Sony 24-70mm G-Master Cinematic Travel and Street Photography in London, UK

One of my favorite things to do as a photographer is go back to photoshoots I’ve done in the past and re-edit them with an updated style. Back in December 2022, I took my first solo trip as a street photographer out of the country to London.

Street photography was the main genre of photography I was interested in so I spent most of my time adventuring across the city taking street photos at all times of the day. Because I took so many photos, a lot of the raw images were left untouched or edited in a way that I thought I could improve on.

I mainly used the Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 G-Master lens, as it was my main lens for all of my photography back in 2022. In this blog post, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite cinematic travel and street photography images captured during my time in London with the Sony zoom lens. All photos were edited in Adobe Lightroom Classic.

Focal Lengths

Before I had my Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG DN ART prime lens, I was only able to capture wide-angle photos with my Sony 24-70mm zoom lens (and my 85mm Sigma lens wasn’t a main staple in my photography, even though I did use it a bit during this trip).

During my early days of photography, I spent a lot of time photographing cityscapes and high-rise buildings from a wide angle. Even though I mostly stayed at 24-30mm for most of my London trip, the ability to zoom as far as 70mm was useful in tight spaces, where I didn’t have much space to move.

Find Cinematic Moments

When I was exploring the streets of London, I always had my camera in hand because I was ready to capture any moment that caught my eye. One of the biggest tips I can give for cinematic street photography is to always be ready to shoot.

While it can be good to plan out a certain street photography shot (like waiting for someone to walk by a storefront or looking for the perfect car to zoom by in your frame), always being on the lookout for spontaneous actions can help train you to capture unplanned moments without thinking too much about the final result.

While some of those images might not end up being technically perfect, it captures a moment in time that can never be repeated. 

However, one of the biggest benefits of using a lens like the Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 lens is that it has incredible autofocus paired with the Sony a7R III, so the lens can take care of the heavy lifting when it comes to ensuring the shot is in focus.

Cinematic Natural Light All Day

When I do travel photography in another city or country, I try to take photos throughout the entire day and not just sunrise or sunset, like I admittedly sometimes do in Los Angeles. Since I only have a limited time when visiting another destination, I want to make the most of my time there as a photographer and explore parts of the city in different weather and natural lighting conditions.

The photos below were taken after sunrise at around 10:00 am London time, but I edited them in a way that provides a soft contrast that you might expect at golden hour. In my true fashion, I like to keep the images with a warmer tone.

One thing that helped these photos keep the soft light was that it was pretty cloudy throughout the day, so the lighting wasn’t too harsh. 

Looking back at these photos, I realized how important it is to take photos throughout the day and not just when you “think” you’ll get the most cinematic light.

Long Exposure Photography at Night

I did a lot more street photography at night during my trip in London than I do now, partly because there are many more opportunities to capture high-rise buildings in London compared to Los Angeles.

Even though I’m not a huge fan of long exposures, I think it’s important to experiment with different photography styles and find new ways to capture cinematic images.

I didn’t bring a tripod for this trip, so I found surfaces to put my camera down on and used the in-camera timer for these photos. Alternatively, I also manually held my camera still on a surface and waited until the shot was complete.

For these images along the River Thames and Canary Wharf, I edited the images to be at a cooler temperature in order to make the water look more serene. The edit also better highlights the different colors reflected in the water from the buildings’ lights.

Cinematic Photography with Architecture

The Tower Bridge and The Shard are two of the most impressive architectural structures that I came across during my time in London. I visited both locations at different times of the day across multiple days. I got lucky and was able to capture these photos in the evening when there were some clouds in the sky.

I think the clouds add a cinematic aesthetic to the photos and make the images look more dramatic compared to an even blue or overcast sky.

Final Thoughts

It’s always good to look back at images you’ve taken in the past and see if you can apply what you’ve learned in photography since to re-edit the photos in your style. Cinematic photography isn’t necessarily about the gear you have, but how you approach composition and lighting.

The Sony 24-70mm G-Master lens was the most important part of my gear throughout this entire trip. Even though I started using prime lenses more for my photography, there’s no doubt that a Sony zoom lens has huge benefits when it comes to capturing street photography.

I look forward to going back to London and capturing more cinematic travel and street photography.

Thanks for reading and until next time.

For travel photography in other cities, see my travel photography gallery here.

Tokyo, JAPAN

LOS ANGELES

BERLIN, GERMANY

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