I made this image during a break. That is to say, I stopped for coffee, so the lesson here is to never put your camera away. It was a beautiful sunny Sunday morning in June, in More London, between The Shard and Tower Bridge. It is an area that is notoriously difficult to shoot in with anything that looks remotely like a “big” camera - security is hot and they are fast to move photographers on.

I always enjoy watching the world go by as I pause for a drink and I learned early on to never put my camera back in my bag until I get home. I sat at one of the bar seats in the window and watched a quiet, but steady stream of pedestrians enjoying the summer sun. Looking to my right, there was a small frame that showed one of the towers of Tower Bridge. I liked the sense of place this gave to the image because it is such an iconic landmark. Above, hung these orange globe lights; something like planets or moons which reminded me of the moons in Star Wars . I wanted to incorporate these and their paler reflections if possible.

All of that gave me the backdrop to work with. I then needed something to happen. And it needed to be in that slice of bright light which almost zig-zagged through the centre of the image between the shadow of the building on the left and the frame with the bridge in on the right. I watched several people come and go but clusters of people did not work because they overlapped and definition was hard to achieve. Ideally it would be a single character, all alone. It was then a question of who.
Being summer meant that I was hopeful not to have to contend with any shapeless coats or backpacks and could anticipate a clean, human outline. The challenge then was to catch someone at the right moment - mid stride would have been even better but I had to settle for the swinging right arm. I could have used burst mood but somehow that feels like cheating - it’s too easy. I chose to make it harder for myself and try to get the timing just right.

Hugh Rawson

I made this image during a break. That is to say, I stopped for coffee, so the lesson here is to never put your camera away. It was a beautiful sunny Sunday morning in June, in More London, between The Shard and Tower Bridge. It is an area that is notoriously difficult to shoot in with anything that looks remotely like a “big” camera - security is hot and they are fast to move photographers on. I always enjoy watching the world go by as I pause for a drink and I learned early on to never put my camera back in my bag until I get home. I sat at one of the bar seats in the window and watched a quiet, but steady stream of pedestrians enjoying the summer sun. Looking to my right, there was a small frame that showed one of the towers of Tower Bridge. I liked the sense of place this gave to the image because it is such an iconic landmark. Above, hung these orange globe lights; something like planets or moons which reminded me of the moons in Star Wars . I wanted to incorporate these and their paler reflections if possible. All of that gave me the backdrop to work with. I then needed something to happen. And it needed to be in that slice of bright light which almost zig-zagged through the centre of the image between the shadow of the building on the left and the frame with the bridge in on the right. I watched several people come and go but clusters of people did not work because they overlapped and definition was hard to achieve. Ideally it would be a single character, all alone. It was then a question of who. Being summer meant that I was hopeful not to have to contend with any shapeless coats or backpacks and could anticipate a clean, human outline. The challenge then was to catch someone at the right moment - mid stride would have been even better but I had to settle for the swinging right arm. I could have used burst mood but somehow that feels like cheating - it’s too easy. I chose to make it harder for myself and try to get the timing just right.

LEICA M11

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