B efore heading back to Wales for Christmas, I took a couple of days off work. This was mainly to finish my Christmas shopping, as, naturally I hadn’t finished, but that’s the same with everyone right? So one day I headed out to central London with the aim of finishing my shopping, which included one last trip to the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, so, of course my camera was coming with me.
Before I went to Hyde Park, I wanted to first go to Harrods. I thought it was the perfect time to go, the sun was just setting, and it was a nice clear night. When I got there however, it dawned on me that 4 days before Christmas probably wasn’t the best time to go probably the most famous store in the city. It was even busier still, as Knightsbridge tube station was one of the main stations people used to get to the Winter Wonderland. Essentially, the whole area was full of Christmas shoppers and Winter Wonderlanders. Great. I guess I kind of fell into both categories so I couldn’t really complain too much.
I needed a good shot of the front of Harrods. The way the lights are arranged on the building make it pretty amazing to look at, so it’s definitely something I wanted to include in my project.
The amount of people in the area made it quite difficult to get the pictures I wanted. Obviously I didn’t want to include the crowds of people walking past in my photo, so I had to wait until there were gaps in the crowd before I could take any photos. Of course, as soon as there was a gap in the crowd, the traffic on the road came to a standstill so the foreground of the shot was taken up by the top deck of a London bus, or the top of a big truck. It was all a bit frustrating. And cold. Obviously I forgot my gloves….again.
Eventually, there were moments when both the street and the road were clear and I was able to get a couple of photos. They didn’t really come out how I wanted them to. I was in too much of a rush to take advantage of the clear space, that I tried to get as many photos as possible. I didn’t spend the time trying to stay as still as possible and get the one shot I needed. I could have definitely done with my tripod as well. This is what happens when you don’t plan things properly.
I left Harrods, and started making my way up to Hyde Park. When I got there, it was pretty much the same story as Harrods. T minus 4 days until Christmas was a busy time to go to the Winter Wonderland Christmas markets. For some reason this was shocking news to me. Duh! Clearly I’m still not used to living in a busy city, even after nearly a year. My country boy roots are still strong!
Anyway, crowds of people aside I managed to get a few shots in and around the markets and fairground rides. It was a real shame I didn’t have my tripod with me, but since I was only planning on going shopping I hadn’t really thought about everything I needed to bring, so I had make do without. I managed to get a few shots that I wanted so it wasn’t all bad. I’ll have to pay a visit next year.
