London Lights 1
People ask me all the time what I shoot. I say people. They ask why. I say because I really really like people. I like the way I can use my own energy to wake up their energy and then, all of a sudden, we start getting something very special out of our shoot. It's a huge buzz and the reason I love my work so much.
But anyone will tell you that it's not always good to just shoot the thing you're good at (actually that applies to most things)... it makes you complacent. It makes you lazy. So, as I hate lugging around tripods and standing around, I figured the best thing to start with with were the lights of London. My friend and fellow geek Ben met me yesterday evening therefore and we started near Tower Bridge and meandered down to Blackfriars.
It was harder than I'd thought. Landscapes don't just position themselves nicely because you've applied charm and told them to raise their chin a fraction. And what looks beautiful as you stand there and scan it may not in fact fit into your lens. And if it does it might not look half as magical as you're desperately wishing it did.
The rain came down. It splattered on the ground (making some great reflections I'll admit) and up our legs and down our collars. We had to take turns shooting while the other one held a brolly (which kept trying to blow inside out) over the the camera. We huddled under the eaves of St Paul's and ate sandwiches like proper geeks and waited for it to pass (gave up). By the time we got to Blackfriars we were so soggy we decided to leave Waterloo and Westminster (not to mention the West End and Battersea Power Station) for the next time.
Here are a few of my faves. I'm not saying I'd want to necessarily frame these (although I might consider the cheesy Cathedral / bus combo) but everyone has to start somewhere... it's ridiculous expecting to be perfect the first time you really try something. Plus it's woken me up to possibilities. Keep your eyes peeled therefore folks... I'm not done yet!
