Millennium Bridge over the River Thames, London
First blog it is then!
My plan last night was to shoot some pictures on or around Tower Bridge straight after work. Dinner with friends at an Italian restaurant was booked in at 6.30 down Tower Bridge Road - very convenient, and ample time to get some shots taken.
The first step in my plan to leave work on time failed, leaving less time to decide on compositions and get set up properly. Spanner in the works number two, the tube I was on broke down at Mansion House, 3 stops too soon!
Patience and time diminishing, I walked east along the river in the hope of getting some nice shots nearer to London or Tower Bridge. After about 30 seconds I wasn't feeling the Tower Bridge vibe anymore and thought perhaps I'll run out of time to shoot anything before dinner.
Let the zooming commence
I looked back west down the river to see the sun setting behind some dramatic clouds over the Millennium Bridge. I trotted through the underpass beneath Southwark Bridge and set up the tripod in a quiet corner spot with a great view.
It was a peaceful non-touristy area to shoot from and a chance to properly test out my new zoomy 55-300mm Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR lens. Some really epic shaped clouds were forming and moving across the sky, as the glowing yellow-orange sun set and drifted down behind the clouds. I got some great shots with little people shaped silhouettes scattering across the bridge.
Several walkers stopped near me to take their own photos of the beautiful sunset and I had a guy ask me if I got any nice shots as I was packing up my tripod. Sure did matey!
I often prefer shooting when there's next to no people around. That's always gonna be a tough gig in very central London but this spot was a good balance. No loud tourists jostling for space, poking you in the side with selfie-sticks for example!
Nailed it
I packed up my gear, really satisfied with my efforts and was restaurant-bound, having enjoyed a beautiful city sunset.
So even when plans fall apart, there's always something else to shoot. And if there hadn't been there was soon to be burrata, pasta and gelato to stuff into my face ;)