It's been a couple of weeks since I went out after work to give some nighttime street photography a go, with all the intentions of getting my edits and blog done before taking the camera out next, but I've taken it out twice since and now have a mountain of images and even less time to get on top of it all—what happened?!

The thought process was a simple one this time: I’m here in London on my own most weeks, the evenings are still dark (although getting lighter by the day), and it could be a good opportunity to head out and get some more experience with the camera. With a large range of opportunities to hand, the plan was made to head towards the Tower Bridge area and see if there were any images to be captured.

The lens choice was a no-brainer—the 50mm f/1.4 prime would be perfect. Classic 50mm focal length and that fast/open aperture to try and get the most out of the low-light conditions. Fixed focal length to limit my choices and force more composition and some technical choices around the exposure triangle, and try to capture the available light. Handheld, less to carry and less conspicuous, with an effort to keep the shutter speed 1/50 or faster to help with my movement sabotage.

Starting out at Tower Hill station and working my way around to the Tower of London, over Tower Bridge, past HMS Belfast, and towards London Bridge station, I can’t tell you how many photos were taken, but it was a lot, and many of them were deleted as soon as I loaded them into Lightroom. They were out of focus, underexposed, and generally more tourist “I was here” compositions rather than something a little more substantial. They were left on the laptop for a little while until I gave them the time and began the editing process.

There were a few images that I am happy to share, my favourite is the lit windows of an apartment building above Paul’s/Pret on the corner near the Tower of London (at the top of the blog). I really enjoyed the colours and isolation of each balcony. The edit came out well, sinking the shadows and maximising that isolation between the cells of colour.

I tried various train station compositions, but they mostly didn’t work out. Shutter speed and low-light focus were my enemy, but a couple of images came out ok—one edited to black and white to give the monotone feeling of waiting for the train, and the "Leave a Space" sign painted on the floor with some interesting colours and lines. Lines everywhere to play with however, so, this will be revisited time and again I’m sure.

I got a lovely between-building shot with reflections and different coloured lights in the windows, and Yolk restaurant giving a nice pop of light at the end. This one turned out better than expected and will likely be revisited at another time, maybe after some rain, for added reflections.

Passing over London Bridge, I thought I would try to capture it in a nice way—maybe even creatively—for one of the most photographed features of London, but I wasn’t exactly too happy with the compositions. I felt there were some basics missing: different angles, some depth, using objects or buildings to frame the shots, etc. Another time may prove more rewarding; however, I did manage to take a series of images and try my hand at a panoramic shot, which, for a first go, didn’t turn out too bad, but there is huge room for improvement. A tripod may be a good choice for this kind of thing in the future.

The bagels in the bagel shop were exactly what was needed for my evening meal, but they can’t even begin to compare to Beigel Bake on Brick Lane. It’s a shame—I have just been thoroughly spoilt and appreciate not all bagels are made equally. The bagels in the glass cabinet were a little trickier to edit than first imagined. There was a distracting reflection from a Graze bar that had to be removed, and the highlights from the display lights were a little too much. Whilst they're tamed, they’re not where I thought they would end up. The image of the bagel artist was an internal conflict at the time of taking, due to taking such a close image of someone without permission beforehand. There are a number of street photographers who voice their opinions on this on YouTube, and I felt justified but guilty at the same time. This image was difficult to edit as the subject was essentially too dark in the frame, but with a little masking, I got her to pop just a little bit—maybe not entirely balanced. The crop and the colours are nice though, and overall, I do like this image and wonder if having people in my shots will be something I can practise and get better at, improve composition, and somehow figure out the lighting.

There was a range of quality across the evening’s images, with some I really enjoy and some not so much, but they're online anyway so I can refer back to them—hopefully when my skills have improved. Technically, I picked up a lot from this excursion. It was a struggle to not only balance the exposure how I wanted, but also to compose something interesting (seriously, how do you capture the Tower of London?!). Overall, this was a success and a nice walk to boot.

Check out my Gallery for more images.

Tower Bridge to London Bridge

National Trust Sites

Leeds Dock