Marble Arch Ironwork
Caption:
Marble Arch Ironwork
Description:
Metal gates in Marble Arch London by Samuel Parker in 1828.
The gates show the lion of England , the cypher of George IV , and the figure of St . George and the Dragon.
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Photo Comments:
One of the perennial problems of travel photography is that you can’t always choose exactly where you are at the right place and the right time.
This time I had decided to stay in Central London for a few days to give myself a decent chance of choosing.
I strolled down to Marble Arch early in the morning setting out at about 6 am.
Still, it was obvious nothing was going to work if I wanted an iconic view.
The light was flat and lifeless, the sky was grey and muddy.
So, what to do?
Well, with all buildings you have a choice of choosing details as well as a full view.
And with famous landmarks it’s perhaps best to look beyond the standard view anyway.
As I walked around and under the arch I was really taken by the superb ironwork of the open gates.
Samuel Parker’s ironwork combines patriotic symbols with superb craftsmanship.
The light levels were not very good and I was travelling light without a tripod or even a monopod.
Luckily the archway and the ironwork provided me with a good substitute and I was able to steady my Canon 5D Mark 11 and Tamron 28-80 SP zoom, my favourite walkaround lens.
I took several photos using different shutterspeed and aperture combinations.
Even when there’s plenty of support for the camera it’s easy to shake or nudge it.
I hoped that one or more of the pictures would have a good result.
I was right – or lucky – and obtained some sharp and detailed results in both horizontal and vertical formats.
Lighting on this one ended up adding good dimension. Do you ever carry around an off camera strobe or is that more equipment than you’re wanting to haul with you?
Hi T J
This is quite a tough one. lighting’s so important but in recent years I haven’t taken off camera strobes around with me. I don’t use built in flash as the Canon 5D Mark 11 doesn’t have one. What I do is take a Canon hotshoe flash with me when I think it might be useful and I use it either bounced or with a diffuser. I’m definitely not a fan of direct flash except in certain circumstances when there are no shadows and no reflections – some old church walls for example