Light trails and starburst photography - two of my favourite things

London’s cable car by night - light trail and starburst photography

The O2 arena was back in business two nights ago on the 11th of May and, as part of a government scheme to test re-opening mass events, it hosted The Brit Awards. I had hoped there might be a light show to mark the occasion so I headed down to take photos of the arena. When I got there I found that there was no special light show but the O2 dome is pretty spectacular anyway so it’s always a pleasure to capture it in different weather conditions and at different times of the day.

The last time I had been to this location I had also taken photos of the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf, which really grab your attention. However this time I turned in the other direction towards the Emirates Air Line cable car. As the sky grew darker the red lights on the exterior of the cable cars came on and I had the idea of a long exposure shot to capture the movement of the cars as they rose up from the Greenwich Peninsula terminal on their way across the Thames to the Royal Docks (quite close to the Excel centre).

I absolutely love the cable car and have been on it quite a few times. It’s one of the best value tourist attractions in London in my opinion because where else can you get such high views and vertigo inducing thrills for such a low price as a return fare which is currently £8. I made a video of the journey in the cable car last year and if you have 8 minutes to spare you can click here to view it on my YouTube channel.

Although I only had a partial view, I got a shot which I’m very happy with and which is my main featured image today (above). It combines light trails and starburst photography which are two of my favourite things.

London’s cable car - Emirates Air Line - at dusk

I’ve included 4 images of the partial cable car view which all have a slightly different feel. My goal for the future is to find a spot where I can get a good photo of as much of the cable car as possible. Its stretch is quite long so that’s not something I’ve found easy so far but I’ll keep trying.

London’s cable car - view of one support on the Greenwich Peninsula side

London’s cable car - Emirates Air Line - by night

So, back now to the main reason I was out on that night, which was to get a photo of the O2 showing that the Brit Awards were taking place and that it was a special night and that’s this one below. I was pleased I managed to capture the Brit Awards logos as they rotated on the displays outside the dome although they are quite small in comparison to the vast expanse of the dome itself.

O2 dome and arena by night on its first opening after the lockdown when it hosted The Brit Awards

I also took a time lapse video and the lighting in it is lovely with some spectacular clouds passing over and river boats passing by. Unfortunately it was so windy that the video is shaky in quite a few places. I might be able to stabilise it in my editing software (which I haven’t tried yet) but if not it’ll mean a return journey on another evening to try again. That’s something I’ll look forward to on a nice still evening without the wind chill factor we’ve had this week.

As I sit and write this it’s raining but it’s not causing me any problems as I’ve got a lot to do indoors today and no concrete plans to go out.

I hope that all is well with you.

Yours

Loren

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