Emm in London: The Shard

Sunday, May 06, 2012

London at Dawn: A Photographer's Dream

The challenge is simple. You meet up an hour before sunrise with the London at Dawn team consisting of photographer Anthony Epes and black cab driver and certified tour guide Nick Mortimer. Using tripods (which the team graciously provide), Anthony will guide you to photograph entirely on manual settings while Nick shares his impressive knowledge of London history and architecture with you.

The workshops are aimed at beginner photographers and what better subject to practice on than a city at dawn? Especially London at dawn?

I now understand why people say they will never return to automatic after learning to shoot on manual. For the first time I was able to see a scene with my own eyes and transfer that light and beauty into my photographs. It was amazing and I cannot express enough how much I learned on the workshop.

On the morning of our photo shoot, we met just after 5am and began taking photos at 5.30am after a short introduction. We were standing on the Tower Bridge Millennium Pier, just beneath the Tower of London. The sunrise was at 5.50am on that day and these photos were taken in the 20 minutes before sunrise. It was amazing to me how rapidly the light changed and how frequently we had to adjust our settings.

Remember to click on any of the photos below to enlarge them.

5.31am The Shard

I am sure that it is no surprise that I immediately set my tripod down and pointed the camera straight at The Shard. We were fortunate that we had blue skies but it got colder as it approached sunrise.

5.32am The Shard and HMS Belfast

In this photo you can see the HMS Belfast in the foreground and that is London Bridge at the far right of the photo, lit up in red.

5.33am Tower Bridge and City Hall

This is one of my favourite photos. This photo was taken facing south-east and you can see the faint glow of sunrise behind Tower Bridge. City Hall is to the right.

5.36am The Shard and London Bridge

Facing west again, it was a little darker. You can see a little more of London Bridge.

5.41am Tower Bridge and City Hall

Nine minutes before sunrise and the buildings still had a bluish hue before the arrival of the golden glow of the sun.

5.42am City Hall, 3, 4 & 2 More London Riverside and HMS Belfast

5.43am The Shard and HMS Belfast (with 2 More London Riverside, Southwark Crown Court, Hays Galleria and the Cotton Centre)

5.48am Tower Bridge

Two minutes before sunrise and it felt as if the whole world was holdings its breath. What a stunning experience.

5.49am Tower Bridge, one minute before sunrise

5.54am London Bridge at Sunrise

And finally… daybreak.

We took many more photos that morning and there are lots more to come. One thing is for sure, as painful as it was to wake up so early, I will definitely be trying to catch London at dawn this summer and hope to attend another London at Dawn workshop this summer, hopefully the two-day Big Ben to Canary Wharf one in August.

Disclosure: My day on the London at Dawn experience was kindly sponsored by London at Dawn but all opinions and enthusiasm are definitely my own. I’d like to thank the team at London at Dawn for inviting me along on this adventure and hope to see them again soon.

The Shard: A Year in Photos

When construction first began on The Shard back in 2009, it seemed like 2012 was a long, long way away. It has been just over a year since The Shard first began peeking out over rooftops in the London Bridge area and a full year since I started taking photos. So, without further ado, I present you a year of photos of The Shard. Click on any of the photos for an enlargement.

March 2010

In March 2010, the building was about 18 levels high. All that we could see was the central core and while there was a framework around the bottom 7 levels or so, there was not much to see down there yet.

April 2010

By April 2010, The Shard began to dominate the sky as you walked out of London Bridge Station forecourt. In just one month, they had made incredible progress and the framework for the lower levels and lobby seemed to be complete, as was the framework for the first three concrete floors. The core had reached about 20 levels (it is difficult to see how much more has been built under the Mace banner).

May 2010

In just three weeks from April 30 to May 20, 2010, the core had shot up 7 levels to 27 levels. Work on the concrete floors (which I increasingly began to view as either a ‘skirt’ or cake layers) continued to five floors.

August 2010

For a period of time, there didn’t appear to be any discernible difference in the progress of The Shard, but over the summer of 2010, the core rose to 37 levels and the outer layers really did begin to look like the skirt of a flamenco dress with all of that red and black. If you look at the photo below-right, you will also see that the building began to extend slightly to the east.

The glass work began to be visible above the tops of buildings later in the year and the bottom levels were lit up to look like a Christmas tree. I wish I had taken a photo of that but was far too cold and miserable to be taking out my camera!

January 2011

By January 2011, The Shard had begun to dominate the London skyline. The core had reached its highest level at level 72 and the concrete floors had reached to about level 44. The glass cladding had reached about level 35.

February 2011

The concrete floors reached level 46 by the end of February and the glass cladding continued to be completed around the building. Attention was given to the extended blocks to the east of the building.

March 2011

The Shard London Bridge March 2011

By the end of March 2011, the concrete floors had reached level 50 and the cladding was complete to level 38. The work on the extended blocks was mostly completed and I imagine it will simply be onwards and upwards now until the building is completed.

I certainly cannot wait until the observation deck is complete and look forward to one final year of Shard watching. The Shard is currently the tallest building in London and the United Kingdom and exceeded One Canada Square in late November 2010.

The Shard and London Bridge Quarter

There is no doubt about it. The Shard is going to be absolutely exquisite when it is finished in 2012. Here are some press images that were released a couple of years ago. You can see more plus videos and models at the site London Bridge Quarter - The Shard - London Bridge Place.

The skyline will be greatly altered (you can click on the image for a larger resolution).

The Shard will emerge from behind City Hall and will look like a shard of glass going into the sky.

We will finally be able to walk along the street level again and on the piazzas between the buildings.

The Shard will feature super snazzy apartments…

… and state of the art offices.

When The Shard is competed in 2012, it will be the tallest skyscraper in the United Kingdom. It will stand at 310 metres tall (1,017 feet) and will have 72 floors plus 15 radiator floors on the roof.

The project architect is Renzo Piano and he has designed the building to look like a shard of glass. The building will have a public viewing gallery at the top and is expected to draw two million visitors a year. I’d just like to put it out there that I would love to be amongst the privileged group of people that gets to preview the viewing deck.

I, for one, cannot wait to see it when it is finished. I do, however, find it makes me think rather silly things. For example, “Oh look! There is even place for the Four Horsemen to land” and “We have a Gherkin, an Onion and now we have a Toothpick!” I will try my best not to come up with any more witty remarks.

The Shard Update March 2010

I was absolutely convinced that I had posted about the Shard and London Bridge Quarter before but all I can find is one tiny mention in a post from October 2008. Oh well, here is a really big update then seeing as I haven’t told you anything about it before (and if any of you can find more in my archives, you can be my best friend!)

The Shard and London Bridge Quarter is the development that is currently taking place right outside of London Bridge station. It is taking forever to go up but when it is completed in 2012, it will be the tallest building in the United Kingdom. When finished, it will look like a shard of glass. I know in 5 years time, it will seem impossible that this place was a giant construction site for four whole years so I would you to give you an idea of how it looks now.