Photographing buildings, architectural detail and the interplay between man-made structures and nature is a favorite pastime of mine. Sometimes, as in this photograph shot while I was in transit on the London Underground, it is more interesting to zero in on a mood or emotion, than to stick with pure representation. Here, in a post-modern view, tiny commuters are just visible between the out-sized struts and tubes.
When I was invited to submit a photograph for consideration in the Goodman Business Park architectural photography competition, I did a bit of a scramble through the archive. How to choose just one image for a topic as broad as “architecture”? In the end, I sent in a photo that I felt captured the gritty mechanics of interior structures at the Westminster Tube Station. The competition’s professional judge agreed and I took home the prize: a Sony NEX-5R with a 16 to 50 mm lens.

All of my professional work is done with a hefty, hardy member of the Nikon family of Big Cameras. Now, for those times when a big Nikon is overkill, or when I need to pull a camera from my bag on short notice, there is an alternative.
I have experimented with the new camera over the past several days, and so far, am pleased indeed. Three things get my vote:
- I can still shoot in RAW, giving me more flexibility for post-processing.
- The LCD screen has a touch shutter function that allows me to simply touch the screen to focus and snap the photo, and
- The ability to easily change the exposure bias.
Here are a few more architectural shots made with the Sony.




In general, I think these images do a fine job of illustrating some important attributes of structures in this architecture-obsessed city. Although I have no plans to abandon the Nikons, I am happy to add the Sony NEX-5R to my travel kit.