London Vacations

Poll

The Changing of The Guard in London attracts thousands of tourists a year, but it’s hard to get good photos. This article tells you when to go, and where to stand, to get the best pictures.

Taking good photos at the Changing of the Guard is difficult because of the huge crowds, and the fact that the actual ceremony takes place behind the closed gates and towering railings in front of Buckingham Palace. But if you know when to be there, and where to stand, you can get fabulous close-up shots at this event. Here’s how…

The first trick is to be there in summertime. The best months are from April to July when the Guard is changed every day and the guardsmen wear their tall bearskin hats and scarlet jackets. From August to May guard changes happen every other day, and in the winter the guards wear large grey overcoats – guaranteed to make dull pictures.

So you’re in front of Buckingham Palace a little after 10.30 on a summer morning. Where do you go to get the best photos?

First, face the palace then go to the gate on the left of the palace forecourt. Turn your back on the sightseers jammed up against the palace railings, and get a position on the edge of the pavement facing the road and the Victoria Monument. At about 11.15 the ‘old guard’ will march up to the palace from St. James’s, and they’ll enter the palace forecourt through your gate.

If the Scots or Irish Guards are on duty they will be lead by a bagpipe band, if not it will probably be a full Guards Band. After the band, an officer with a drawn sword will precede another carrying the Colour (the Regimental flag) and they’ll be followed by a squad of guardsmen. You should get some great close-up shots as they march right past you into the gateway.

When the Police allow you to move, walk along parallel with the front of the palace, past the middle gate, until you get to the gate on the right. Again, stand on the edge of the pavement facing the road and the Victoria Monument. At around 11.30 you’ll get great shots of the band and guards of the ‘new guard’ as they cross in front of the Victoria Monument and march past you into the forecourt.

See what you can of the Changing of The Guard ceremony through the railings and the crowds. At about mid-day, walk round to the pavement at the top of St James’s Park. Stand looking towards the palace with the Victoria Monument on your right. The guards leave the forecourt at about 12.10, and you’ll be in position here to get some good photos of them with Buckingham Palace in the background.

Most tourists watching the Changing of the Guard only get pictures of the backs of other tourists’ heads and distant blobs that might be soldiers, but you’ll get lots of great close-up pictures of Britain’s Guardsmen in all their scarlet-coated glory. All because you know when to be there, and where to stand.

Mike Boxall is a photographer and writer living in London. To find out more about the ceremony of The Changing of The Guard, and to see pictures of it and other military ceremonies in London, see Mike’s London Guards Gallery at http://londonguardsgallery.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk.