There are occasions when my work presents me with opportunities to fit in some photography along the way. On Saturday I’d allowed extra time to get into London in case of problems resulting from the train strike that day so I took a pinhole camera along in the hope that I may get a little extra time if all went well. My final destination was a church not far from Kings Cross Station, so I took the opportunity tovisit both Kings Cross and St Pancras Stations, as well as some other local sights.
At St Pancras I realised I’d forgotten the tool for removing my tripod plate so I couldn’t use my table top tripod (which doesn’t need a plate). Normally it works loose spontaneously, but of course today it was stuck fast, refusing to move so much as a millimetre! Fortunately I’d brought a back up solution so I spent the rest of the morning using my small beanbag to wedge my camera in interesting spots!
The image above is a close up of the huge statue which stands on the concourse at St Pancras. A passing security guard thought perhaps my little wooden box was a radio and was rather surprised to learn it was actually a camera!
Moving next door to Kings Cross Station, I found a large cinema screen in exactly the spot I’d hope to place my camera, so I improvised, and went behind the stations lattice structure. I can’t help feeling the photo has probably turned out better as a result!
The view from the upstairs gallery, with my camera held firmly against the handrail with my trusty beanbag.
A ten minute walk took me to the Coal Drops Yard area just north of Kings Cross, beside the Regents Canal. The cold weather we’ve had for the last ten days had frozen much of the canal and I managed to find a bridge on which to rest my camera.
The old gas holders here have been turned into a framework for luxury apartments and I couldn’t resist resting my camera at the base of one of the pillars to capture the framework above me.
Down by the canal again, looking for details I could get really close to. One of the canal trust volunteers watched me with much curiosity as I crouched down to take this one and we had a chat about it afterwards!
One of the gas holders has been left as a framework surrounding a public garden area, It’s circled with long mirrored posts so I tried a hand held self portrait of my reflection - my camera even made it into the photo!
A final look back at the gas holders before I headed off to do my afternoon’s work.
Photos taken 17 December 2022