New camera. Now what?

April 13, 2009 11:47 AM

Where do the photographers among you go to take interesting pictures in a city? Bonus if it's London-specific.

My list of places to go, camera in hand, are:
- graveyards
- parks / heaths
- the City of London when it's not a workday
- street markets
In addition I take my camera and gorillapod pretty much everywhere I go and take pictures of random things that I happen to spot.

So where do you guys go to take pictures?

Thanks all.

posted by Ziggy500 to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (14 answers total)

A high vantage point, to take pictures for tilt-shift miniature faking.
posted by mattn at 11:55 AM on April 13, 2009

Just tossing this idea out there: Try to pick a spot randomly. Throw a dart at a map or whatever and then go there with your camera and make something interesting. Sometimes the places we'd naturally think of to take interesting pictures don't provide the same level of originality as the places we'd never think to associate with photography.
posted by Quizicalcoatl at 11:57 AM on April 13, 2009 [1 favorite]

I love the river generally, but especially the bankside from the the Tower down to Wapping. Haunting silhouettes against a flat horizon, and when the tide is low you get the historic wooden struts from the old bridges and docks.

The Waterloo end of the south bank at night is also great, all the mad geometry of the Haywood and NT, with Big Ben caught in the spokes of the London Eye.
posted by freya_lamb at 12:01 PM on April 13, 2009

If you can get authorization, I love to take a camera to high schools- inner city or private. The faces, the groups of people and the adult exchanges are all too familiar but fascinating. Lots of material and the kids are usually willing to be the subject.
posted by Viomeda at 12:15 PM on April 13, 2009

I like the challenge of going to some of the obvious photo attractions (of which London has many, of course), but putting some time and thought into shooting it in a way that I haven't seen before. This could be a different angle, a closer view, or shooting details that escape the attention of most viewers.
posted by The Deej at 12:26 PM on April 13, 2009

In my part of the world (NC, USA) I like to going to small and medium towns and walking in the alleyways and back lots behind the main street storefronts. Usually there a lots of interesting bricked-up windows, faded and peeling paint, and piles of random rusty crap.
posted by marxchivist at 12:48 PM on April 13, 2009

How about Greenwich park? Lots to see there, good viewpoint over parts of london on a sunny day. There's usually some pretty interesting stuff going on in Camden too. I think the main part of St. Pancras can make an awesome photo too. Especially the roof.
posted by sliderjc at 12:51 PM on April 13, 2009

Quizicalcoatl's suggesting is good - anything can be interesting with good composition, and I find that more fun that going to a well-known location.

In addition to picking random places, also give yourself interesting challenges:

* Only shoot macro/less than 1m away
* Shoot everything through a reflection
* Shoot only laying down
* Fix the aperture/shutter and shoot as much as possible w/o changing it
* Pick a theme and wander through town (a color, a shape, an action, etc)
* Focus on a different aspect of a location (go to a scenic viewpoint and shoot the people, etc)
posted by jpeacock at 12:52 PM on April 13, 2009

When I spent a college semester in London as a photography student, a fleeting 34 years ago, Speakers Corner in Hyde Park was my favorite shooting spot.

Somewhere, in my studio storage boxes, are my 35mm Tri-X negatives of any number of great faces verbally and vividly espousing the solutions to all of mankind's problems; including the ravings of THE original Aqualung.

If I went back today, I'd head right back to that same place and shoot the hell out of whatever was in front of me all day long.
posted by imjustsaying at 4:29 PM on April 13, 2009

Golders Green Crematorium is an easy find off the Northern Line going to Edgware. The place is gorgeous and relaxing as hell. After wandering round and shooting for a little while, I sat at the ash scattering lawn for a breather. About 5 minutes later, a procession came by and I got to watch an ash scattering.

The staff is also quite friendly and don't bat an eyelash at someone taking pictures. With the recent passing of Wendy Richard, they're probably expecting it.
posted by arishaun at 4:49 PM on April 13, 2009

A general thought, rather than specific: in a city, no-one except tourists look up.

Unfortunately whenever I myself remember this and spot an unusual ceiling, nice bit of architrave, or interesting angle to the buildings, I never have my camera with me...
posted by Pinback at 7:10 PM on April 13, 2009

Any cathredral or church........old buildings in general.........older parts of a city where the architecture is different and interesting
posted by Taurid at 4:20 PM on April 14, 2009

abney cemetery on the stoke newington high street is pretty amazing. overgrown, rambling, huge, with an old chapel in the middle.
posted by soi-disant at 2:36 AM on April 15, 2009

Response by poster: Thanks a lot everyone. I'd mark best answers, but then I'd end up marking every single one!
posted by Ziggy500 at 7:21 AM on April 15, 2009