Millennium Bridge

There's something magnetic about standing at the start of Millennium Bridge at night. The way it lines up with St. Paul's Cathedral, perfectly centred, is one of those iconic London views that just never gets old. I shot this on November 17th, 2019, wanting to capture that sense of symmetry and space—how the cool light of the bridge contrasts with the soft, golden glow of Sir Christopher Wren's cathedral in the distance.

The lighting on the bridge was doing all the work—those glowing handrails with their blue LED lights guide your eye straight into the heart of the frame. The Millennium Bridge, designed by Norman Foster and opened in 2000, has this elegant suspension design that creates clean, modern lines across the Thames. The rest of the City of London fades out around it, with the skyline twinkling quietly in the background—you can make out the modern towers of the financial district beyond St. Paul's 365-foot dome.

I used my Canon 5D Mark III with the 24-105mm lens at its widest 24mm, shooting at f/16 for maximum depth of field. The 25-second exposure at ISO 100 captured both the sharp lines of the bridge's architecture and the soft glow of the cathedral 1,200 feet away. The symmetry is what makes this composition work—the bridge's handrails create perfect leading lines, pulling your eye directly to St. Paul's baroque dome framed in the centre.

It's all about that alignment. The bridge draws you in, the lighting gives it edge, and St. Paul's anchors the whole thing in history. You've got the best of both worlds here—sleek 21st-century architecture and timeless London elegance, all wrapped up in a clean, dramatic frame from the South Bank across the River Thames.

When you look at this photograph, I want you to feel that pull—standing at the threshold of the Millennium Bridge, your eye drawn along those glowing handrails straight to St. Paul's Cathedral, where Norman Foster's modern vision meets Wren's baroque masterpiece across the Thames in the heart of London.