London Photo Tour with Dominique
Dominique is from Quebec, Canada and was taking some time out to travel the world. The UK was on her list and she contacted me to have a photo tour around both London and Oxford to capture her time in the cities. We tailored the photo walk according to what Dominique wanted to see and I was able to make some suggestions as well for places not as well known but well worth a visit.
The Mall & Buckingham Palace
We started in the obvious places… we walked down The Mall to Buckingham Palace. Walking down The Mall gave us plenty of time to chat and get to know each other. Dominique had already mentioned that she hadn’t had much experience in front of the camera. She followed my direction and demonstration and took to it naturally!
I was also able to show Dominique the Canada Gates which is an entrance to Green Park. The gate was presented to London by Canada as part of a memorial to Queen Victoria when she died in 1901. I also took Dominique to see the Canadian War memorial in Green Park as I think it’s actually one of the most beautiful memorials. It’s a fountain with fallen Canadian maple leaves representing the fallen soldiers with calm gentle water flowing down it. It was good to be able to show her some Canadian heritage in London.
St James’s Park
St James’s Park has one of my favourite views of Buckingham palace. This beautiful bridge over the water looks onto Buckingham Palace one way and onto the city the other way. The lake is lined with trees and there’s always lots of bird life on the water as well.
There’s always so many birds to see including Herons, Pelicans and of course Canadian Geese. Sometimes there’s even a man that brings a bag of fish along to feed the Herons! The beautifully restored bird keepers cottage which has been there since 1837 is such a quaint English looking place for some photos. It has beautiful flower gardens all around it.
Time to Catch the Tube
Next up we headed off to get the tube at Westminster. We passed a red phone box on the way so of course we had to get the phone box photo! Have you even been to London if you don’t get that photo!
We headed to Tower Hill to go to one of my recommended locations that all photographers love but isn’t on the tourist destination lists. It’s also a great walk to take in the sights. We passed The Tower of London which Dominque had visited that morning and we passed along the river front with views of The Shard.
Beautiful Hidden Gem
After we had walked around the main tourist destinations that Dominque wanted to capture we then ventured onto my less touristy locations. Firstly St Dunstan’s Church which is a grade 1 listed church that was destroyed during the second world war and they have maintained the ruins of the church and turned them into beautiful gardens! It’s a place lots of photographers use but most tourists don’t know about it. It’s a beautiful peaceful natural setting in the heart of London.
Final Stop
Our final stop was Leadenhall Market which again is another place not usually on tourists list but it’s a beautiful old Victorian Covered Market. The architecture and colour of the market is stunning. It’s also full of cheese shops, wine shops and restaurants. Full of all the good things so well worth a trip!
