Two Rivers After Dark: Dublin and London Long Exposures

Two cities, two rivers, one tripod. These long exposures come from my early night-photography outings, when I would happily stand by cold water for an hour to let the shutter do its work.

In Dublin, the Samuel Beckett Bridge leans across the Liffey like a harp laid on its side, with the Convention Centre’s glass drum glowing green beside it. The long exposure smears the clouds into streaks and turns the river into a sheet of reflected colour — green, gold and violet all at once.

In London, I set up on the South Bank of the Thames, taking in City Hall with the Shard rising behind it — still wrapped in cranes at the time, which is how I can date the frame at all. Night work like this is slow and simple: find the composition, lock everything down, and wait while the city paints itself onto the sensor.