On this day two years ago, I was photographing in London.
My father and I had arrived via the Channel Tunnel on the Eurostar on the previous day.
It was a bright morning and I made good use of my Lumix LX7, photographing London stations and trains as I explored the Overground network that follows an orbital route around the city.
London Victoria on 1 May 2016. Lumix LX7 photo.
West Brompton.West Brompton.Clapham Junction.Clapham Junction.
London is a great place to explore by rail and among the featured cities in my new Railway Guide to Europe published by Kalmbach Publishing.
For this view, I used my Nikon N90S with a 105mm Nikkor lens loaded with Fujichrome. To achieve the sense of motion, I panned the front of the HST while using a comparatively slow shutter speed (about 1/30th of a second). The key to a successful pan image is to start panning well-before pressing the shutter and continuing the pan motion until after the shutter has been released. Turn your whole body and not just the camera.
I exposed this panned view of a GNER HST on the East Coast Mainline near the York station in December 1999.
A similar photo appeared in my book Railway Masterpieces published by Krause Publications in 2002.
As a follow up to yesterday’s post London Underground July 2013—Part 1, I’ve assembled some of my favorite images from last week’s exploration in London.
The classically tiled Underground Station at Covent Garden is easily identified. Lumix LX3 photo.
The Underground cleverly blends transport and style. In my experience it is one of the world’s most popular public transportation systems. Phrases like ‘Mind the Gap’ appear on mugs and T-shirts, while many shops sell stylized maps of the Underground network.
There’s a lesson here.
Charing Cross Underground station is the preferred way to access The National Gallery and other nearby museums. Lumix LX3 photo.The National Gallery and Trafalgar Square are among London’s largest tourist attractions. This poster describes Victorian interest in art and places photography in period context. Lumix LX3 photo.A passenger prepares to board as a Piccadilly Line tube train glides into the Kings Cross St Pancras Underground station. July 2013 photo exposed with a Lumix LX3.By placing the camera against the ceiling of the tube train, I secured an unusual angle, minimized vibration to allow for a long exposure, while momentarily attracting the interest of fellow passengers. Lumix LX3 photo.Historic Underground signs recall the fear from sky-bourne warfare. Canon EOS 7D photo.
