Some days you are just lucky. It was an incredibly tranquil morning in London with not a whisper of wind and the River Thames was perfectly still. It was just like a huge mirror, reflecting the sky and buildings perfectly. I arrived before dawn, on a fresh Sunday morning in February, and no-one was yet about, and as quick as I could manage, I set up my camera and tripod. Within about 10 or 15 minutes, by the time I had barely started taking any shots of this magical scene, I looked up to see groups of passers-by practically on my shoulder, holding out their phone cameras, as they had realised what a marvellous scene was unfolding in front of their eyes.

A few people did stop to make some nice comments, but I had no time to be friendly that morning… the light was transmuting into mesmerising and psychedelic tones from purple, red, oranges, yellows to greens, and I was trying to capture as much of this as possible, with the incredibly still surface of the river remaining unblemished.

Of course, these ethereal scenes never last long. About 10 minutes later, a boat passed through this unblemished, virgin scene, its bow cutting like an uncompromisingly sharp knife through the mirrored surface, and the ensuing interference pattern from its wake reverberated across the width of the river, destroying irrevocably the stillness. Day had arrived, the sun was up, the wind began to breathe again and the slack tide on the river had ended and the river had begun again its inexorable tidal flow and the magical scene was no more.

But I was so lucky to have been there, to have witnessed this unforgettable scene, and to have captured several panoramas of it. In all of the years I have lived in London and have so extensively photographed, it, never have I seen the water so completely still.

As they say, the more you practise the luckier you get.

The poetic rosy pink tones and quiet surface of the water is an extremely evocative, if rare, moment on the the River Thames. The colours were not enhanced or changed in any way! 10 minutes later the slowly approaching sun washed the scene in a greenish light, an image which is also available here on this collection of panoramic views. But this one here is rather special.