The other problem I had is that I have an aversion to taking photographs when other people are taking exactly the same photograph. Like most press calls. Why not get one person to shoot them and everyone else could go and have a nice cup of tea?

Anyway I wandered out of my flat at 11.15 (PM, not AM as I heard of one person who was in position by the London Eye at 6PM) and wandered along to Hermitage which is just down the road next to Tower Bridge, about a five minute walk.

I had originally toyed with the idea of photographing reflections of the fireworks in the London Shard but thought it was a little risky and on seeing the Shard realised there were too many lights on.

But from Hermitage the low clouds above the London Eye were being illuminated by the searchlights so thought I would stay there.

Did a couple of test shots with my trusty 5D Mk2 and 24 – 105mm and thought that if the fireworks were high enough I might get something. (My 70-200 zoom was in good hands on Waterloo Bridge at the time but I didn’t need it).

Of course as soon as you put a decent camera on a decent tripod people think you are the local expert on <insert whatever you are photographing here> but I was at pains to point out that I might get a view of the fireworks but it was by no means guaranteed.

But at 12 midnight the fun started and I was quite happy. Good photos of fireworks? No. Good photo of the night sky of London painted red and green with the London Shard and Tower Bridge in the foreground? Oh yes! And I seemed to be the only photographer there.

(This is a very good photo of the fireworks taken by Vickie Flores).

Usually I shoot fireworks on manual (lots of practise at Aste Nagusia in Bilbao) but I used shutter priority at a second or two seconds and under exposed by two stops. Seemed to work.

I think I took about 124 shots on RAW and JPEG as is my habit and edited them down to just two.

You can see these two shots on Flickr here.

As soon as the fireworks finished I packed up and was home in ten minutes. Total time elapsed from leaving sofa to returning to sofa? One hour 10 minutes.

A very nice evening surrounded by lots of friendly East Enders. What more could you ask for? Oh yeah – a 300 2.8 Mk2

Kukkiwon Taekwondo Team at work

Spent a fascinating weekend working at the Thames Festival. There was lots and lots to photograph but the real crowd pleaser was the Kukkiwon Taekwondo Team.

They were doing there thing at Korea Calling, an area just by the Oxo Tower organised by the Korean Cultural Centre.

I am reasonably cynical and it takes a lot to impress me but this lot were quite incredible. And not only are they amazing athletes but they are really nice people too.

Although if you made the mistake of ever trying to mug one of them you might not agree with me.

The production team were extremely helpful in allowing me and the other photographers access to the side of the stage although they did say it was dangerous.

I didn’t really think about this and after dodging skateboards in Spitalfields and ping pong balls in Trafalfar Square and bricks in Aldgate in the last few weeks I wasn’t too bothered.

I thought they meant there was a risk of one of the team members falling on me.

In fact they were referring to the variety of flying wood block that were soon filling the air.

The team naturally dispose of these to one side and always try and send the splinters to the side to avoid the audience.

Amazing display,

EDL demonstrator tries to break through police lines.

I have been covering demonstrations of all types and sizes for more years than I care to remember. Most are peaceful, this one was violent. No surprises there.

Having made the mistake of wandering home without checking Twitter (see previous post) I managed to get a cup of tea before realising I needed to be somewhere else.

Aldgate.

So I hopped the Overground again to Shadwell and legged it along Cable Street to Aldgate, using my normal tactic of following the police helicopter.

Between Aldgate and Vallance Road it was pretty much deserted. Tumbeweed would have felt at home there.

Down the road from the UAF ant EDL protest in Whitechapel the EDL where being kept exactly where the police wanted them, outside Aldgate underground station.

Multiple police lines of police officers (most from Scotland), mounted police and police dogs separated the EDL people from a group of UAF people.

The afternoon proceeded to be quite lively and within a few minutes I was taking the precaution wearing my skateboard helmet (amazing how many photographers use skateboard gear despite never actually own a skateboard…) for basic protection after an argument with a flying bottle at G20 a year or two back.

The photograph here shows what happened when several EDL people tried to break through the police lines.

As you can see it was taken with a 80-200 zoom. I may be daft but I am not stupid.

Most amusing incident of the day was trying to explain to baffled tourists on Tower Bridge why it was a very BAD idea for them to try and continue their sightseeing through the massed ranks of police and EDL who were bearing down on them.

Lutfur Rahman, Mayor of Tower Hamlets, with local councillors.

When events happen in your own neighbourhood it’s tempting to get personally involved. If you do that then you don’t do your job properly. A better approach is to use your local knowledge to provide better coverage.

Last weekend an United Aganst Fascism (UAF) anti EDL protest was scheduled in the east end of London at the junction of Vallance Road and Whitechapel. Approximately 1,000 people gathered to protest against the English Defence League (EDL) march which had been banned by the Home Secretary. However the EDL was still likely to gather nearby.

Here Lutfur Rahman, Mayor of Tower Hamlets, is shown doing a walkabout along Whitechapel along with local councillors including Rabina Khan (left). The Major and other community leaders made speeches condemning the EDL.

The protest was peaceful.

I then wandered home (a quick hop on the Overground) when of course what I should have done was check Twitter and go to Aldgate…. see next post for details.

Skateboarder, Spitalfields

I know nothing about skateboarding but I often finding knowing nothing about a subject you are going to photograph is a distinct benefit.

The reason why is because you question everything and come to the subject with no preconceptions, much like being a stranger in a foreign land.

I was covering the Vans Downtown Showdown Event at Old Spitalfields Market for Visit London and once I had sorted out my accreditation I took my time watching what was going on.

Key thing was to find somewhere to be able to operate properly. Always is. Can’t operate properly you can’t take decent shots.

Main issue of the morning was to be able to stand with a reasonably low risk of being hit by flying skateboards.

When the stunts and trick don’t quite go as they should the rider goes in one direction and the skateboard in the other. At some speed. One of the other photographers got a skateboard in the head but he seemed none the worse for it.

I decided to use a very large American photographer as my first line of protection. He seemed happy with this as long as I kept well behind him when he was shooting as he was using a fish eye lens.

In fact everyone apart from me seemed to be using a fish eye! Maybe it’s just the thing to do.