame to rest on the pier.
Next time you are out taking photos and feel they might look better as a black and white conversion, try changing the settings while on location to enable a black and white filter so you can see how your final shot will look. This will usually only convert the JPG photos so if you shoot RAW+JPG then you will still have the colour version to decide on the final look later on, if you so choose.
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.
Climbing The Stairs | Weekly Photo #4
This week’s photo is taken at Tower Bridge from the bottom of the stairs, looking back up towards the road level. I chose this photo as it represents a shift in my photographic style. Read more to find out why.
I chose this photo for a couple of reasons. Firstly, and simply put, I really like it! More on that further below but the second reason I chose this photo as it represents a significant change in my photography style. You see, up until recently, I would go to any length to avoid people in my photos. I considered myself a cityscape/architectural photographer and I didn’t need people in my photos. In those photos, people added disorder and unpredictability to a composition I wanted to keep simple and focused on the cityscape I am capturing.
More recently however, I have started to appreciate what a human figure can bring to the final photo. It can add a sense of scale, enhance the story or illustrate a special moment, frozen in a frame for all time. I still don’t necessarily like to include people in my wider cityscape photos for the reasons mentioned above but for more, close up street-type images I’m beginning to see the benefit of including them.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1/480th second | f/4 | ISO200
The photo was taken with my Fujifilm XT2 and wide angle 10-24mm lens. I think the composition only works at 10mm as the wider focal length allowed me to include these fantastic lead in lines and foreground interest created by the stairs, brickwork and railings. I also like the way the areas in shadow create a frame around the chap walking up the stairs, again, adding to a stronger composition.
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.
On Location Photographing Paris
During a family trip last summer, we spend 24 hours in Paris wandering around the tourist hotspots amidst a heatwave. Along with documenting my family trip, I managed to grab a few travel photography snaps of the Parisian cityscape and streets as I went. Here are a few photos from Notre-Dame, Louvre and Eiffel Tower.
“A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of Life.”
I can’t believe how long it has taken me to write a small post about the 24 hours I spent in Paris with the family last year. We tagged a night in the city on to the end of our stay near Paris as my Wife and I wanted to take our two daughters into the city we both love and show them a few of the sights.
At the beginning of our trip, we actually stopped off for a weekend stay in Bruges, Belgium. You can read all about that visit here: On Location Photographing Bruges.
So, with this being a family holiday, photography was not the priority. We were out during the day and eating and drinking in the evening during the best light. At the time of our visit, Europe was in a bit of a heatwave and temperatures were hitting high 30’s (pushing 100 degrees in old money) so there would be no moody, atmospheric skies on this trip, It was mostly white fluffy clouds and blue skies. I took plenty of photos documenting the family trip but even with these bright, sunny, daytime conditions, I also managed to mix in a little bit of my own travel photography as I went along.
For this trip, my camera of choice was the Fujifilm XT2 and I took just two lenses. The XF18-55mm for the standard zoom and XF55-200mm for the extra reach. Both offer a great balance between excellent quality and minimal weight and great for walking around capturing the city.
Once back home, I used some of my existing presets in Adobe’s Lightroom to kick off the editing and provide a base edit. From there I tweaked and adjusted to find the look I wanted. For this set, I was looking for a slightly desaturated look to help tone down the blue sky, sunny day, holiday snap look.
Photographing Notre-Dame de Paris
Early on we took the view that with 24 hours in the city, our options to cover all of the sites was limited. With the hot weather, we didn’t want to be rushing around so we decided to focus on 3 locations. Notre-Dame de Paris, Musée du Louvre and the Eiffel Tower. 3 classic tourist hotspots.
Having checked in and dropped off our bags, we took a brief trip on the Metro to Notre-Dame.
I couldn’t write this post without referencing the horrendous fire that took place at this historic cathedral. At the time of our visit, the fire was many months away and I could never have imagined this beautiful structure going through such an ordeal and still be in a position to be restored. Luckily that is the case and with so many around the world donating to the cause, restoration works are already underway. It will be a few years before we get to see Notre-Dame back to its best so I take some comfort that I was able to capture these images during my visit.
Around 10 years ago, back in 2009, I took a photo from the back of Notre-Dame looking down the river. This was my favourite composition of the cathedral so as we wandered around the area I decided to pop back to the same spot and capture a fresh copy. One day, after the restoration is complete, I will visit specifically to take a sunrise/sunset shot of this composition. Yes, it has been photographed countless times during the golden hour but none of them taken by me, with my style.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/1,900 second | f/3.2 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 55mm | 1/2,900 second | f/4 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 55mm | 1/600 second | f/4 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 55mm | 1/350 second | f/4 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/2,400 second | f/3.2 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 55mm | 1/1,250 second | f/4 | ISO200
Photographing the Eiffel Tower
As we had so little time in the city, we couldn’t spend too much time at each location but we decided that if we were to fully explore one of our three places, it would have to be the Eiffel Tower. When presented a choice to our daughters, going up the Eiffel Tower was the unanimous decision. So, during the late afternoon, into the evening, we had a great time around the area.
We travelled to the second level of the tower and wandered around taking in the views. This is where having my 55-200mm lens came in handy. I was able to capture both the wider Parisian cityscape and also get in close and pick out some of the details around the city.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 27mm | 1/1,5000 second | f/3.6 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 55mm | 1/1000 second | f/6.4 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 200mm | 1/1,100 second | f/7.1 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 55mm | 1/1,700 second | f/4.5 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/125 second | f/13 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 122mm | 1/1,700 second | f/4.2 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/4,400 second | f/4.5 | ISO200
Photographing the musée du Louvre
Before it was time to go and get the car and head home, we were able to spend a few hours around the Musée du Louvre. Even though we didn’t have time to explore inside the museum this time, we had a great time wandering the grounds and hanging about near the fountains getting wet from the spray which on such a hot day, was very welcome indeed.
Photographically, this area provides lots of opportunities to try different techniques such as juxta-positioning contrasting architecture to create interesting compositions or exploring the various walkways and using the deep shadows and bright openings to frame a subject as I did below with the lady walking past the end of the tunnel.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 34mm | 1/680 second | f/5.6 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 34mm | 1/1,000 second | f/5.6 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 55mm | 1/950 second | f/5.6 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 164mm | 1/2,500 second | f/5 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 200mm | 1/1,500 second | f/5.6 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 200mm | 1/1,250 second | f/4.8 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 55mm | 1/1,400 second | f/4 | ISO200
We had such a fantastic 24 hours in Paris. The weather was great, the kids had a blast and I was able to capture a few snaps along the way.
It’s off to Ghent, Belgium next but I am sure we will be booking a longer stay in Paris together soon enough and you never know, I might even get that golden hour shot of Notre-Dame I want so badly.
The Shard at Sunset | Weekly Photo #3
This is one of those locations I bet many photographers have whereas they know there is a great shot in there somewhere but never quite manage to capture the full potential in the resulting photo. In this post, I revisit one of my favourite views of the Shard and once again, try to capture the epic photo I know exists there.
I have taken lots of photos of this view over the years. With the Shard towering above the surrounding buildings since 2013, I would consider this a modern, but now, iconic view of the city. That being said, up until now, I have struggled to capture this view in an image I really, truly like. I have taken many good photos, but yet to capture what I consider a great photo. There is always something lacking, be it the light, the weather or something else. On top of this, I struggle with the balance of the photo. The city skyline tends to make the composition heavier on the left-hand side, dropping off on the right and due to the shape of the building, unless the Shard sits in the centre of the photo, I struggle to get the vertical lines of the Shard to look, well, vertical.
Not to be deterred, and as I like to photograph this area so much, I once again set out to try and capture this scene. Having checked the usual apps for cloud cover, direction and sunset time, it was looking promising. My only concern was the wind speed. The clouds were moving slowly which meant I may not see those lead-in-lines the clouds can create in a long exposure image.
As the sun headed down, towards the horizon, I found the composition I wanted while standing on Tower Bridge. I was as far back as I could be, tucked in the corner next to the brick arches shielded from the wind and out of the way of the many tourists.
The Shard was nicely centred, the lines nice and straight and the cloud cover, being heavier near the horizon on the right added weight and balance to the overall image. With it all coming together, Was I I going to get the shot?
Up goes the tripod, on goes the Fujifilm XT2 camera with my ever reliable XF18-55mm lens. A quick note on the lens. It may considered a kit lens by some but any Fujifilm shooter with this lens will tell you it’s probably the best “kit lens” on the market. it’s certainly my favourite of all my Fujifilm glass. Where was I? That’s right, I set my focal length, locked in the manual focus, filter on and cable release connected.
Dodging the river traffic, the sky lit up and I began shooting long exposure photos. As the light dropped, my exposures stretched to about 90 seconds which was about perfect to get that super smooth water I wanted. As expected, there wasn’t a lot of movement in the lower clouds but as I mentioned above, for this shot, that’s probably ok as it balanced the composition somewhat.
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF18-55mm | 20mm | 131 seconds | f/10 | ISO500
Thoughts on the Photo?
So, what do I like? Well, I do like the way the light reflects in the Shard and City Hall buildings adding depth and atmosphere to the image. I also like the way the reflection/shadow of the Shard in the silky smooth water anchors the buildings somewhat.
As I have written many times, I do like the simpler, less cluttered compositions of London created by long exposure photos and I do wonder if the cloud direction and movement could have turned this shot into something even better. I guess we will never know.
Do I think this is a great shot? I do really like it and its probably my favourite taken of this view of the Shard to date but will I come back and try to take a better one? You bet! That’s the bitter/sweet thing about photography, on both accounts, you can never really say you are finished.
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.