United Kingdom Thames Barrier, London

This is a good spot to shoot the Thames Barrier, a moveable flood barrier built in the 1980s to protect London from flooding due to storm surges. It's one of the less frequently visited spots in London's skyline because it's a little out of the way, but it's definitely worth a visit if you're into long exposure, city skyline photography etc. This shot is taken from the north side of the river, but the south side works equally well.

Sunrise worked well for me on this shoot in October, where the sun was a little off to the right of my framing.

The thames is a fast moving river so you're unlikely to get much in the way of reflections unfortunately, though I believe the barrier is lit at night so you might get some light reflected into the water that way.

The most important thing for this shot is tide times. In my experience you get a cleaner composition at high tide or close to it - at lower tides the river bed will be partially exposed and its's not particularly photogenic, so check the tide times if possible.

I took the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) from Stratford to the nearest station which is Pontoon Dock. The spot is only a 5 minute walk from this station though a park. There are buses which service the area and I think parking would be relatively easy (especially on weekends) but the DLR is definitely the easiest route.