London in January: Day 4 Part 1

Days 2 and 3: Stuck in Meetings. And it was as exciting as it sounds.

On to Day 4 which was a Sunday! I started early, strolling down Baker Street and catching sight of an already forming line to get into Madam Tussaud's Museum. I wondered down a few relatively quiet cobbled-stone streets and had a lovely time looking at window displays. I especially love the gourmet deli displays with all the wheels of cheeses and strings of sausages. Finally, I hit Oxford Street.

Marble Arch

Did a spot of shopping on Oxford Street and bought a winter coat to finally replace my old one which I have had since the mid 1990s. I was heading back to my hotel at LBS when I noted the strong sunshine and the position of the sun in front of the Arch rather than behind it. Perfect for photo taking. So I trundled down to the underpass and up several flights of seemingly neverending stairs to get to the Arch square.

Regent Park

Got back to the hotel room, deposited my shopping bags and had a spot of brunch, before setting out again.

My hotel room at LBS overlooked Regent Park and I had spent the better part of 3 jet-lagged mornings looking at people jogging around the lake. It was time to get up close and personal.

As it was Sunday and sunny, the park was teeming with people. Many were engaging in excessively rigourous exercise and I got tired just looking at them. So I took one picture of the lake, taking care to get the little black ducky in the foreground, then beat a quick path out of there. I was headed for the Thames and my favourite piece of London architecture: Westminster Abbey.

Big Ben up close

Before getting to the Abbey, I had to pick my way through hoards of camera-toting tourists (well, I guess I was one of them!) milling outside the Parliament compound. Everyone wanted to take a picture of Big Ben and I managed more than a few.

My old Olympus camera does not have the largest optical zoom range, but I was pretty pleased with how close-up I got on this shot. I believe Big Ben keeps good time, so even the exact minute that this photo was taken has been captured on record!

Views of Big Ben, the London Eye and part of the Houses of Parliament

This was taken from just outside Westminster Abbey. I caught sight of the London Eye in the background and patiently waited for people to pose and preen for photographs in front of the Abbey so I could position myself properly to get both Big Ben and the Eye into the frame. The sun was happily in the right place for this shot, which of course meant that it was completely in the wrong place for Westminster Abbey which was directly behind me.


Westminster Abbey

This photograph has gone through some colour and exposure adjustment and it is still a little dark. The sun was shining almost directly into the camera lens and no amount of manipulating behind structures and shadows could eliminate it directly.

The first time I saw Westminster Abbey, it just took my breath away. So very beautiful and majestic without being oppressively grand.

More Westminster Abbey

The entire enterprise was a battle with the strong sunlight that was inconveniently directly behind the Abbey. A few wisps of cloud were about and I was timing my shots with their movement, hoping for a moment when the sun was hidden. Those were few and far between and I finally gave it up for a lost cause. I was going to get overly exposed photographs, so be it.

I had great photos of the Abbey from a previous trip to London. It was summer and the sky was a clear cloudless blue, the sun was behind the camera and the photographs turned out postcard-perfect but those were not taken with a digital camera. I wanted a few jpegs for my personal collection. Scanning is the way to go, I guess.