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Author Topic: London - locations in and around  (Read 6390 times)

Khurram

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London - locations in and around
« on: April 06, 2006, 02:12:18 pm »

I'll be traveling to London for work.  I'm going to be there for two weeks and will have the weekend in between for shooting.

WOuld appreciate some recommendations some shooting locations in and around London during the weekdays (good sunset locations would be nice).

ALso would appreciate some advice on some landscape locations for the one weekend i'll have in London.  Preferably something close by, or within a 4-5 hour drive.
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cricketer 1

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London - locations in and around
« Reply #1 on: April 07, 2006, 03:31:29 pm »

Quote from: Khurram,Apr 6 2006, 01:12 PM
I'll be traveling to London for work.  I'm going to be there for two weeks and will have the weekend in between for shooting.

WOuld appreciate some recommendations some shooting locations in and around London during the weekdays (good sunset locations would be nice).

As an ex Londoner I can tell you that driving 4-5 hours except north and south west will likely place you in the sea.  

There is so much to photograph in London and it has become very vibrant and cosmopolitan.  Also very clean due to renovation of most historical buildings and tourist sites.  I suggest you leave your car parked and walk around or take the bus or tube (underground train) as it's fast and inexpensive, especially if you are in or near the Westminister, Mayfair,Kensington, Chelsea or Southwark areas.  

I also recommend the Greenwich area (15-20 minutes by train from Charing Cross Stn.  where you have the Royal Naval College with it's painted ceiling, facing the Thames, good pubs, The Royal Greenwich Observatory & Museum, Queen Anne House; also in the park and the famous Cutty Sark sailing clipper in dry dock.  For London sunsets Hyde Park at the east end of the Serpentine Lake facing west across the lake.  Also from one of the Thames bridges in Westminister area.   Talk to locals about out of town locations for your weekend.
« Last Edit: April 07, 2006, 03:32:34 pm by cricketer 1 »
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Gary Ferguson

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London - locations in and around
« Reply #2 on: April 07, 2006, 04:08:09 pm »

When will you be in London?

I second the Greenwich recommendation. Another nice idea would be to take a boat ride from Greenwich or from near the Houses Of Parliament up river to Hampton Court Palace, there's lot's to photograph while you're on the river and Hampton Court is stunning.

Log on to the BBC web site for accurate weather forecasts, well accurate-ish.
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John Camp

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London - locations in and around
« Reply #3 on: April 07, 2006, 04:17:25 pm »

I've done pretty much exactly the same thing, several times. I'm not sure I'd recommend that you go out in the countryside on the weekend (although there are some classic locations). London is one of the great walking cities on earth, and you could spend your entire photographic life there and not use it up. You could start around Trafalgar Square, walk up Charing Cross Road, make a detour over to Piccadilly Circus, walk around there for a while, go back to Charing Cross and walk up to the area of the British Museum (Bloomsbury), then take Oxford Street over to Hyde Park...Or jump around the interior of the city on the tube.

If you decide that you really need to get away to the counryside, instead of driving, which can be a serious pain and expensive, I'd recommend taking a train up to Oxford or something, which is fast, cheap and that way you can spend time looking at the countryside, rather than at the traffic. If you really want to get out in the countryside on the weekend, and you don't care which countryside, don't forget that Paris is only about 4-5 hours away by train...you can do a round trip in a day, if you start early...

But really, I'd stick to the interior areas of London. Great place. Your most important equipment will be a good pair of shoes...

JC
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situgrrl

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London - locations in and around
« Reply #4 on: April 11, 2006, 08:53:09 am »

It depends what side of London you want to capture, the pretty touristy bits you can see on every picture postcard or the grit of real city life.

Street photography - Camden on a Saturday or sunday - but beware the "freaks" crawling home at midday - I've done nasty things to people taking my picture when I was wandering home on a killer comedown.  It really comes alive after about 5.30ish.  There is a tiny ickle street of cute cottages called Kentish Town Mews (funnily enough, in Kentish Town) that comes alive in the afternoon sun.

Electric Avenue in Brixton is also good, ditto Brick Lane market.  The food markets which open at 2am in Spittlefields are a fantastic opportunity not to be missed.  Soho at any time of night on any day is a delightful nightmare of advertising execs, hookers, questionable restaraunts

Climb Muswell Hill for views down on the city.  Chelsea Harbour has some beautiful arcitecture.  Hackney is great if you want to take pics of decay but be careful there....don't look too conspicuous.  Plumstead is another glorious shithole.  Only slightly less so is Elephant and Castle.  There is the 52a Infoshop nearby but take a map.  They run bike maintenance classes which I really want to photograph.   I love the East End too, Bethnal Green railway arches will provide some opportunities as will Whitechapel.  Ansar al Islam sometimes do stalls near the tube there if you've got the bottle...it's also home to the London Action Resource centre and RampART!  LARC is worth dropping in on to see if there are any photo exhibitions in some of the squats dotted around.  Just google them first so you know what to expect.

mikeck2

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« Reply #5 on: April 17, 2006, 02:10:51 pm »

Most of the country around London is agricultural and low lying hills, the south east is also heavily populated. Try the River Thames through Kew via Richmond and Twickenham to Hampton Court in South west London is very pretty and then upstream to Marlow, Henley, Goring, Wallingford and Lechlade to name a few, public access to the river is possible throughout its entire length.   The Chilterns Hills north west of London, North Downs near Dorking in Surrey, 1/2 hrs.

Further afield the New Forest in Hampshire 2/3hrs, Cotswold Hills in Gloucestershire 2/3 hrs from central London, Dorset coast 3/4 hrs, South Wales 4/5hrs and the Peak District north of Derby 4/5hrs, allow at least a hour to drive out of  Central London. If you want mountains and lakes, then it has to be the Lake District in Cumbria 300mls north of London or rugged coastline try Devon and Cornwall in the South West of England or South and West Wales again about 300mls west of London

Hope this helps

Mike
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mikeck2

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London - locations in and around
« Reply #6 on: April 17, 2006, 02:21:51 pm »

The best place for sunsets in London is Richmond Hill over loooking the Thames
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Khurram

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London - locations in and around
« Reply #7 on: April 20, 2006, 11:10:30 pm »

Quote from: cricketer 1,Apr 7 2006, 07:31 PM
Quote from: Khurram,Apr 6 2006, 01:12 PM
I'll be traveling to London for work.  I'm going to be there for two weeks and will have the weekend in between for shooting.

WOuld appreciate some recommendations some shooting locations in and around London during the weekdays (good sunset locations would be nice).

As an ex Londoner I can tell you that driving 4-5 hours except north and south west will likely place you in the sea.  

There is so much to photograph in London and it has become very vibrant and cosmopolitan.  Also very clean due to renovation of most historical buildings and tourist sites.  I suggest you leave your car parked and walk around or take the bus or tube (underground train) as it's fast and inexpensive, especially if you are in or near the Westminister, Mayfair,Kensington, Chelsea or Southwark areas.  

I also recommend the Greenwich area (15-20 minutes by train from Charing Cross Stn.  where you have the Royal Naval College with it's painted ceiling, facing the Thames, good pubs, The Royal Greenwich Observatory & Museum, Queen Anne House; also in the park and the famous Cutty Sark sailing clipper in dry dock.  For London sunsets Hyde Park at the east end of the Serpentine Lake facing west across the lake.  Also from one of the Thames bridges in Westminister area.   Talk to locals about out of town locations for your weekend.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=62096\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

actually, I should have specified more for the weekends.  I am looking for a landscape locations in the UK - not necessarily Londen itself.  Ideally i'd like to get most of my shooting around london done during the week - assuming of course, i'm not going to be working long hours for the full two weeks.  I'm there for an audit, so not sure on the hours i'll have to put in yet
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Khurram

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London - locations in and around
« Reply #8 on: April 20, 2006, 11:12:34 pm »

Quote
When will you be in London?

I second the Greenwich recommendation. Another nice idea would be to take a boat ride from Greenwich or from near the Houses Of Parliament up river to Hampton Court Palace, there's lot's to photograph while you're on the river and Hampton Court is stunning.

Log on to the BBC web site for accurate weather forecasts, well accurate-ish.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=62100\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


I'll most likely be in London from around aug 15-sept 1 or aug 19 to sept 6.  Not sure what type of weather to expect.
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Tonysx

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London - locations in and around
« Reply #9 on: April 21, 2006, 01:04:03 pm »

Quote
I'll most likely be in London from around aug 15-sept 1 or aug 19 to sept 6.  Not sure what type of weather to expect.
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
Don't worry, no one else has any idea either!  
Another suggestion - lordy, you've only got a couple of weeks - take the underground to Gunnersbury and ask someone how to get to Chiswick Bridge. You should end up about [a href=\"http://www.pbase.com/tonysx/image/41179326]here[/url]. On the south-east side of the bridge you can take the steps down to the path along the Thames and walk to Richmond. You should enjoy the walk - about an hour - and you should enjoy Richmond. And you can catch the underground from Richmond back to the centre of London!
« Last Edit: April 21, 2006, 01:04:46 pm by Tonysx »
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Mark D Segal

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London - locations in and around
« Reply #10 on: April 22, 2006, 09:12:45 am »

There is an enterprise called "London Walks". They have a website (www.walks.com). This is a fabulous resource. Their guides are excellent - they know the history and meaning of the neighbourhoods they show you, providing excellent photographic opportunities of sites and places that you would otherwise miss or not appreciate. It is very easy to hook-up with any of the walks. Download or when there pick-up the schedule and meet the guide at the correct time and Tube station. Price is 6 pounds. Each walk is about two hours or so.
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john beardsworth

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London - locations in and around
« Reply #11 on: April 24, 2006, 03:56:05 am »

Khurram

In London, consider Speakers Corner in Hyde Park on Sunday. Lots of photo opportunities.

John
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rvanr

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« Reply #12 on: May 04, 2006, 06:45:48 pm »

The banks of the river Thames provide lots of opportunities. Not only for city views but also people and architecture. If you like modern art a visit to the Tate Modern would allow you to combine two interests: you can photograph the interesting building and look at the art inside (coffee aint bad either!).

Ruud
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