Week 6 - Photoshoot in Central London

Practice Shoot

Aim: To capture photographs which possess my project's theme of symmetry in architecture.

Location(s): Central London (London Victoria to Canary Wharf) 

Equipment: Nikon D700 with 20mm, 50mm and 80mm lenses, tripod

Timings: Midday-Late evening 

Cost: All-day travel card (£10)

Notes: Focus on your composition, look out for parallel and converging lines. As it's just a practice shoot, look for minimalist elements of architecture as well as full landscapes. Interior or exterior shots.

Shoot Reflection:
After spending 6 hours walking all across London, I only managed to capture around 50 photographs. At the time, I felt quite disappointed at the end of the day with the lack of photographs, but I was happy with the images I did get to capture. I now realise from approaching my theme practically that there will be elements of landscape photography and minimalist architecture.
Whilst on shoot, I found it rather difficult to find 'beauty spots' to capture architecture in a symmetrical dynamic. Even with the 20mm wide-angle lens, it was hard to capture whole buildings, so I began to focus more on specific details and patterns within their construction. The shoot was very time-consuming, especially travelling around on foot and having to set a tripod up for each shot. I realise now that 90% of the time landscape and architectural photographers are out shooting, they are scouting their location for the perfect perspective.
I now feel that my photography took more of an urban landscape approach than my shoots initial aim for capturing my project theme's idea of symmetrical architecture. 
As much as I loved the idea of incorporating symmetry in my compositions, capturing architecture as my main element to urban landscapes seemed to be a more on-going relationship into how I approached the shoot.
Although this shoot did have it's negatives, it has encouraged me to research more into the photographic approaches of urban landscapes and minimalist architecture.