I headed to London with an equally photography obsessed friend on Thursday with the specific intention of taking photographs... and lots of them! Our main aim initially was to experiment with night photography with a view to heading to the Tower of London to catch any remaining poppies and the great nightscapes at that location, looking across the river to Tower Bridge, City Hall and The Shard. The last time I headed there, back in October, I did not have a tripod with me, so this time I went armed! (that thing becomes so heavy after a day walking about though!) We of course extended our plans to take in other areas of London and felt we had to go and see some of the Christmas Lights too, so we ended up covering a lot of ground and taking a very large number of shots! For that reason I have decided to split this blog into two - starting with the daytime shots...

We caught the train to Paddington Station so it seemed only fair to start off with a few shots in the station itself...

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We then decided to head to Canary Wharf, an area of London I have only ever passed rather than stopping at. It did not disappoint, what a great place! It didn't really feel like London with all those towering skyscrapers. We were so taken with looking out of the window of the train on the DLR that we did miss our stop... but that gave opportunity for a couple of extra photos en route to the correct station!

DSCF1786 DSCF1789 DSCF1792 Such a photogenic tunnel - not sure I'm going to be quite so keen on the shot Lou took here though!

DSCF1802 DSCF1806 There is lots of construction work continuing around the Canary Wharf area. This is the Canary Wharf Crossrail Station that is being constructed next to Billingsgate Fish Market. It looks like an exciting development - when complete it will be one of the largest stations on the Crossrail route standing six-storeys high. It's worth looking at the plans, it will be worth a visit with the camera when finished I think!  DSCF1809

Once finally made it to Canary Wharf we discovered this rather nice shopping arcade - I pinched Lou's infamous (at Camera Club at least!) Fisheye lens for this first shot... DSC_8498 So many people scurrying about and going about their daily business... they reminded me of ants in a formicarium!

DSCF1818 DSCF1826 It's that roof again! DSCF1828

We walked through 'One Canada Square', a really impressive office block which prior to the construction of The Shard was the tallest building in the UK, standing at 770 feet (235 m), before heading outside. Sadly no photos were permitted inside according to a security guard, which is a shame as it was pretty imposing! (This was the first of three guards to tell us that during the course of the day!) The outside was pretty imposing too though and photos were permitted there... thankfully!

DSCF1831 DSCF1839 DSCF1841 Sky and sky! DSCF1843 DSCF1846 DSCF1847

The sun was starting to set but we got a little carried away photographing this area and pretty much missed it! (We had intended to get to Westminster for sunset) DSCF1855 DSCF1859  

Lou in the middle being cadged by tourists to take their photo for them! DSCF1862 DSCF1863 DSCF1867 DSCF1869 Seeing all the planes flying past these skyscrapers really makes you think about those dreadful events in the USA... at least it made me think!

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I loved this building with all its lines... especially that fabulous black and white floor! DSCF1881 DSCF1882 DSCF1885 DSCF1888 Then on to catch the Thames Clipper, what a great way to travel through London! 

DSCF1894 DSCF1895 DSCF1902 DSCF1907 DSCF1921 Disembarking at The Tower of London at Twilight...

DSCF1932 DSCF1933 DSCF1945 Volunteers continue to dismantle the stunning display of poppies from the 'Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red' installation... DSCF1948 ...but we were pleased to see many still remaining in place. DSCF1952 DSCF1955 DSCF1957 DSCF1961 DSCF1962 DSCF1965

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Finally most of the light departed and it was time for a quick break before embarking on stage two and our night photography experiments!

To be continued....