One of the objectives of my latest London visit was to get some shots in of Big Ben before it is totally shrouded in scaffolding from early this year for the next 3 years. A lot of Tourist are going to be really disappointed.

The structure in the pool is a Sculpture by Naum Gabo, installed at St Thomas’ Hospital garden, London in 1975 on the South Bank of the Thames opposite Parliament. It is called Revolving Torsion and was intended to operate as a fountain and stands at the centre of a large pool. It was designed to rotate, making one complete rotation every ten minutes. Some time ago however the hydraulics seized, and despite concerted effort to make it turn again, this has so far not been possible. The fountain also seems to be broken as I have not seen water coming through. It is listed for its special architectural or historic interest so is likely to stay in place.

It is not a well known viewpoint despite the large number of photographers at the popular nearby viewpoint on the South Bank beside the bridge. I was there for some time setting up and waiting for it to get darker. I was soon joined by other photographers one of whom told me I had been spotted from the bridge and they wondered what the viewpoint was. I cannot claim credit as I first spotted the viewpoint in one of my contacts streams, David Gutierrez. Worth looking at if you like London Photography.

The picture was taken on a tripod with a Sony A700 with a Sigma 10-20 mm lens at 17mm. No HDR but instead processed in the Develop Module of the just acquired Lightroom 5. That was kindly passed on to me by our Camera Club Chairman, Roger Crocombe who now has Lightroom 6/CC. Thanks Roger. Selective exposure adjustments were done. Then edited in Photoshop using layer masks for selective applications of Topaz Clarity and Saturation adjustments. Some tidy up with the heal and clone tools.