Club members made their own way to Lewisham, where we met at the new Docklands Light Railway station for the trip to Canary Wharf. Most people took their pictures during the late morning, with some staying on to enjoy lunch at Canary Wharf, after which most people went home. I, on the other hand, wished to visit some of the properties which were open as part of London Open House Weekend, so I proceeded from Canary Wharf up to Shadwell, where I visited a Nicholas Hawksmoor church. Then I returned to Canary Wharf to take advantage of the afternoon light to get a different view of things.
I have divided the pictures up into groups of three. The first group were taken from a vantage point on the opposite site of the dock from the Canary Wharf DLR (Docklands Light Railway) Station.
The picture on the left is one I have titled Heading for Heron Quays. It shows a DLR train leaving Canary Wharf DLR Station. The picture on the right shows the railway bridge across the dock, while the centre picture is a black & white study of the wooden piling under the railway bridge, which I have titled Uprights. It was supposed to be a picture of the concentric circles of ripples made by a drip from the bridge, but the reflection of the piles in the background turned out to be a better picture and the ripples got cropped out!
The second group of three pictures show construction scenes. On the left is a wide-angle close-up (if that's not a contradiction in terms!) of a concrete central tower being constructed. The central picture is one I've titled One September Evening and was one of the last shots I took that day. It was also taken with the super wide angle zoom lens which I used to take the picture on the left. The picture on the right is another late afternoon picture, and shows just how much construction is going on in the Canary Wharf area.
The third group of three pictures show one building reflected in another; the obligatory shot of the three towers (One Canada Square, more commonly known as Canary Wharf in the centre, with the HSBC building on the left and the CitiGroup building on the right) and a sculpture of a couple which is to be found in the courtyard area which afforded the view of the three towers.
The final group of three pictures depict the close relationship between the architecture and water.
Although I took these pictures in September 2001, I did not put them on my website straight away, as it just didn't seem right to be celebrating the photography of tall buildings at that time. The Spring of 2002 is now drawing to a close, and sufficient time has elapsed that I think I can now display these photographs.
I have enjoyed considerable success with some of the pictures I took in the course of this outing: three of the pictures on this page were highly commended in the Bromley Camera Club's 2002 Annual Exhibition, and one picture was accepted for the KCPA (Kent County Photographic Association) 2002 Annual Exhibition.
The Discovery Group are holding a Themes competition in May 2002 and I may put together a panel consisting of some of the work displayed on this page, so I am hoping that these pictures may yet produce more successes!
