London Landscape/seascape photography within easy reach of London

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Hi all, I’m hoping you may be able to help, I’m staying in London for 5 days at the beginning of December and have one spare day for some photography.
Ideally I’m looking at some sunrise/seascape photography but I’m struggling to find somewhere to go, I tried Southend on sea last year but I didn’t find anywhere very photogenic.
I don’t mind travelling for around 1.5-2hrs max ideally by train as I’m limited to public transport and luckily the sunrise by then will be at a reasonable time allowing me to get there and get set up.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, I understand a lot of it will be weather and tide dependant too.
Many thanks
 
Why not shoot stuff in London? Thames barrier at sunrise? Plenty of interesting buildings and skylines to shoot!

You'll struggle to get anywhere for sunrise via public transport if you're after seascapes.
 
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Maybe down to Greenwich, or out to Margate? Never been so can't recommend, but that's what comes to mind.
 
keety said:
Why not shoot stuff in London? Thames barrier at sunrise? Plenty of interesting buildings and skylines to shoot!

You'll struggle to get anywhere for sunrise via public transport if you're after seascapes.
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Thank you, the Thames barrier is a great idea, I’ve never been myself so will add that to the list of ideas.
 
ashishtamhane said:
If you are ok with a bit of a hike then may I suggest the Seven Sisters near Seaford?
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Lovely, but that is nearly two hours drive from where I am in the southern fringes of Greater London. From central London, you're looking at 3 hours.

The nearest railway station is Bishopstone, but to get there for 6am (allowing for a hike to catch first light just after 7am in early December) you'd have to leave the night before or get a National Express coach at 1:50am [Google maps directions]

With the 'regular' viewpoints from Cuckmere Haven I suspect you'd also be facing the wrong way looking eastward with the sun coming up behind the cliffs.*

e2a: * caveat - landscape is not my forté :D
 
To be positive, there are some opportunities to be had in Rotherhithe.

If you are in luck you could get some nice dawn light on Tower Bridge; the sun would be rising behind your back.

These are lunch time and at night, but you get the idea. There are a few more skyscrapers in the city now than when I took these..


London from Rotherhithe by Rob Telford, on Flickr


Tower Bridge and The Pool of London from Rotherhithe by Rob Telford, on Flickr


London at Night: Shard, Thames, City, Wapping by Rob Telford, on Flickr

If you get up really early and the weather is calm, the Thames goes quite smooth with no river traffic.

This was only a 5 second exposure (shortly before dawn in mid-June - I was working on some servers overnight and took a break while they were doing stuff that didn't need me)


Tower Bridge, in reflection by Rob Telford, on Flickr

Worth mentioning that the level of the Thames varies quite a lot with tides. It was fairly high for this shot.
 
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Like has been mentioned, sunrise at the coast isn't really a realistic proposition via public transport unless you go down the night before, Trains that travel to/from London tend to have their first Journey of the day INBOUND (to London) and the first Outbound (heading out of London to where you want to go) will be that same train heading back as the vast majority of people are commuting to London first thing and not out of London.
 
Musicman said:
Lovely, but that is nearly two hours drive from where I am in the southern fringes of Greater London. From central London, you're looking at 3 hours.

The nearest railway station is Bishopstone, but to get there for 6am (allowing for a hike to catch first light just after 7am in early December) you'd have to leave the night before or get a National Express coach at 1:50am [Google maps directions]

With the 'regular' viewpoints from Cuckmere Haven I suspect you'd also be facing the wrong way looking eastward with the sun coming up behind the cliffs.*

e2a: * caveat - landscape is not my forté :D
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Thanks for the info, yes I’ve just been looking into it myself and I didn’t realise how far away the nearest station is. I will certainly add it to the list of places to visit in the car though.
 
Musicman said:
To be positive, there are some opportunities to be had in Rotherhithe.

If you are in luck you could get some nice dawn light on Tower Bridge; the sun would be rising behind your back.

These are lunch time and at night, but you get the idea. There are a few more skyscrapers in the city now than when I took these..


London from Rotherhithe by Rob Telford, on Flickr


Tower Bridge and The Pool of London from Rotherhithe by Rob Telford, on Flickr


London at Night: Shard, Thames, City, Wapping by Rob Telford, on Flickr

If you get up really early and the weather is calm, the Thames goes quite smooth with no river traffic.

This was only a 5 second exposure (shortly before dawn in mid-June - I was working on some servers overnight and took a break while they were doing stuff that didn't need me)


Tower Bridge, in reflection by Rob Telford, on Flickr

Worth mentioning that the level of the Thames varies quite a lot with tides. It was fairly high for this shot.
Click to expand...
Excellent shots, I didn’t realise how high the tide fluctuates on the Thames. I’ve shot tower bridge myself a few times and never seen the water so high.
 
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