Dusk till Dawn Night Photography in London
On 14th June, 5 Members of the photography Club travelled to London to try their hand at night photography along the South Bank. Before the sun set there was plenty of opportunity for a bit of street photography and supper before we made our way to Westminster Bridge to photograph the Houses of Parliament and Elizabeth Tower at dusk. We then walked past the atmospheric National Covid Memorial Wall to Lambeth Bridge where we had great blue hour shots both up and down river until the sky was dark. Bridges along the Thames became illuminated, most scrolling through a series of different colours. We headed back along the river in the direction of Tower Bridge stopping regularly to photograph what ever took our fancy. Gradually the crowds lessened but also around 11pm we had a heavy but brief rain shower, creating reflections, which gave the photographs an added dimension. We were able to get the iconic instagram shot of Elizabeth Tower and arch with tripods up and without the queues for the photograph earlier in the day and earlier in the evening.
Millennium Bridge after midnight allowed us to get people free shots and take our time with compositions. The step count for the evening was mounting as we headed to Tower Bridge. Just before 2pm we decided I coffee was needed and went to an all night cafe behind the tower of London which we found was part of a hotel. Despite what the internet said it closed half an hour before we arrived. The staff were cleaning the ground floor and a huge thanks goes the the manager who allowed us in to go to the toilet (the only one in the area) and also made us a free round of coffee of our choice. We were also able to rest what by that time were very tired legs. Our next stop was back over London Bridge to the station to catch the tube back to Waterloo as it was decided dawn side lighting the Houses of Parliament was the shot to take. Once at Waterloo having done 24,000 steps covering 9.5 miles all the group except one decided that the cloud meant that sunrise was not worth rising tired bodies from our seats to go and photograph. As luck would have it at 4.30 as we arrived at Waterloo station it opened and so did a coffee shop so we could get a coffee and something to eat. We then caught the 6.30am train back to Devizes.
Was it worth our sore feet and tired bodies? Definitely!
A big thank you goes to Caroline who organised the trip and is doing a cracking job and leading the Special Interest Group. PC
