London – Life Before Lockdown Part 2
Shot at F2.8 50mm 1/1250 ISO 100. Big Ben in all its glory, sadly due to delays this view won’t be possible again until the repairs are completed in 2022.
It’s been a year now since I last set foot in the Capital, something I would have previously thought unthinkable after working my office job there for four years. That year feels both very short and also very long in a weird distortion of time that I think we are now all feeling. Despite this, I am beginning to feel excited again. With the vaccine rollout going as well as we could hope in the UK and a clear roadmap of how we will leave lockdown, in stages, by June, I am daring to dream of a more exciting spring and summer. One of the first things I will be doing is heading back to London with (film) camera in hand to capture all the interesting nooks and crannies that the city is full of. For inspiration I went through more of my old photos from the past few years to remind myself of what I had been missing for the past twelve months.
Shot at F10 50mm 1/5 ISO 64. Liverpool Street Station on a normal workday, how busy will these stations be in the future if people continue to work from home?
Looking at my photos gives me a sense of the activity of the city which is hard to forget. It is just such a busy place with endless shops, businesses and people marching about from one place to another. All things that currently seem almost strange but will in a month begin to be normal again. There’s just so much to do in London, whatever your interest is, you’ll will find a way to enjoy it. Museums, restaurants, theatres, or just interesting places to walk there’s plenty on and off the tourist trail to be found. There’s no doubt that, come June if all the restrictions are removed and we have half decent weather, the throngs of people will return just as quickly as they were forced to leave.
Shot at F1.8 50mm 1/1000 ISO 800. Leicester Square is home to one of London’s most famous independent cinema - The Prince Charles Cinema. Well known for its regular showings of the all time classic film (for all the wrong reasons) - The Room.
For me it is the parks and ornamental gardens that I am looking forward to seeing the most. There’s so many great sculptures and features that make for ideal photography subjects, with inspiration from around the world that we may not otherwise get to see this year if other countries are still limiting travel. I can’t see myself getting to Japan anytime soon so for now I’ll have to settle for a bit of inspiration from the Kyoto Garden in Holland Park. Whether you can get abroad or not in 2021 make sure not to overlook what you could be exploring in London or the cities near you. For now, let’s just hope that the scenes in the photos will soon be playing out in real life again. Hopefully next time I bring you photos of London they will be new ones of a city rejuvenated.
Shot at F4.0 70mm 1/125 ISO 100. Ornamental gardens are frequent across the centre of London and do a good job of breaking up the concrete jungle. Inspirations for them are drawn from all over the world and are enjoyed by thousands of people everyday.
Shot at F2.8 50mm 1/60 ISO 1400 - One of Borough Market’s more colourful residents. The fish markets there are worth visiting just the range of items available that will put your local fish monger to shame.
Shot at F2.0 50mm 1/320 ISO 64. Street art is also a common scene across London. This piece that caught my eye was on a wall at Whitecross market.
Shot at F11 70mm 1/4 ISO 64. This style of photography remains popular for city work and I look forward to the returning crowds to get a chance to do it again. The lunchtime rush brings people across from the city to the South Banks pubs and occasional food markets.
Shot at F2.5 50mm 1/50 ISO 200. I’ve never actually used a Boris Bike before so perhaps I’ll have to give it a go later this year. For this photo I was so surprised to find such a strong reflection in a building.
Shot at F4.0 70mm 1/200 ISO 64. Being the capital, it is a hotspot for protests and Speaker’s Corner is a key area for drawing in people every week. This particular protest was a pro-Duterte protest by Philippine immigrants who can be seen here singing God Save the Queen after singing the national anthem of the Philippines. Goes to show you never quite know what to expect.
Shot at F3.2 70mm 1/200 ISO 64. Speakers Corner sometimes attracts the additional attention of camera crews and the Metropolitan Police.
Shot at F4.0 50mm 1/50 ISO 200. The underside of Blackfriars Bridge is a commonly photographed spot due to its great geometric shape. A reminder that the most interesting architecture may not be in an immediately obvious place.
Shot at F22 24mm 4s ISO 64. A shot of an old jetty that I took using a cheap set of neutral density filters for long exposure photography. At the time I was unimpressed due to the weird purply colours from the cheap filters but upon review a few years later I actually quite like it for the moody feel it gives.
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