London Southbank!

samrbrown · Oct 10, 2012

Hello!

I am incredibly new to this forum, so hello everyone! Not that new to photography, but wouldn't say I'm great at it :lol:

I own a Nikon D40, with the kit lens (18-55mm). I haven't taken any pictures in a while, but have wanted to get back into it as I'm living in London and what a better place to get back into it!
Here are some pictures from last week, I took them on the south bank, hope you like them.

panblue · Oct 10, 2012

Liking that #1. The book stall is the one o/s the NFT, under the bridge? Just a bit to the east is a heavily grafittied, weird concrete area where the skaters hang ..good place for photos.

Fred Berg · Oct 10, 2012

I like the tube station shot, St. Pauls and the books. Very nice.

samrbrown · Oct 10, 2012

I did get that graffiti'd area, but was rushing off to uni so didn't really get any good ones! Thanks for the comments, tryin' me best

tomorrow, i'm going up to camden so will see what i can capture there!

panblue · Oct 10, 2012

samrbrown said:
I did get that graffiti'd area, but was rushing off to uni so didn't really get any good ones! Thanks for the comments, tryin' me best tomorrow, i'm going up to camden so will see what i can capture there!

Happy shooting in Camden. Might sound odd but I've found the best approach for street photography is NOT to look for people to photograph (!). Instead, I concentrate on the obscure, inanimate details on the streets. Over the course of a few hours shooting you get shots of people but they are usually framed around very good backdrops and situations due to the primary approach .. a bit like your tube shot with the motion of the train and its colours giving extra aspect to the stationary man on the platform. It's a more organic approach...rather than looking cagey and trying (too hard) to 'photograph people on the street'.

The area around Trafalgar Square can be good as there are so many tourists with DSLRs; everybody is de-sensitised to it. China Town area off of Oxford Street is a similar scenario.

samrbrown · Oct 10, 2012

Well I don't aim for the people usually, it was just a little luck that he was standing still in the tube train photo! A right time, right place kinda thing; it's the kind of photography I like, I don't go out to get a certain shot I just plan to go to a certain place then shoot whatever I see on the day!
I didn't really want to do trafalgar square/Piccadilly circus as they are obviously iconic, but also very overshot by pretty much everyone in the world... and i have done it before in my early years of photography

At some point, I also want to shoot in Soho with the narrow streets and such then possibly some places in Chelsea/Kensington.
Thanks for the comments again, much appreciated!

panblue · Oct 10, 2012

samrbrown said:
Well I don't aim for the people usually, it was just a little luck that he was standing still in the tube train photo! A right time, right place kinda thing; it's the kind of photography I like, I don't go out to get a certain shot I just plan to go to a certain place then shoot whatever I see on the day!

That 'luck' makes the best photos IMO. It's the kind of photography I like too.

samrbrown said:
At some point, I also want to shoot in Soho with the narrow streets and such then possibly some places in Chelsea/Kensington.
Thanks for the comments again, much appreciated!

If I had the time to focus on an area for a few months or more, I've often thought of Kilburn High Road..or roughly, from Marble Arch, up towards Bronsbury/West End Lane. There is (or was a few years ago), various different communities along that stretech of the A5, as you walk north.

Designer · Oct 10, 2012

Welcome!

All very nice compositions.

#2,#3,&#4 seem underexposed.

samrbrown · Oct 10, 2012

panblue said:
If I had the time to focus on an area for a few months or more, I've often thought of Kilburn High Road..or roughly, from Marble Arch, up towards Bronsbury/West End Lane. There is (or was a few years ago), various different communities along that stretech of the A5, as you walk north.

I'll have to give those areas a little visit sometime soon!

samrbrown · Oct 10, 2012

And thanks designer, i was having a little trouble adjusting to get that good exposure as it was sunny and the screen is ok, but isn't that great so it was tricky to get it right! Also, still shaking off the rustiness

I'll take that in consideration next time, cheers