I walked past Buckingham Palace, through Trafalgar Square, over the Thames, past the London Eye, over the Westiminster Bridge and also took a gander at Big Ben/Parliament and Westminster Abbey.
It was a punishing walk, my feet are very sore and in need of some assistance from the Underground tomorrow I think. First allow me to share some photos from my journey, then I will tell a brief story about two encounters I had today.
It was a punishing walk, my feet are very sore and in need of some assistance from the Underground tomorrow I think. First allow me to share some photos from my journey, then I will tell a brief story about two encounters I had today.
So, story time, I'll try to keep it brief.
After leaving Trafalgar Square, I headed down a side street towards Embankment, where there was a bridge I could cross to get a view of the Thames. As I walked down this side street, I noticed 2 police officers moving towards me on the other side of the street. I immediately began searching for a composition on the other side of the street for them to "walk into." I found this one and took a test shot:
The black pole had a CCTV camera on top of it that I was planning on shooting and merging into this image once the final pieces, the cops, came into position. The cops never did come into position. Instead, they crossed the street and walked right over to me, asking why I was shooting the building. It wasn't the easiest question to answer so I just said "Art?" Turns out the building was the "OLD WAR OFFICE BUILDING" and taking pictures was a no-no. My bad. I figured it wouldn't be a big deal as there were other tourists snapping away happily all around me. The cops were nice and didn't make a big deal out of it, they were just following procedure, I got a souvenir out of it too.
On my way home, I was walking along next to a high stone wall that had an enormous amount of barbed wire and spikes all over it. I thought it was a little ridiculous and it looked kinda cool against the sky so I stopped and took literally ONE picture, and then moved on.
On my way home, I was walking along next to a high stone wall that had an enormous amount of barbed wire and spikes all over it. I thought it was a little ridiculous and it looked kinda cool against the sky so I stopped and took literally ONE picture, and then moved on.
About 2 minutes later a cop taps me on the shoulder as I'm walking and asks me to stop. Turns out the wall was the back wall of the freakin Buckingham Palace garden and that I was seen photographing the palace's "security measures." Here we go again. I showed the officer the single frame I took, he calls for his buddy on the radio and a few moments later a police car pulls up and a young officer hops out.
"Is that a 2.8?" he asks. I confirmed his suspicions.
"Nice, cool, cool, I have a Nikon D80. Speaking of which, I really need to get out and start shooting more."
You can see where this is going. Two nice guys, more procedural paperwork, another souvenir for me.
It was a long day, a long journey, and I learned a valuable lesson:
In London, nothing goes unnoticed, so don't take the picture unless you...
a) are sure it isn't a government building or
b) don't mind collecting yellow slips of paper with your name and contact info on them
More from London tomorrow...thanks for reading.
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2 comments:
eric, it is your brother Peter. I am concerned about your bad habit of photographing forbidden buildings! this is positively no good. On the second ticket it says "terrorist" somewhere in the description!! hahahah I like the second the guy, reminds me of an extra in a medievil battle scene or something. kinda guy who would bite your nose off. anyways, keep um the good work ya ol carpetbagger, and remember if you boil your shoelaces in a cup of hot water it makes a great tea! and its cheap!
come on man, england has the most security cameras out of anywhere in the world. stop trying to kidnap the queen.
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