Last September during a trip back to the UK for an (all too brief) family visit, I took the opportunity to capture this highly detailed panoramic view of London from the Shard observation deck. Arriving into Heathrow at 6.00am I boarded a tube into the city, and after a brief heart starting coffee break, found myself counting my blessings that the one (and only) day I had available for this panoramic shot was sunny with relatively decent visibility. Having lived in London for 30 years I knew how rare such days could be, and so made wasted no time in beginning the creation of this final image.

This was my first visit to the Shard observation deck, and I can certainly recommend it for anyone visiting London. It is not conducive to photography however, since you are not allowed to bring or use tripods during your visit (which I totally understand), but more annoyingly the whole deck is completely glazed, with no observation port through which a camera lens may be poked, unlike the Burj Khalifa in Dubai or the Eureka Tower in Melbourne. Consequently I found that it took a great deal more effort and concentration to achieve images without reflections; often times I would be half way through a sweep of shots working from west to east, when I would have to stop while another visitor wearing red (…how dare they!) paused next to me to enjoy the view, their bright cloths bouncing off the glass and back into my viewfinder.

The final image is comprised of 118 separate shots from my Canon 5DSR, although of course I took many more images that this in order to ensure that I had a pin sharp frame for every angle. Since each frame from the 5DSR is 50.6 Megapixels, the final print naturally contains a very high level of detail. I have always enjoyed making such images, and while it is fun to view on the computer, it really is best enjoyed as a large print, particularly as the image is considerably scaled down for the web…

The following shots are 100% crops to give some indication of the level of detail in the final file…

And a couple more images that give an overview of the print…

While I have a small print of the finished panorama, I would love to have the wall space to be able to print a full resolution version. Sadly, I do not see that happening in the foreseeable future while we wait for the building work on our new home to commence, but at least I can gaze up at my beloved London whenever I am distracted while trying to work…