Blue Hour by the River Thames



A couple of Saturdays ago, there was fog and grey cloud on the forecast. I decided it would be fun to take photos in a more urban area, so I got up early and cycled to Richmond, while it was still dark. The idea was to photograph Richmond Bridge while the street lights were still on - I thought it could look really atmospheric in the fog. It's a place that I have walked and cycled past many times, and enjoyed pints of beer in the proximity of, but have never photographed. It's a popular sunrise location, but I thought that the dark and fog would make an atmospheric alternative.

The first thing I realised was that the boats that are moored up on either side of the bridge have quite a lot of lateral movement, even though on this morning the water was pretty flat. It made it impossible to photograph in the darkness, because the boats were rendered blurry with a long shutter speed. I checked out some compositions, and chatted to a random man who was out for an early walk, and killed a little time until the sky became lighter, and my shutter speed was sufficiently quick to capture the boats without any blur.



Blue Hour by the Thames

Richmond-1.jpg


The blue hour window where the lights were on, and there was enough ambient light to take some shots, was actually quite brief. I took a composition from each side of the bridge. No sooner had I taken the second image, the lights along the bridge switched off. As the darkness dissolved, the water became choppy, and I was left with murky grey morning, and a gloomy River Thames.



Man on the Bridge

Richmond-7.jpg



I drank my flask of tea, and cycled home.



I can be found on...
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cathgothard/
Website: www.cathgothard.com

Thanks for looking!


0
0
0.000
26 comments
avatar

Congratulations @cathgothard! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s):

You published more than 30 posts.
Your next target is to reach 40 posts.

You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

To support your work, I also upvoted your post!

Check out the last post from @hivebuzz:

Hive Power Up Month - Feedback from day 22
Support the HiveBuzz project. Vote for our proposal!
0
0
0.000
avatar

I dont have a single photo like this. well done!

0
0
0.000
avatar

Thank you @qwerrie! I have decided that the park looks too bleak in mid-winter when the fog is really grey and there is no light. Urban photography really seems to suit conditions like this. :)

0
0
0.000
avatar

ps. a good thing when you come back from such a late walk, hot !PIZZA is waiting you at home.

0
0
0.000
avatar
(Edited)

PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA!

PIZZA Holders sent $PIZZA tips in this post's comments:
cathgothard tipped benwickenton (x1)
@tdctunes(1/15) tipped @cathgothard (x3)
qwerrie tipped cathgothard (x1)
cathgothard tipped qwerrie (x1)
cathgothard tipped tdctunes (x2)

Learn more at https://hive.pizza.

0
0
0.000
avatar

I love the man on the bridge shot. Beautiful images @cathgothard!

0
0
0.000
avatar

Thank you so much Ben! I did toy with the idea of removing the man - I have another exposure with some of the bridge lights out, and no man, that I could have blended, but I decided the human element was quite fun for the time being. :)

!PIZZA

0
0
0.000
avatar

These images are utterly exquisite. Simple as that!

0
0
0.000
avatar

Wow Nick! Thank you very much! I'm really glad that you like them. The next time we have fog I'll have to pick another urban location. Maybe just head into central London. This kind of subject matter seems to work well in these conditions. :)

0
0
0.000
avatar

They are really good, packed with atmosphere!

0
0
0.000
avatar

Those are absolutely stunning! Hard to believe that is the same London that I'm seeing so gray lately! But you captured the lighting sweet spot!

!PIZZA

0
0
0.000
avatar

Thank you @tdctunes! Fog seems to work well for this sort of subject. I think I'll do central London next time. Yeah, it is very grey and boring again. The epic weather is over for the time being.

Looking forward to your show from last night, I shall tune in later. :)

!PIZZA

0
0
0.000
avatar

I still think you need a fog machine! I'll let you know if I invest in one!

Thanks so much for the continued interest in my show! It went a bit mad in last night's set - be interesting to hear what you thought - not sure it was totally great for background music this time!

!PIZZA

0
0
0.000
avatar

The problem is we need different sized fog machines for our respective endeavours! 😆

Hehe I'm not sure what constitutes a bit mad, it was maybe a little more experimental in a couple of places, but it still sounded very much like one of your shows. Always an enjoyable listen!

!PIZZA

0
0
0.000
avatar

Hehe I'm not sure what constitutes a bit mad, it was maybe a little more experimental in a couple of places,

Cool! I guess I thought it was a bit more crazy with some of the sections heavily using the chopped up samples.

But anyway this:

but it still sounded very much like one of your shows. Always an enjoyable listen!

is super nice to hear! Thanks so much!

!PIZZA

0
0
0.000
avatar

Beautiful atmosphere! The second one seems to be a past century painting!

0
0
0.000
avatar

Thank you Andrea! It was a lovely, foggy morning. I agree that without any obvious modern structures, it does feel like it was taken in a different time. :)

0
0
0.000
avatar

I really like the moody atmosphere in those shots. Perfect setting for an openings scene of one of those midsummer murder series. Thanks for sharing! 😉👍

0
0
0.000
avatar

Thank you Thijs! The fog was lovely and moody. It really seems to suit the old architecture of the bridge. :)

0
0
0.000