Photographer James Burns specialises in snapping the sun and the moon from London's rooftops. His captures shed a preternatural light on familiar landmarks. Below, James talks us through 12 of his favourite shots that juxtapose the celestial and urban.
August supermoon, 2014. The moon of the year, the one everyone was talking about, but unfortunately it rose in a bright sky and didn’t make for the best image ever.Battersea red moon, December 2014. This image got picked up by a good few newspapers as well as the Royal Observatory. It’s not a classically beautiful photograph but a fascinating study in perspective and scale. Too good for some, as I read with pleasure many comments calling it a fake.Cranes and crescent moon, April 2013. Purely because the moon looks like it’s being lifted by the crane, this one has to make the collection.Moon over water, October 2014. It was actually raining at the time I took this and there was near-total cloud cover. I don’t know why I bothered really but it goes to show that even when the chances are slim it’s worth a go if you want to achieve something.Moonrise over the City, July 2014. Taken on the night of the World Cup Final, from Camden.Sun behind the City, December 2014. Mid-winter from Leytonstone.Sunrise over Battersea, January 2011. An oldie but a goodie, I captured this shot from north of the river near Notting Hill on a beautiful misty morning.The day after the August supermoon. Usually the day after the full moon is the best day to photograph the moon as it rises in a darker sky. Here’s a case in point, taken from Hyde Park just minutes before a storm rolled in and hid the moon from view.Moody sunrise from Centre Point, April 2014. I was hoping to shoot a classic, clear and beautiful sunrise but after a 10 minute white-out I was about to go home empty handed. Then the fog began to clear and it turned out far better than I could have imagined.St Paul’s moonrise, March 2015. My favourite moon capture to date. Taken from Marble Arch, this shot is about as perfect as it gets. I had serious goosebumps whilst watching this unfold, believe me, as there is a long and beautiful story behind it.Sunrise by The Shard, December 2013. I love this moody image of the sun rising behind The Shard which was taken from Camden.Sunrise over St Paul’s, January 2015. Taken from the same apartment as Sunrise by the Shard, but one winter later. It took seven separate visits before I managed to nail this shot.
