London Walkie Talkie building visit info needed

AndyFo

AndyFo

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Hi all, on Saturday I am going up to the Sky Garden on top of the Walkie Talkie tower in London and would appreciate any advice from anyone who has been. I'm looking for things like best places for shots of London, other possible shots, what's line of sight like ie clear shots through glass or can you get outside and get a non obstructed view.
Also does any one know what the situation is with tripods, I know there's airport type security but are they banned or just subject to inspection.
I would be grateful for any advice please.

Thanks Andy
 
Thanks for the link Phil I had not seen that. It doesn't sound like the is going to be much chance of getting unrestricted shots by the sounds of it, still I've got the ticket now and also intend to get some shots of London as well so we will see.
 
AndyFo said:
Thanks for the link Phil I had not seen that. It doesn't sound like the is going to be much chance of getting unrestricted shots by the sounds of it, still I've got the ticket now and also intend to get some shots of London as well so we will see.
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Please give us a report as a follow-up to your visit.
At least the weather forecast looks good for Saturday.
 
Yes will do Brian, weathers looking dry but very cloudy, hope it's not all grey.
 
Just don't street park opposite it!!!
 
Ha ha especially if you drive a Jag, I thought they had fixed that problem now.
 
Well Saturdays visit was a bit of a waste of time. London was very busy as it was such a beautiful sunny day and around 5pm I headed up the tower. It is not very easy to get any shots as you are shooting through 2" thick and very dirty glass windows with lots of internal reflections from the spot lights and metal framework etc. there is an outside viewing platform but it was closed off and when I asked I was told that it was only open for special events.
As the sunset there was mega haze over London making it impossible to get any clear shots so I gave up and headed for the South Bank instead.
Night shots would probably give better images but still you would have the same reflection problems (maybe worse) and you cannot take tripods up there.
Andy
 
AndyFo said:
Well Saturdays visit was a bit of a waste of time. London was very busy as it was such a beautiful sunny day and around 5pm I headed up the tower. It is not very easy to get any shots as you are shooting through 2" thick and very dirty glass windows with lots of internal reflections from the spot lights and metal framework etc.
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Sounds just like the Shard! (Although when I was there the glass was reasonably clean.)
AndyFo said:
As the sunset there was mega haze over London making it impossible to get any clear shots so I gave up and headed for the South Bank instead.
Night shots would probably give better images but still you would have the same reflection problems (maybe worse) and you cannot take tripods up there.
Andy
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Again - Just like the Shard.

Thanks very much for the follow-up report.
Such a shame your visit was wasted but at least we now know what to expect.
I was thinking about a visit, but in the light of your report I don't think I'll bother.
I suppose, unlike the Shard, the Walkie-Talkie has the advantage of being free.

I finished up on the South Bank myself on Saturday (a bit earlier than you were there) and I thought it was exceptionally busy, especially for the time of year.
It seems that London does not have a tourist "season" these days, and people visit at all times of the year.
 
I have seen some good shots from friends who have been up with good cameras.
Not much you can do about dirty glass, perhaps some are lucky enough to visit just after it has been cleaned.
Not surprising about tripods, I wouldn't bother up there anyway unless you wanted to do a night shot.
You can cut down on reflections with a polariser or you a cloth hood over your lens to the glass. I have had reasonable results with that method.
It's such a shame when places like this are so restrictive.
 
Nothing you can do about dirty glass other than taking a cloth to clean a spot to shoot thru. I guess it was the worst time at the end of the day and all windows were smothered in greasy hand prints from eager viewers, but the main problem was the amount of haze over London that evening.
I was using a CP-L filter but still had problems with reflections due to the amount of polished surfaces and bright internal lights. It might be worthwhile to get some night shots but I didn't want to wait around for an hour till it got dark.
 
Well, there's even less you can do about haze.
I presume you were focused past the glass and at an aperture that would mean any dirt on the glass was completely out of focus.

You could always make one of these http://www.michaelcourier.com/flect/ to combat reflections.
Which is a cheap version of this (used by people like Philip Bloom) http://www.lenskirt.com/
 
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