If you look up, you might see something towering overhead. Gleaming glass towers stretching up until they seem to pierce the clouds themselves.
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | ILCE-7RM5 |
| Focal length | 24mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 1/5000s |
Tag Archives: United Kingdom
Trans+ Pride London 2025
An estimated 100,000 people joined the Trans+ Pride event yesterday in London as they marched from near BBC Broadcasting House, past Downing Street, and on to Westminster Palace to Parliament Square Gardens. It was spectacular & emotional to watch.
“The message was clear: we will not be erased. Our existence is natural, historic, and enduring. You can try to take away our rights, but you will never remove us from society. We are a part of humanity, and the public will not stand by while harm is done to our community.”
Lewis G Burton, one of the founding members of London Trans+ Pride
More coverage from the Guardian & BBC and elsewhere.
| Aperture | ƒ/4 |
| Camera | ILCE-7RM5 |
| Focal length | 24mm |
| ISO | 125 |
| Shutter speed | 1/500s |
A Solitary Figure in Birmingham
Walking along Corporation Street, I was watching out for interesting people to photograph when I saw a man watching people walking past. We’d just come out of Grand Central Shopping Centre, the sun was shining, and I quickly walked over to the shaded part of the street. It was too warm for me. Might have been the same for this gentleman.
| Aperture | ƒ/6.3 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 16mm |
| ISO | 320 |
| Shutter speed | 1/500s |
The Speed of Light on London Streets
The speed of light is definitely more than 20mph in London.
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 24mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 13s |
The Cat in the big smoke
There’s something delightfully peculiar about finding a cat on a lead. I spotted these two characters taking a break near Camden Town in London. The scene just screamed to be photographed. The smoke caught in the sunlight and the cat’s nonchalant pose, how could I resist?
It’s a candid shot, of course, and as the photo was taken in 2022. I wonder if they were and are still living in London?
I searched and found this TikTok video from later in 2022, so they were still around there in October that year!
| Aperture | ƒ/7.1 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 16mm |
| ISO | 1000 |
| Shutter speed | 1/500s |
Brian May in the Spotlight
Queen + Adam Lambert played in the O2 in London as part of their 2022 Rhapsody Tour, and I was there in the middle of June.
I love Queen’s music. I wanted to go see them for a long time but left it late to book tickets for one of their London shows. The only seats left were away up in the rafters, to the side of the stage. (and then they announced a Belfast show a few weeks later, but we had paid for concert tickets, plane tickets and a family hotel room. Ah, well.)
One of the highlights of the gigs was when the late Freddie Mercury was shown on the big screen singing Love of My Life with Brian May. Guess who didn’t see any of it because of where he was sitting? A beautiful moment, and I knew what was happening when the crowd cheered. And I missed it all. I was crushed.
Earlier in the day, on the way to the concert, in the taxi, I took my phone out of my pocket to check Google Maps. To my horror, my phone screen remained blank. I figured the phone was still on because I heard a WhatsApp notification, but the screen remained stubbornly black. Disaster! The tickets were on my phone! Luckily, we had installed the O2 app on my family’s phones, so I consoled myself that one of those phones would work. I couldn’t be more wrong. They were logged out and because the password manager was on my phone, we had no way to log in. I remember wishing I had my laptop, which was back in the hotel. However, we weren’t the only ones in that situation, but customer support at the O2 are used to it and got us physical replacement tickets. The following morning, my phone worked fine again.
So, It wasn’t an ideal experience. Yes, you can say it was my own fault for not booking earlier, but they still offered those sections of the arena for sale, and every seat was taken. I didn’t post this or any other photo from the concert as I was so disappointed by everything that happened, but time has dulled my feelings about it. I still love Queen music, and I even love their 80s and 90s output. Despite my experience, it was spectacular to see Brian May and Roger Taylor perform.
| Aperture | ƒ/2.8 |
| Camera | DSC-RX100M4 |
| Focal length | 25.7mm |
| ISO | 12800 |
| Shutter speed | 1/500s |
Ladies Cycling Happily
In what seems like an eternity now, I photographed these ladies cycling along Eastcheap in London in June 2021. Hey, guess it gets you out in the fresh(ish) air and doing exercise before maybe going for a drink, or a lie down (zzzzz, too much exercise), later on.
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 126mm |
| ISO | 640 |
| Shutter speed | 1/500s |
Making Plans in London
A woman, deep in thought, wondering what she’ll buy at a market in London a few years ago.
I only noticed she had her glasses sitting on her head. Ingenious! I hate wearing sunglasses while walking, as I have to replace them with my glasses when I go somewhere dark.
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 89mm |
| ISO | 125 |
| Shutter speed | 1/200s |
The little business man
One Hot Hit!
The Chauffeur and the Rolls
Never a phone when you want one…
I guess if you’re in London you probably won’t have much trouble finding a public phone. A group of them stood here, wherever it is. Empty and alone.
Meanwhile, traffic passes in the background, casting eerie light trails through the photo.
| Aperture | ƒ/8 |
| Camera | ILCE-7M3 |
| Focal length | 24mm |
| ISO | 100 |
| Shutter speed | 13s |