Rotherhide, Canary Wharf : Canon 5D : EF 17-40mm (40mm) : 208 sec : f18 : Cokin Nuances ND10 filter
It is an interesting phenomenon in photography, that it is not always the image that you intended to capture that becomes the most interesting and dynamic. Sometimes serendipity intervenes and you see something that spikes your imagination.
The walkway to jetty at Rotherhide is somewhat unremarkable. In fact, I had no intention of shooting it at all that day. It stood there for a full two hours while I concentrated on capturing the skyline of Canary Wharf. Just before packing up to go home, I turned around, and it struck me that without the surrounding clutter of both in the choppy water and surrounding buildings this was in-fact a potentially interesting. subject. The water was easy enough to manage. By using a long exposure, I was able to create a blanket of diffuse mist under the structure. The buildings however presented more of a challenge. In fact, although I was able to position myself to minimise their distraction, it took an hour of cloning to remove all of the building clutter that rose above and behind the walkway.
During the exposure, the birds came and went that were sitting on top of the walkway. This led to a rather interesting ghost-like portrait of the ones that stayed longest during the capture.