The Globe Theatre - London, England

The Globe Theatre - London, England 

When Sam Wanamaker, an American actor and director, visited the site of the original globe he was disappointed that he couldn't find a more lasting memorial to Shakespeare's work. He formed what is now the Shakespeare Globe Trust in 1970 and construction on the Globe Theatre started in 1987 on the south bank of the Thames. The theatre is a dedicated to exploring Shakespeare's works and the playhouse for which he wrote, through performance and education.

More images and info after the jump.

Crowd building up at The Globe - London, England

No one really knows exactly what the Globe looked like but using printed panoramas, written accounts, building contracts and one sketch, the design for the theatre was completed. The raw materials used to construct the theatre were the same as the materials used in the original playhouse. The stage itself was the hardest  aspect of the building to design. No information on what the original stage looked like was available. It was designed based on evidence provided by existing buildings of the period and practical advise provided by actors.

Exterior of the Globe - London, England

While we were in London we went on a guided tour of the theatre and visited the Shakespeare museum, which is on the premises. We also watched "A comedy of errors" at the Globe. I wanted to get some night shots of St Paul's cathedral (which can be seen here) so I took the tripod and camera along with me for the play because the cathedral is just across the river from the Globe. The light wasn't very good inside and I had to bump up the ISO to 640. The 7D performs really well at high ISOs but I tend to only push up the ISO as a last resort.

The stage at the Globe - London, England

All these shots were taken with a Canon 7D and a 24-105mm lens.

Buckingham Palace - London, England

Buckingham Palace from The Mall.- London, England 

While we were in London we visited Buckingham Palace hoping to see the changing of the guard. We got there quite early and as we had time to kill, decided to go for a walk instead of hanging around outside the Palace. We walked up The Mall towards Trafalgar Square, when the photograph above was taken, and back through St James Park. I decided to capture this image when I noticed the black cabs, which are quintessentially English, travelling towards us with the Palace in the background.

More images and Info after the jump

Buckingham Palace from Spur Road - London, England

Spur Road, which runs in front of Buckingham palace, is quite busy. I actually had to hang around a while to take a half decent image of the palace without getting any cars or cyclists in the frame. During the changing of the guard the road is closed as the Grenadier guards come in along this road.

Buckingham Palace from St James Park - London, England

St James park runs all the way down to Spur road. It was also one of the few places from where I could photograph the palace without including too many people in the frame. By this stage the crowds at the fence were about 6 or 7 people deep. As a result of our walk, we didn't get to see the changing of the guard but did see the guards coming in and leaving after the ceremony.

The crowds in front of the Palace

All images were captured with a Canon 7D and a 24-105mm lens.

St Paul's Cathedral - London

St Paul's Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge - London

St Paul's Cathedral stands on Ludgate Hill, which is the highest point in the city of London. The Cathedral which stand's today is actually the fifth "St Paul's" which has been built on the same site. At 111m in height, it was London's tallest building until the 1960's. The funeral of Lord Nelson and Winston Churchill, jubilee celebrations for Queen Victoria and the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana were all held here.

Read on for more images and info.

St Paul's Cathedral and the Millennium Bridge - London

The photographs with Millennium Bridge in the foreground were taken from the opposite bank of the Thames, near the Globe Theatre (which will be covered in a future post). Unfortunately I was unable to photograph the interior of the church as photography is not allowed.

The current St Paul's was built by Sir Christopher Wren, who started designing it in 1668 and was inspired by St Peters Basilica in Rome. Although only one dome is visible, the structure consists of three domes. The inner dome provides the aesthetically pleasing interior. The outer dome serves no structural purpose but again, is good to look at. Between these two domes sits a third structural cone which supports the apex structure and the exterior dome. The stairs which lead to the top of the dome runs between them.

St Paul's Cathedral - London

The inner dome contains three galleries, The internal whispering gallery, The external stone gallery and the external golden gallery. The climb to the top is not the easiest, especially if you are claustrophobic, but the view from the top is worth it.

View from the top of St Paul's - London

The tombs of Lord Nelson and the Duke of Wellington can be found in the crypt. The crypt also serves as a chapel for the order of the British Empire and the Treasury. A number of valuable artefacts have been stored in the cathedral over the years but a robbery in 1810 took almost all of the remaining artefacts.        

St Paul's Cathedral - London

Getting to St Pauls is pretty easy as there is an underground station right near the church. We visited the area twice while we were in London. Firstly when we went to see the Cathedral and climb the dome adn secondly in the night when we went to the Globe to watch "A comedy of errors". after the performance we wondered around the opposite bank of the Thames and the cathedral taking photographs of it.  It was annoying to have to carry the tripod and camera with me throughout the evening but I'm quite happy with the photographs so I guess it was worth it.

St Paul's Cathedral from across the Thames - London

All the images in this post were captured with a Canon 7D and the 24-105mm lens. A Tripod was also used for the night shots, which were long exposures.