London, GB

[swaitjd]

I've a trip scheduled to London between Christmas and New Years. Can anyone suggest interesting locales to photograph in the city and immediate environs that can be reached by transit/train? My interest is on the landscape end of things ...

Joffre

 

[Tom Duffy]

Joffre,
I've only been there a few times on business, and only in London itself, but I enjoyed walking both sides of the Thames between Big Ben and the London Bridge (Tower of London area). I used a tripod and nobody seemed to mind. Trafalgar Square also had a lot of photographic potential.

For the countryside, I can't advise except to suggest that you try to find a copy of the British photo magazine Practical Photography (Barnes and Noble, Borders), it's usually about half landscape in content and British-centric for locations.

Take Care,
Tom

 

[Les McLean]

Joffre,

Richmond Park is a good location with interesting stands of trees and wide open spaces that can be quite beautiful especially if you are lucky enough to get either wintery or misty conditions. The park is in South West London about 8 miles from Heathrow and is near to Hampton Court and Kew Gardens, both worth a visit. Richmond Station is the nearest underground station which is on the District Line from Central London.

Wherever you go enjoy our country and the photography.

 

[swaitjd]

Tom, Les: Thank you both for your suggestions!

Joffre

 

[Lemastre]

Walking the streets of central London leads to all sorts of photo possibilities. I sometimes spend awhile near the fountains in Trafalgar Square trying to snap the interactions between the people with the food and the pigeons. Some folks respond in interesting ways when a dozen birds descend on them at once. However, last time I was there, the stand selling cups of pigeon food had been removed, and the action had quieted some. St. James's Park is nearby and full of folks and interesting vistas. Nearby, there's daily pageantry involving military types in bearskin hats, too. Some museums allow nonflash photography, and I find the recently redone central courtyard of the British Museum, where the British Library was, and the remodeled power station occupied by the Tate Modern to be interesting architectural subjects, aside from the the people wandering about inside. A ride on the big ferris wheel near Westminster bridge gives good views up and down the Thames, including Parliament. The wheel has big cars in which you can walk around and shoot in all directions. Something's usually going on in Leicester Square and Covent Garden.

 

[lee]

How does one go about photographing the interior of those cathedrals in England? If I get to come to England, that is what I would want to photograph. Any ideas?

lee

 

[Les McLean]

Lee

Many cathedrals in England either will not allow photography with a tripod or they require a fee to use the tripod. If you are using large format the authorities may think that you are a pro making photographs for money and ask for an even bigger fee. Please don't think that they are not very helpful, most are, but be prepared to make some sort of payment.

 

[lee]

Hi Les,
Thanks for the information. I also asked a fellow I met on the web (Bob Kolb http://www.kolbphoto.com/ ) and he said he paid a small fee but he did not say how much that small fee was. Do you have any idea so I could start to budget the fees.

thanks,
lee

 

[Les McLean]

Lee,

A couple of years ago I was asked by a group of photographers from Arizona to lead a week long workshop in the UK. They specifically asked to make photographs in English cathedrals so I made enquiries at the major attractions. Generally the fee was in the region of £5 (sterling) but the main problem was that they needed prior notification that I would be going to do photography. It may have been because I was taking with me 4 or 5 photographers. If you wish to know some telephone numbers of specific catherdrals let me know and I'll sort them out for you amd email you direct.
HGet back to me on lesmcl@scotborders.co.uk

 

[lee]

Thanks Les you are too kind.

If this thing grows wings I will get in touch with you. One last question, with 8x10, how wide a lens would one need to carry out a pretty good session in one of the cathedrals. What is the size of these buildings?

lee
click76112@charter.net

you can email me direct if this is getting too tedious for the rest of the folks.

l\c

 

[cophotonut]

I was just there in November. Trafalgar Square is a mess. the are remodeling and it is all torn up. Plus the new mayor is trying to rid it of pidgons. I have some great shots of a pidgon protest. They even brought in a hawk to rid the area of the pidgons.

I carried a tripod all over london and no one said a word.

 

[swaitjd]

I originally started this thread, and really appreciated everyone's help. The trip was great, though there was a lot of rain! In the end, I did some street shooting, but most of the stuff that's turning out more interesting was from a couple of night excursions along the Thames: Parliament, Big Ben, Eye in the Sky, lighted bridges. As mentioned above, Trafalgar Square was indeed a mess, hard to shoot anything without getting signs of major construction upheaval.

For some reason, London seems to have been unusually crowded this year end, so there were people coming out of the woodwork!

I would have loved getting out in the countryside, but the closest thing to that I did was go to Hampton Court Palace, a royal residence about 1 hr by Tube and train from central London. Tudor architecture, funky wine cellar, etc. The grounds were interesting, but I was there too late in the day to have sufficient light.