The London Lights in Central London, December 2024

Street photographers love London, and everyone has their favourite area for taking pictures. I simply enjoy watching people move around the streets. Sometimes, you find a street teeming with opportunities for photographs; other times, it is not so fruitful. But, as they say, go with the flow—good pictures are always waiting for you.

The London Lights in Central London, December 2024
The upside down world of Soho.
The London Lights in Central London, December 2024
Good will on Earth to Refugees.

When wandering the streets, having a companion to share your journey is invaluable. Peter is an excellent photo buddy (link to Website). Living in London, Peter knows the best places to visit and is adept at finding ideal spots to stand. My other companion is my Fujifilm X100vi. The inbuilt image stabilisation makes it perfect for street photography. I shoot with a low shutter speed (1/30,1/60), a wide aperture (f4), and auto ISO to adapt to unexpected moments. The resulting pictures can be noisy, but a quick edit with Lightroom’s denoise function cleans them up effectively.

The London Lights in Central London, December 2024
Everyone is taking pictures of the Piccadilly light show.
The London Lights in Central London, December 2024
The streets were atmospheric giving a Christmas look.

I have also set up my camera with back-button focusing, which has significantly improved my ability to capture scenes in focus. However, this technique introduces a slight delay as I focus before pressing the shutter. I overcome this by anticipating the scene forming in front of me.  

The London Lights in Central London, December 2024
Regent street shop displays are very elegant making super street photography backdrops.

My first stop was to see the lights along Regent Street, with the beautiful angels soaring above the centre of the road. The shop windows offered bright, eye-catching displays. My technique here was simple: stand still for a few minutes and point my camera at the scene waiting for a suitable picture to materialise. The magic in this series of pictures came from the rain earlier in the afternoon. A light drizzle was falling on the pavement, creating reflections that shimmered with colours.

The London Lights in Central London, December 2024
Reflections and colours

I met Peter at Waterstones’ coffee shop, and we set off together. Starting with the bright lights of Piccadilly, we walked along Shaftesbury Avenue before exploring Chinatown. The city was bustling as it was the end of the working day. Pubs were overflowing, and people were moving everywhere, on foot and by bicycle. There was so much activity that pictures appeared all around us.


The rain added another layer to the story, bringing out umbrellas that enhanced the scenes. As we wandered into the narrow streets of Soho, the vibrant atmosphere gave way to Leicester Square. Here, we encountered a German market, but it was a disappointment. The stalls were no different from those found in Birmingham, and their circular arrangement felt uninspired. I did, however, find an interesting tree to photograph, though not much else of note.

The London Lights in Central London, December 2024
Tree decorations – Leicester Square.
The London Lights in Central London, December 2024
Busking away looking for an audience.

We did not stay long at the market. Instead, we headed to the Diamond Jubilee Garden facing St Paul’s Church in Covent Garden. The coloured lights reflecting off the wet pavements created a stunning view, and the silhouettes of people walking through the garden added depth to the composition of my pictures. We arrived at Covent Garden itself, and the decorations there were breathtaking. The large decorative bells and Christmas ornaments hanging from the ceiling filled the space with festive charm. The place was alive with energy, and I could have spent hours photographing the scene.  This was my final stop on my visit to the lights of London.  There were a few more pictures to take along the Strand before arriving at Charing Cross station and the Bakerloo line up to Marylebone station.  

The London Lights in Central London, December 2024
Approaching Covent Garden.
The London Lights in Central London, December 2024
St Paul’s Church Covent Garden.
The London Lights in Central London, December 2024
Street reflections and silhouettes. St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden.
The London Lights in Central London, December 2024
The Christmas tree and decorations in Covent Garden
The London Lights in Central London, December 2024
The beauty of the interior of Covent Garden.

All that remains for me to say is: enjoy my photographs and the short descriptions accompanying each one. There are some fantastic backdrops, including a particularly amusing one where a poster is upside down. I am sure this was deliberate, designed to catch the eye of keen street photographers like Peter and me as we wander London’s streets.

The London Lights in Central London, December 2024
Toys and Souvenirs.
The London Lights in Central London, December 2024
Blue tyres and red lights on the Strand.
The London Lights in Central London, December 2024
Outside Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club.
The London Lights in Central London, December 2024
Walking in the rain outside the Hippodrome.
The London Lights in Central London, December 2024
I love London.
The London Lights in Central London, December 2024
The shop window says it all.
The London Lights in Central London, December 2024
Escalator at Charing Cross.

If you enjoyed this view of Christmas lights then please follow the links below for more stories. One is about Christmas in Birmingham this year. The second is snow in our village in 2017.

In the present lockdown situation, there has been the opportunity to take up different photographic projects that due to a busy lifestyle you would not normally have the time to complete.  My photography revolves around my job which is travelling to conferences, my daily commute into Birmingham and the growing family.  I have tried my hand at other forms of photography but not really had the time to look at it in detail.  I belong to a photographic group which is part of the BritshTechNetwork and the convenor Ewen Rankin, a professional photographer has been setting us photographic tasks (https://www.britishtechnetwork.com/category/photo).  These have been included water droplets and colourful reflections on the top of bubbles. 

The one that I found fascinating was oil on water.  I have revisited the technique a couple of times and I was very pleased that one of my pictures was selected in the Top 4 of a recent #ShareMondays2020 competition on Twitter.  I therefore decided to write up how I obtained the colourful picture and show you how straightforward the technique can be.  If done well it does produce very striking colourful abstract photographs.

Equipment

The set-up is fairly simple.  You need a sturdy tripod with a horizontal arm that can help position the camera over the water.  A good deep bowl is needed, here a glass Pyrex water jug is used.  I have a small raised table that I use for my laptop work.  The jug is placed on a colourful background on the table.  In this case I have used a well-known children’s book and there is a patchwork of different colours that will provide an interesting background.  A strong light source is needed and I have placed this to lean into the jug.  Please be careful as there is a mix of electrical wires and water so do take the necessary precautions.  The continuous light was provided by a Rotolight NEO2 set at an angle.  My work table has some grooves which allowed the light to be stabilised at the base.

What is needed – Tripod, washing up liquid, Camera with macro lens, NEO2, Olive Oil, Colour background, teaspoon and water jug and small table to place jug on.
Positioning the light against the jug of water placed on the background

Technique

A small amount of Olive oil is placed in a teaspoon and dropped onto the surface of the water.  It is often difficult to make out the oil on the water so it is with careful trial and error that the macro lens is positioned to focus on the water surface and the oil.  The teaspoon is also used to gently stir the water although later we agitate the surface more vigorously.  

Camera settings

The camera used was a Canon D5 with a 100mm macro lens.  The focus was set at f/2 which throws the background out of focus.  I used a fast shutter speed (s/250) as the oil droplets will circulate quickly as it gets stirred up more and more.  Using live view assists with the focussing.  I upped the ISO to 800 so that I got a clear image on the back of the camera. I adjusted the set up so that I could bring a chair up close in order to sit comfortably and just concentrate on the photography.  Manual focus was used throughout to ensure sharp pictures. 

Advanced technique

After the oil is photographed then the next steps include adding washing up liquid to the water.  This changes the surface tension of the water and introduces more shapes.  It also creates more bubbles which can once again be guided by the teaspoon.  Changing the firing mode to continuous shooting allows you to capture different combinations as the water moves around following stirring/agitation.  Also remember to move, position or change the background to get different colour effects.

Processing 

The pictures are uploaded into Lightroom for processing and you are free to follow your normal preferred settings.  There may be a need for creative cropping to get the best abstract picture.  I like looking at the shapes and the symmetry or just letting my artistic decisions rule my cropping.  Two tips for oil and water pictures.  Increase your saturation levels to a much higher setting than normal.  The water absorbs the light and your pictures will initially look dull.  Increasing the saturation compensates for this and gives pleasing results.  I also move the picture into Photoshop where I apply an unsharp mask and adjust the levels to give the best exposure.  

The saturation is increased to around 40 in Lightroom

Summary

This technique is straightforward and produces some stunning abstract photography that you will be proud to display on your monitor or on your wall.  It is easy to set up and is a useful introduction into macro photography.  Have fun and enjoy taking the photographs.