Solar Shard

Sunrise split by the London Shard.

I glanced at my watch as I strode out of the Tube station and through the drizzle into the emerging daylight. The time was one minute before sunrise – but would the clouds cooperate? I was heading once again for Primrose Hill, a popular site for viewing the sun rise over London’s cityscape, which I’d first visited on the winter solstice. This was my fifth visit in four weeks, and I was determined to capture a particular scene, a particular moment, that I’d forecasted one month ago. To get the shot, the sun would need to actually show up, and in rainy London that’s never certain. At home in the pre-dawn darkness, it was raining hard and the forecast was gloomy. I need to make a go/no-go decision 45 minutes before sunrise to reach to Primrose Hill on time. It’s always a gamble. Today I gambled and won.

People enjoy the sunrise view from Primrose Hill, London.
Continue reading “Solar Shard”

Tower of London

The iconic castle, prison, royal residence, and home to the Crown Jewels.

No visit to London would be complete without a visit to the iconic Tower of London. Originally built in the 1070s by William the Conquerer, it was the first stone castle in England, and has been expanded and revised numerous times over nine hundred years. Today, it serves largely as a tourist attraction, and as secure storage for the Crown Jewels. We arrived early for our ticketed entrance time of 11am, and wound our way slowly inward following a queue of hundreds of other visitors. The Tower (really, several towers surrounded by concentric defensive walls and a moat, now dry) was decorated for Christmas and thronged with holiday visitors.

Panoramic view of the Tower of London, from the edge of its moat,
with The Shard visible in the distance at right.
Continue reading “Tower of London”