Relaxing Sunset Street Photography in London

London was one of the first cities that I was ready to visit when I first discovered street photography. The mix of modern and historical architecture that you can find in different parts of the city (as well as the ease of public transportation) makes London an incredible city for any travel photographer to wander around and to capture interesting photos.

I visited London back in December 2022 for a week and spent most of my time with my camera doing street photography throughout the day. While I didn’t get to catch a lot of sunsets during my time in the city because of the weather, I managed to get a few golden hour photos in the evening.

In this short blog post, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite sunset street photography photos I took during my time in London. All of these photos were taken with the Sony a7R III camera body and the Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 G-Master zoom lens, the Sony 70-200 f/2.8 G-Master II lens and the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG DN ART prime lens.

 
Beautiful sun setting over the Palace of Westminster in London
 
 

Sunset at Palace of Westminster, London

My second day in London was the first day that I was able to capture a nice sunset in the city. At the time, I spent most of the day exploring South Bank - visiting train stations, walking along the River Thames and taking photos of the London’s Eye. As I was waiting for nighttime, I randomly stumbled upon the Palace of Westminster.

Since this was back in 2022, I was mainly using the Sony 24-70mm zoom lens for most of my street photography. However, I ended up switching to the Sigma 85mm prime lens to capture these photos. I used the branches of a tree as a way to add some foreground and overall interest to the photos.

In the photos below, I switched to portrait orientation to include a bit of the steps leading down to a walkway parallel to the Palace of Westminster. Overall, I love the color of the limestone and adding a warm temperature to the photos made the structure stand out that much more in my eyes. 

Although my main focus in going to London was doing street photography at night, I’m satisfied that I took the time to take photos at different parts of the day, and these photos ended up being some of my favorites throughout the trip.

 
People walking down the steps in front of the Palace of Westminster at sunset
Golden leaves in front of the Palace of Westminster at sunset
 
 
 

Sunset Photography At The River Thames

On the same day, I also managed to capture a photo of a boat sailing peacefully along the River Thames near the Westminster Bridge. Looking back at this photo, I would have lowered the aperture from f/8 to something around f/2 and pulled focus specifically on the buildings and caused a nice blur with the structure on the left.

I still love the soft light in the photo and the look of the high-rise buildings in the background. If you are visiting London as a street photographer for the first time, I would definitely recommend this spot (as much of a touristy area it might be). There are a lot of amazing structures to explore and different angles you can capture with your camera gear.

 
A white sailboat crusing along the River Thames with high-rise buildings in the back in London
 
 

Sunset Rooftop View of The Garden at 120

One of the hardest parts of being a street photographer in a city like Los Angeles is finding rooftops to capture street photography from a birds eye view. I planned to visit The Garden at 120 before arriving in London and I was able to capture some amazing sunset photos of the Tower Bridge and nearby high-rise buildings.

I capture these photos with both the Sigma 85mm prime lens and the Sony 70-200mm G-Master II lens in order to zoom in on certain parts of the urban landscape. Even though I wish there were some clouds during this sunset, I’m still satisfied with how these final images turned out. I photographed these behind the glass at The Garden at 120.

One of the hardest things about taking a photo with the long focal length at sunset is that without a tripod, you have to use a fast enough shutter speed with not necessarily the most light. Fortunately, the Sony a7R III has IBIS (in body image stabilization), which I’m sure helped achieve some of these photos.

I’m happy with the moody sunset view captured in these photos.

 
View of the Tower Bridge from the Garden at 120 during sunset
 
 
High-rise buildings standing tall near each other in London
A foggy sunset view of the Tower Bridge in London
 
 

Final Words

Over two years since my trip to London, I learned a lot about street photography in London and I would love to one day return with the new gear I have bought since and with a more experienced eye for composition.

Thanks for reading and until next time.

Feel free to explore more of my website:

travelBrian Brownlos angeles photograhper, sony alpha, sigma lens, street photography, sigma, prime lens, sunset photography, city photographer, adobe lightroom classic, golden hour, travel photographer, london, tower bridge, the garden at 120Comment