Morning Light at the Palace of Westminster

The Palace of Westminster, in London, England in the United Kingdom is one of the most recognizable buildings in the world. It should be on any tourist’s list of iconic places to visit in London and for good reason. Situated on the River Thames, The Palace of Westminster is home to the British Houses of Parliament which include the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

Originally built in the 1500s as a royal palace, it was rebuilt in the 1800s after the Great Fire of London. Architect Charles Barry designed it in the Gothic Revival style architecture. Westminster Hall was the only original building that survived the fire (you can see its tower rising from behind this building on the right of Westminster Abbey’s two white towers). The Victoria Tower (left) is the largest of the three towers of the Palace of Westminster. It’s followed by the Elizabeth Tower that houses the Great Clock (Big Ben), and the Central Tower.

I shot this photo during a family trip to London in the summer of 2024. Next to the Waterloo Station, our lodging provided easy access to mass transit and was only a 5-minute walk to the spot where I took this photo, next to the Westminster Bridge. Seeing the promising conditions from my window, I headed to The National Covid Memorial Wall only to find that fast-moving clouds rolled in, leaving the entire sky and the Palace of Westminster in dreary shadow. I still set up my gear and waited with fingers crossed that the clouds would pass. After waiting only 15 minutes, I was gifted a short window to photograph this scene. The overcast sky cleared, and the building was cast in the golden light of the early morning.

Over the past 10 years of photographing panoramic stitches, I’ve found that above all I want to make beautiful photos, high resolution or not. I’ve made the mistake too many times of trying to go too big, only to have the light conditions change and the whole planned photo fall apart. For that reason, I opted to shoot this series at 100 mm vs a longer focal length and I’m glad I did. The beautiful golden light and vibrant blue sky with cumulus clouds that made this photo were gone within a minute of finishing the series. The sky became completely overcast again for the remainder of the day and I would have missed the shot entirely if trying to go larger.

This VAST Photo, while not as large as some others of mine can still be printed nearly 10 feet long with no loss of detail. At nearly 500 megapixels, this ultra high-resolution photo allows for making extremely large fine art prints and produces a hyper-realistic look unlike that of traditional fine art photography. It provides the viewer unrestricted access to the most intricate details of the Palace of Westminster façade and Big Ben. It’s gothic architecture with its decorative patterns, lancet windows, and many statues can all be seen in striking detail. I’m always enthusiastic to photograph beautiful architecture. Capturing the Palace of Westminster and Big Ben illuminated by the golden light of morning definitely got that day off to a great start.