London Skyline Gigapixel
Captured from the roof of the Leadenhall Building, this London skyline gigapixel looks out over London in the low January sun. This is one of the times of day that light and the clouds can alter swiftly. Thus to capture a high resolution image in the few instants, before you lose that special moment where sunlight and cloud concatenate, is one of the biggest challenges I face. I have to work fast and there’s no second chance, as just a few breaths later it will have altered completely.
The light shifts, clouds close in, and the opportunity disappears almost immediately. Working at height in the winter air, I had to move quickly to capture the sequence of frames that would later be stitched into a single high-resolution image.
The resulting image has the City of London’s building’s transformed by the sharp, angled light of the low winter sun. The glass and steel towers reflect a warm silver tone, while long shadows stretch across the streets. If you look to the right of the image, you’ll see the shadows cast by the Leadenhall, Tower 42 and the Heron Tower (110 Bishopsgate) over the city. The new buildings under construction that you can see are One Angel Court, Bloomberg Place (Walbrook Square), 5 Broadgate, 100 Bishopsgate and the new extension to the Tate Modern.
The image is a record of a moment in the City of London’s continuing transformation. A winter’s day frozen in detail. You can explore more examples of London gigapixel photography and other skyline panoramas in my portfolio.
Page last updated: October 2025