Category: London

Posted on

Big Ben from bridge arch

Large clock tower with bridge on the right and river on the left. At the top of the image is an arch in the foreground.


This photograph was a test and I’m sharing it as an example of a work in progress. Bridge Arch is literally marked on Google Maps. It is just south of Westminster Bridge which you can see on the right of the photograph creating a great leading line towards Big Ben. I love the composition and framing with the arch above. It’s work in progress as I want to capture this at dawn or dusk. Probably both. There’s two problems with this location that don’t come across in this image. During the day you literally have to join a queue to take this photograph. Most people are getting their photo taken with this in the background. It’s why you can’t see the wall at the bottom of the shot – there were people there. The second thing that doesn’t come across is the smell. I’ve never been anywhere that smells so strongly of urine. And it was worse at night for some reason. It was so bad I didn’t want to get my tripod out. I wonder if it smells less in winter?

Posted on

Palace of Westminster at night

Palace at night from across the River Thames with blue dusk sky above.

Stood on the bank of the River Thames in front of St Thomas Hospital this is the view west. The Palace of Westminster is the iconic home of the UK parliament. This includes the House of Lords and House of Commons. It’s rare for me to capture night photographs hand held. This architecture style is called Perpendicular Gothic or English Gothic. The palace has been here since 1016 but it was destroyed in a fire in 1834. What we see here was reconstructed between 1840 and 1876. Even though this was 10pm at night in the middle of summer there is still light in the night sky. If you look closely you can also see a thin crescent moon in the middle of the photograph.

Posted on

Crepe stand London

Small crepe stand with two people on the right making crepes. One of them is handing a crepe to one of the three customers on the other side of the stand.

The Crepe guys on the South Bank is not my typical photograph. I was looking over the railing to the right towards Westminster looking for other angles on what I had come here to photograph. The crepe stand caught my eye. Not because I was hungry. It was the lines, colours and symmetry. Usually you can’t get this type of side view of food stalls like this. Either the stalls are right next to each other or there are people walking past. After seeing the possibility for a photograph, I waited. It only took a minute or two for someone to reach over to a customer to give them their crepe. 

Posted on

Battersea Power Station

Looking up at a massive brick power station with two cream coloured chimney. In the centre of the two towers there are large windows. There are a 20 people coming out of the doors at the bottom of the image.

Built between 1929 and 1935 Battersea Power Station is a massive building with four of these towering chimneys. Located on the south bank of the River Thames, it was a coal-fired power station. It was decommissioned in 1975. Last time I was in London in 2019 it was a construction site full of promise. Today it is a huge shopping mall surrounded by restaurants, hotels and apartments. It is well worth a visit and I’ll be going back next time. I was there to eat at the amazing Dishoom restaurant and see my cousin who lives near by. Sadly the power station building itself had just closed for the evening. There is much more opportunity in this area for some great photography.