Sunday 22nd January 2012

Canary Wharf

London

Today brought the first real photography for me this year and it was with a visit to Canary Wharf, in London.  I was leading a photo group of a dozen photographers who were there to shoot the amazing modern architecture both during the day and into the early evening once the sun had gone down.  Due to the members of the group requiring the use a tripod once the light levels fell I had obtained a Photographic Permit from Canary Wharf Estate allowing us all to use them and to keep the ever persistent security happy when they see all our gear.  Almost as soon as I had taken my D2X out of the Lowepro a security guard approached us, on seeing the permit he was satisfied we had the required permission and radioed our presence through.

I was mainly using the old 28-70mm f2.8 lens and on occasions switched to the 12-24mm f 4 for a wider view.  I captured the soft distorted reflections in the windows, close-ups of the statues on the estate using the 28-70mm wide open at f2.8 to blur out the background and I also photographed some interest ing shots of the old cranes by the Marriot hotel with the 12-24mm by laying on my back and pointing the camera upwards..  Once the light levels fell the D2X was securely attached to the Gitzo tripod, cable release attached and mirror lock-up selected to reduce any vibration of the camera during the long exposure causing blur.

It was a mixed bunch of abilities in the group, with a few that hadn't done much low light work at all, but everyone got on really well with each other and had lots of fun, especially since  we had several needed "comfort" breaks in All-Bar-One, when we also took the opportunity to have a hot drink to warm up a little as the wind blowing around the quays was chilling and fierce.  This cold wind prevented too much of the evening photography and most of the group decided it was a good idea to adjourn  back to the bar again once the sky had lost it's colour and turned a sullen black.