The Gherkin
This building is 180 metres tall and it’s official name is 30 St Mary Axe in London. The building gained it’s name before construction started due to it’s unorthodox appearance on the drawing board. Construction actually started in 2001 and completed in December 2003, officially opening in May 2004. Located on the former site of the Baltic Exchange the building dominates the surrounding area and is a significant feature of the City of London landscape.
Coliseum, Rome
Photographed by many and from every conceivable angle. So for this shot I decided to crop with the sky to the top left and then in the post edit to go with a high contrast black and white. The long exposure I used also helped tocreate the mysterious effect with the clouds and…….. hey presto!
To me this shot starts to capture the moody look I associate with an amphitheatre that has, after all, a pretty gory history.
Valencia Statue
This is a full height statue in the centre of old town Valencia, Spain. I zoomed in as the head was at an unusual juxtaposition to the body and this was the most interesting part. With some post editing to bring some detail out and to go high contrast black and white I think the end result is quite striking.
Sydney Harbour Bridge in Monochrome
I walked over the Sydney Harbour bridge at dusk and whilst I was primarily taking the normal tourist snaps I was also determined to get something a bit more interesting that showed the amazing engineering of this structure. I think the light has worked well on this shot but the sweeping arch converging to a point in the distance gives the picture an interesting perspective. The bridge is not an easy place to shoot as the constant vibration from the traffic needs to be managed, tripods won’t work so a deep breath whilst waiting for the moment of quiet is the way to go – especially at 1/30th.
EXIF: Canon 60D, ISO100, 75mm, 0ev, f/5.6, 1/30
Sydney Opera House in Monochrome
I took so many pictures of the opera house and there are many that I like, but this close crop worked well and then I suddenly took it to monochrome and the detail in the surface came to life. I should use monochrome more often, note to self.
EXIF: Canon Powershot sx220 HS, ISO 1600, 5mm, 0ev, f/3.1, 1/25
Reflections in a Building
I saw this building catching the light and reflecting an adjacent building. I like the way the reflected image as distorted on the blue shaded glass. This was taken on my recent trip to Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
EXIF: Canon 60D, ISO 100, 75mm, 0ev, f/5.6, 1/125
Lloyds of London from Leadenhall Pl.
This shot was taken from the rear of the building, Leadenhall Place. Out of all the shots I took in the “Square Mile” of London the Lloyds Building is still the one fascinating me in terms of photographic impact.
At the moment the building is undergoing some refurbishment so much of it has scaffolding – although some would say it would be hard to notice.
EXIF: Canon 60D, ISO100, 17mm, ev0, f/8, 1/500
Tower 42
The original name for Tower 42 was the National Westminster Tower, having been built to house the National Westminster Bank’s International Division.
The Tower is located at 25 Old Broad Street in the City of London. Opened in 1981 it was the tallest building in the United Kingdom until replaced by One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, in 1990. The title of tallest building will soon be taken by the Shard.
Today the building is home to multiple tenants and comprises office space and restaurants. Notably, Gary Rhodes has his Michelin starred Rhodes Twenty Four restaurant located not surprisingly on the 24th Floor.
I took this shot from what I thought was an interesting and unusual angle from directly below the building, this leaves off the the very distinctive top of the building but gives a different perspective to the iconic tower.
EXIF: Canon 60D, ISO 100, 53mm, 0ev, f/5.6, 1/640
Lloyds of London
I went into the City of London today to take pictures of some of the iconic architecture, specifically the newer office buildings. Lloyds Insurance building has a reputation as not being the prettiest of buildings but it sure is interesting.
The building was built between 1978 and 1986. It was considered innovative because the architect provided its services such as staircases, lifts, electrical power conduits and water pipes on the outside. This left an uncluttered space inside but the impact of the building was not to everyone’s taste with Prince Charles famously referring to it as a “monstrous carbuncle on the face of an old friend”.
The twelve glass lifts were the first of their kind in the UK.
EXIF: Canon 60D, ISO 100, 17mm, ev0, f/8, 1/100
St Paul’s Cathedral – iPhoneography
I took this photo from my favourite location for shooting St Pauls. The mirrored surfaces of the building are perfectly placed and on this day the clouds were helping me too.
This shot came from my iPhone 4, one day I must take my DSLR along to this location.
Water, water, everywhere….
Slow Shutter image of a Waterfall
When I took this image i wasn’t expecting too much from it. I took a number of pictures with different shutter speeds and looking to capture differing flows of the water. I framed the picture very deliberately to get the angles working with the differing water cascades.
Bournemouth Pier @ Night
A couple of night photography shots of Bournemouth Pier. The first is the Pier Theatre with the lights from the theatre reflected on the water. The longer exposure created a blurring effect for the reflections.
The second is taken on the pier and uses the covered part of the walk way that is lit up. The photo gives perspective as the walkway tapers off and the focus softens with distance.
Dolphin Fountain
Taken in the grounds of Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Rome, I also captured this on a slower shutter which blurred the water but I prefer this image which captures the droplets perfectly. It was a bit breezy on the day I took this and I think this helped with the overall picture. Hope you enjoy!
Dolphin Fountain
