On Saturday I booked two of Jeanette’s Lendon Smartphone Safari’s back-to-back. These were The South Bank followed by Soho and Chinatown. I had taken advantage of arriving early at Waterloo to visit the Leake Street tunnel to see what had changed since my earlier visits.
Unlike my other safaris with Jeanette I was in London with ONLY my smartphone…
Solo South Bank
As I was early for the start of the safari I \walked down to the South Bank and headed towards the meeting point. Unusually there were no crowds and the cafes were empty.
This was a shot for Sh#t-London coupled with reflections, on review I decided that the phone box was bad enough!
The tide was out and I ventured down onto the beach.
Here’s the mural you pass on the way to the Blackfriars Station and the meeting point at FCB Coffee.
South Bank with Jeanette
As I drank a coffee at the coffee stand at Blackfriars station Jeanette arrived. After a quick catch I realised that I was the only attendee – the safari was going to be a 1-2-1 day.
Down on the Thames we watched swans congregating around tourists who were feeding them. Here’s my first closeup of the day.
Along the South Bank we came to the Millennium Bridge. Looking at different perspectives and using Live with Long Exposure.
Off the South Bank we explored taking macro images and using a lens attached to the iPhone. These are the gardens between Holland and Sumner Streets.
We clearly were having so much fun that a security guard from the nearby apartments came out to see what were doing!
Hopton’s Alms Houses from Hopton Street
The Alms houses and apartment buildings provided an interesting contrast.
One Blackfriars
Place your phone on the ground (or close) and shoot upwards to capture the building.
Upper Ground
Interesting patterns on the road.
Reflections from Sea Containers House
A different view at the Oxo Tower
Up the steps to the landing at the back of the tower, the opposite wall makes an interesting image.
Back on the beach at the side of the Thames
The tide was now well and truly out. Down on the beach we explored macro photography looking closely at the walls of the South Bank.
We could now reach the abandoned wooden pier.
For Instagram.
The pier formed interesting frames for images across the Thames to St Paul’s.
Then I took images using the phone upside down and focussing on the beach’s pebbles.
Around the National Theatre
South Bank Skatepark
Next I was practising locking a subject and ‘blurring’ the background by panning. This is something that I do all the time with my cameras but not my phone. This is definitely a technique that I have to practise.
From the images this is for Instagram.
Under the footbridge
Next I learnt how to get bokeh using the phone. This is a technique that I have subsequently used a lot…
Here I used Live and selecting Long Exposure for this image of the roundabout past the footbridge.
Café in the Crypt
We left the South Bank and headed up towards Chinatown and Soho. On the way we went into the café below St Martin-in-the Fields church. This was a very brief stop just enough time to admire the vaulted ceilings.
Chinatown
As we walked through this guy was have a smoke break.
The windows were even more steamed up as we looked for the shot of the cooks working.
Here are two pictures of me using Live and Long Exposure (shot by Jeanette)
Soho
Look at the amazing roof in this barber’s shop.
The queues for this chocolate shop were behind security way down the street on the opposite side!
Carnaby Street
Off Carnaby Street is King’s Court – definitely a place to visit another time. Then I will go up to the mezzanine for my images.
Liberty London
Our last stop was in Liberty London to admire the wood from two Royal Navy ships (I didn’t know that before!)
Smartphone safari summary
Jeanette took me around the South Bank, Chinatown, Soho and the West End. I was her only participant on the safari. It seems she doesn’t cancel just because not many folks book.
This gave me an amazing opportunity to learn new techniques and to practise ones picked up from before. I was very lucky as we were able to visit lots of different places that I can now re-visit to try these techniques again for myself.