Palace of Westminster at Night

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. After a full day visiting well-known tourist sites in London and the family was winding down, I decided to make a go for my night image of the Palace of Westminster and Big Ben. I headed to The National Covid Memorial Wall just before sunset, captured a sunset image and waited for dark. As twilight set in, the lights of the building came on I started my series again albeit with long exposures.

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 to end up without a photo to show for it. Light conditions can change rapidly, the wind can pick up, making long telephoto exposures impossible, and the whole planned photo falls apart. For that reason, I opted to shoot this series at 100 mm vs a longer focal length. A few nights before, I had attempted the nighttime photo of Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster with a longer telephoto lens. I figured I could forego a bit of sleep and take all the time I needed to go big, only to have the series cut short prior to finishing the exposures. Unbeknownst to me, lights of the building turn off at midnight!

To my knowledge, this VAST Photo is still the highest resolution photo of The Palace of Westminster and Big Ben in London ever photographed. At nearly 500 megapixels, it can be printed nearly 10 feet long with no loss of detail. The high resolution allows for making extremely large fine art prints or murals 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. 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 at nighttime made for a great way to finish the day in London.