London for the weekend, lightrail advice

[Ben6]

Hey guys as the tittle says I'm off to London for my birthday at the weekend with the mrs.
We've got a trip on the London eye booked which should be a good chance to get some shots of the city.
While I'm in that area i wanted to do the light trail that seems to be popular with big ben and part of the houses of parliament in shot, my main question really is that i don't really want to lug a tripod around London so do any locals know is there a particular bench/wall nearby that would be perfect for me to take this shot or do i really need to bring my tripod too?
Any advice on settings and any other must take pics would be greatly appreciated too.
Not really done any night time photography so looking forward to it and any advice is appreciated.

 

[barrieluv]

I was on the South Bank the other night and found myself wanting a tripod as most of the walls along the river have rounded tops to them. Still, I was able to hold my camera still enough to get some good shots of Houses of Parliament from the embankment directly opposite (there's less tourists there, too). Mind you, I was using a compact.
There's some nice neon lighting going on along South Bank, too

 

[Ben6]

I was on the South Bank the other night and found myself wanting a tripod as most of the walls along the river have rounded tops to them. Still, I was able to hold my camera still enough to get some good shots of Houses of Parliament from the embankment directly opposite (there's less tourists there, too). Mind you, I was using a compact.
There's some nice neon lighting going on along South Bank, too

Your light trail of big ben is just like i want to achieve, I've got a really slim tripod that i might take, its not very solid at all but would be nice a light and fit in my rucksack but maybe perfect for this shot.
Also how long was your shutter speed for that?
Great timing too, i take it thats a bus thats created the greenish trails.

 

[barrieluv]

If you shoot the London Eye from the opposite side of the river, you can get a nice light trail round the eye with a 30sec+ exposure.
My attempt (not good, but for no tripod and limited experience, not bad):

 

[Ben6]

If you shoot the London Eye from the opposite side of the river, you can get a nice light trail round the eye with a 30sec+ exposure.
My attempt (not good, but for no tripod and limited experience, not bad):

Thats brilliant, giving me plenty of ideas for the weekend.
How long was the exposure for your trail of big ben?

 

[barrieluv]

For Big Ben, that one was 3.4 secs. There's plenty of buses to be had on Westminster Bridge so you shouldn't have to wait to long. And lots of tourists. Also, try to avoid rush hour. Nightmare.

 

[barrieluv]

Oh, and if you like graffiti, look up Leake Street. It's a five minute walk from The Eye. It's a tunnel which is a legal graffiti area.

 

[Ben6]

For Big Ben, that one was 3.4 secs. There's plenty of buses to be had on Westminster Bridge so you shouldn't have to wait to long. And lots of tourists. Also, try to avoid rush hour. Nightmare.

Yeah i think the most difficult bit may be trying to get the shot without tourists in the way. Im guessing if i make the exposure long enough then they would be blurred out of the shot anyway.

 

[Ben6]

Oh, and if you like graffiti, look up Leake Street. It's a five minute walk from The Eye. It's a tunnel which is a legal graffiti area.

That sounds great too, something to do during the afternoon in the daylight.

 

[barrieluv]

Lol! Yeah, not sure I'd go at night, but during the day... safe as houses. When I was there, there were two young guys doing a video shoot, a young lady doing a dance promo, some street artists practising their skills and a small number of very confused tourists. None of them minded me shooting them, either. Which was nice.

 

[Ben6]

Lol! Yeah, not sure I'd go at night, but during the day... safe as houses. When I was there, there were two young guys doing a video shoot, a young lady doing a dance promo, some street artists practising their skills and a small number of very confused tourists. None of them minded me shooting them, either. Which was nice.

Thats cool, opportunities to photograph everything in London!