Having looked over London for over 300 years, the magnificent cupola of St Paul’s cathedral is still a magnificent place from which to observe this wonderful city. The viewing platform atop the dome at the base of the lantern is about 100m above street level, so the views it offers are stunning. You need to be brave to go up there as the ascent up narrow staircases and through tight corridors it is a bit scary, but I love it here.

This view I captured in January 2020. I have been up here many time before, but I was keen to go again to capture some of the newest buildings and to update the views I have shot here in previous years, since the London skyline changes so rapidly. The light had to be perfect however – I wanted a sunny day but with a bit of atmospheric haze and some clouds to punctuate and articulate the sky.

This view over Blackfriars Bridge and along the River Thames is the most captivating and it is the one I wanted to get, but the position of the sun in the sky was absolutely critical. I wanted as much raking light – from the side – as possible, but with a wide panoramic shot the risk is that you get the sun in or too close to the edge of the view, which can often ruin the image as that section of the sky will burn out. You can only get away with the sun in the sky during the day in a stormy sky if the sun is behind a thick cloud and you get the starburst effect with radiating shafts of light, but with a clear sky the sun, unless very close to the horizon at sunrise or sunset, is just too bright for photographic images.

Prior planning and patience (and a warm coat and gloves!) was therefore the requisite asset for this image: at just the right time, when the sun had slowly moved to just the exact place I wanted it, I started shooting. I had befriended the nice cathedral staff and chatted to them, and the sun was out so for the hour and a half I was there waiting, the time passed pleasantly. As always, I was excited to know that I had got what I had gone there for, but of course I never know until I’ve returned to my desk and have started the process of creating the panorama from the resulting captured images from the day.

This time I am happy to say, the results were great. The sky had just the right amount of tone, depth and streaky clouds, the buildings glinting in the raking sunshine had just the sparkle, I wanted, and the entire geometry of the composition just works.

It is an image I am very proud of, and for sure would look magnificent in any home, office or boardroom of anyone who loves London.