Lumiere London – Festival of Light
I saw a news story about Lumiere London at Kings Cross and decided to go along and photograph the illuminations. Ron and I travelled into London on the Saturday evening. As we made our way to Kings Cross we quickly realised that London was packed. We changed our route as public transport was disabled between many of the sites and made our way on foot instead. We were in for a busy evening as London bustled with crowds, who came to see this exciting event. In fact, we had to visit again on Sunday as it was impossible to make our way through the crowds. On the Saturday we carried a tripod to share between us as we anticipated that it would be crowded. Wow – at some of the locations there was really no room for a tripod in the squeeze!
On Sunday we arrived at Oxford Circus and the area heaved with people. So many photographers on the street photographing Lumiere London. We had left the tripod at home and shot the whole evening hand-held. We also packed our speedlights. This event really pushed your camera to the max and how it handles ISO!
As we walked away from Oxford Circus we discovered Dancing Stick Men in Regent’s Street. This is a wonderful illumination of lights which go on and off as the stick men dance! Crowds were vast and in this shot I attached my flash gun and fired flash. This enabled me to take a shot using 800 ISO instead of 3200-6400. It worked well as the flash illuminated the detail of the building behind the stick men as they danced delightfully in my shot.
We keep moving and hear the most amazing sounds. The sounds hypnotise us and we look up to the sky and see hugh flying fish floating over our heads. Their colours change from orange to green and sometimes purple. We can’t stop looking up…and from the wonder of the sight I find my camera and take the shot. Watching in wonder, smiling with the crowd, some sitting at seats at the bus stops. Roads are closed so no traffic comes. The crowd is vast, slowly moving along. I am intoxicated by the event. Somehow still using flash to reduce ISO and for clarity of shot. I shoot a mixture of shots with flash and without. This is a great London Event.
The Light of the Spirit awakened Westminster Abbey to a loupe of changing colours which resonated with the crowd. Here I could use the tripod and capture slow shutter to give a ghostly shadowed resonance to the audience. Crowds filled this space to watch, photograph and be part of something happening. The photographs from Lumiere London will entice for years to come.
About Lou Smith Fine Art Photography
Lou Smith is a Fine Art Photographer with over 30 years experience in the visual arts and is a Fine Artist specialising in photography and painting. She is an experienced tutor and teaches photography in London. If you would like to work with Lou on night photography take a look at the Night Photography Course.
Photographs and content may not be used without permission.
© Lou Smith 2016, All Rights Reserved
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