Portrait of St James Park at Dawn

When is St James Park at its most beautiful? As a visitor, I would say late afternoon when the sun is golden and the birds are relaxing for the evening. But as a photographer I believe it is dawn.

So at 4.30am I hauled my lazy derrière out of bed, jumped in my little car (I try to use public transport but the equipment is just way too heavy, even if it were running at that hour) and tootled down to St James’

There were a few people about, and the park was full of sleepers. My favourite secret spot was being camped in by a homeless guy. I felt so sorry for him, so I didn’t wake him up. We need to make a society where people prefer to take part than to sleep under a bush in St James Park.

St James is a wonderful park, and I wanted this iconic view looking at the fairy tale roofs of Horseguard’s   with the Admiralty and the old War Office building behind it.  If someone can identify what all those magical pinnacles are for me, I will be very grateful! But let’s pretend it’s a fairy tale castle where a benign old king rules the land with a kindly hand.

Thee swans were good enough to show up at the perfect moment. I almost got the feeling that they were posing for their close up. But there was something routine about their well-ordered procession of Mummy Swan and 8 cygnets. Like it was the school run. Imagine trying to take 8 teenagers on the school run?? I also think the front swan might be a Black Daddy swan. Which I like. A mixed race couple!

This image is a work in progress. It will be available to buy via my online shop when it is ready. https://linktr.ee/FionaCampbellHicksPhotography

What do you think?