The Thames

Worth going large on this one.

I think I've worn my youngest out. He was dragging his feet a bit by the end of the day. We let the day evolve again without any great plan but we had to make a call first to King's Cross because I realised last night that I'd left the power supply for my laptop on the train yesterday morning. There was a massive queue at Left Luggage (which doubles as Lost Property) but when we eventually arrived at the desk we were told that Lost Property only operates Monday to Friday. I managed not to be too annoyed at the circumstances. We grabbed a coffee to go and headed to London Bridge to take a walk along the river to the Embankment.

Getting out at London Bridge station it proved impossible to resist the Shard. It's a very photogenic building and after trying to get some different angles on it we went in to see if there was any chance of going up to the viewing platform on the 72nd floor. There was indeed. Not cheap but undoubtedly worth it for the extraordinary panorama it offers on the city. It was just a shame that there was no option to ascend by staircase and we had to use the lift. You get a much better sense of the height when you've climbed every step yourself. Also, the view of the people looking on was pretty good too.

Once we were all viewed out we went back to the original plan, crossing the river by the Millennium Bridge where I caught this couple doing a Snog Selfie, and then along the river. As we walked west the clouds started to clear, giving way to some really beautiful light. I took quite a few portraits along the way, including a Street Artist and a Parkourist. I thought it might be more difficult asking for portraits in London but I didn't get a single refusal!

We eventually ended up at the Embankment from where we headed to the National Portrait Gallery to see the Taylor Wessing Portrait Exhibition. This was astonishingly good. It makes a huge difference being able to see these selected portraits printed up large. Roam and I tended to have the same favourites and not necessarily the ones that won the competition. It's hard to see how you can really judge one to be any better than another when they are all so different and so very good. The only shame was that the space was quite small and it was a little too crowded to be able to take as much time as I would have liked. The exhibitioon came very highly recommended from Mr.John and I now pass that recommendation on.

We then ambled up to Tottenham Court Road where I picked up a new power supply for the laptop and then spent the last few hours at the cinema watching Gravity once more. It was the only film that we could squeeze in before my train back north. I really wanted Roam to see this properly in 3D. He enjoyed it as much as I expected him too.

London is surely a photographer's paradise. The lasting impression is of the sheer scale of the city, this huge mass of humanity, people from all over the world, that have chosen to live or visit here. There are so many stories to observe. I'm probably not the easiest person to spend a few days with in town, forever stopping to take photographs, and stopping people to chat. Roam has been very patient. I've also exercised a fair bit of self-constraint myself. I could have stopped and got a lot more involved than I did.

Really difficult to choose which shot to blip. As we had people (in colour) yesterday I'm going for a landscape (in mono) today. It's as good a way as any to signify a memorable and unusual weekend for me. Thanks for coming with me!