Advice - Landscapes of London scenes

rookie

rookie

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Kevin
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Hi all, I wonder, if this is not too cheeky, if I could ask for some advice, tips and suggestions.

I work for a fairly new small company which is just about breaking even. I been asked if I would take a number of London landscape shots for hanging on the meeting room and office walls – rather than blank magnolia walls. The firm are of course going to pay all expenses and give reason time off to make up for any in connection with taking the shots (which will be good as it will allow me to do a couple of photography ideas without using all my holidays). Now I know some will say they should go out a pay a professional photographer, which I’m sure if I was a pro I would be saying the same, but at the moment I think the cost would be a little prohibitive for us.

I’ve agreed to do one to see if I’m up to it and if they like the results. Now I’m not a big landscape photographer but have always wanted to do some of those really good night shots and classic London scenes. If successful I think both sides will get something out of it.

I thought I just give some brief details of kit and ideas and see what you think and see if you have any advice (other than ‘walk away’ from it!!)

Kit

Nikon D700 and D300.

18-35mm f3.5-4.5 (this is old kit lens which I got with a D100 new some years ago)

24-70mm f2.8

70 – 200mm f2.8

50mm f1.8

85mm f1.4

105mm 2.8G Micro

(all Nikon)

And cokin filter holder with ND4 and a GND filter (think it’s a Gradual Grey G2 Medium (ND4) Filter – not used it very much)

And got the normal remote release and tripod

Theme

Well it’s a small corporate finance firm so based in London – so guess it’s got to be related to finance or well know London sights.

Any constructive advice, help or suggestions would be gratefully received

Thanks for reading
 
i cant remember all the sights except the old lady and the bank area...
try to get shots of the institutions with a good sky and if possible late in the evening for some warmth effect
tripod a must and if you can take long exposures to wash out the folks hurrying along
havent been in the smoke since 1984 so all the docklands were wet then
cheers
geof
 
mrtoad said:
i cant remember all the sights except the old lady and the bank area...
try to get shots of the institutions with a good sky and if possible late in the evening for some warmth effect
tripod a must and if you can take long exposures to wash out the folks hurrying along
havent been in the smoke since 1984 so all the docklands were wet then
cheers
geof
Click to expand...

Good idea with tripod, you could do star trails over docklands or Lloyds building / gherkin
Or how about a nice shot of London eye with a pound coin shopped into the centre? :thinking:

Enjoy the shoot
 
BruceMo said:
Good idea with tripod, you could do star trails over docklands or Lloyds building / gherkin
Or how about a nice shot of London eye with a pound coin shopped into the centre? :thinking:

Enjoy the shoot
Click to expand...

you can go up to richmond, its still london postal zone even though some of it is in surrey
kew gardens, wembley, crystal palace, greenwich
its not all sw1 you know
cheers
geof
 
well your kit is fine, similar to mine over the years and most of THIS set on my flickr were taken using it, so please do feel free to draw inspiration from it if any of it helps.

Oh and no you are not being daft doing it this way if you and your company gets something out of it. FWIW, I LOVE photographing London at night, it never fails to be interesting and fun, so pack your tripod and enjoy it! :thumbs:
 
Thanks guys and girls, and Yv love the one of Westminster and the rest.

Thanks again
 
Yv said:
FWIW, I LOVE photographing London at night, it never fails to be interesting and fun, so pack your tripod and enjoy it! :thumbs:
Click to expand...

:agree:

One thing you might want to think about if you are taking them in Company time is who will own the images.
 
rookie said:
I thought I just give some brief details of kit and ideas and see what you think and see if you have any advice (other than ‘walk away’ from it!!)
Click to expand...

Tip #1 - forget about kit lists, they're of very little relevance. And of absolurtely no relevance at all until you've decided on the shots you want to take.

Tip #2 - open your eyes and look around, look at the big picture, look at the details. Walk the streets, cross the river and just see what inspires you. Make a note of locations to go back to when the light or weather is better. Try and imagine how the shadows will change during the course of the day. Look for the unconventional views.

Grey skies can be uninspiring, but don't rule out shooting in the rain.

There's quite a nice sunset view from the Embankment near Tate Britain looking across to Vauxhall and the spikey building. It's looking the wrong way for a traditional sunset, but the reflected glow on the glass is nice.

Tower Bridge features in a lot of riverscapes, but the best river panorama to my eyes is from Tower Bridge looking upriver (from experience, 30mm isn't wide enough to do this scene justice).

See if the contacts you can get through the business can gain you access to any unusual of off-the-beaten-track locations.
 
another area to consider is brick lane and vicinity for really inspiring street art and people shots
 
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