Lincsdna

Westminster Bridge

Canon EOS 650D

settings

Aperture f/8.0 ISO 100 Shutter 90/1

upload_date

Aug, 2014

Views

1905

Likes

+336

Awards

Top Shot Award 21

Winner in WATER IN A LONG EXPOSURE Photo Challenge

Staff Favorite

Superb Composition

+108

Absolute Masterpiece

+30

Peer Award

+28

Top Choice

+27

Outstanding Creativity

Superior Skill

All Star

Magnificent Capture

Emotions

Impressed

Top Ranks

Top 10 rank

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Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken in my home city of London. Elizabeth Tower (formerly known as Westminster tower or Big Ben!) along with Westminster Bridge and the Palaces of Westminster are an iconic location for most visitors to London, a must see and visit place. As a Londoner, we locals tend to take for granted of what is around us, perhaps because we know its there and we can visit anytime, however many don't. So by taking photos of London and it's iconic location's I would hope to encourage locals to take time out and see what I saw and perhaps to match or better my photos. Thats why I joined ViewBug to showcase my city.

Time

Like many of my photo adventures here in London, it always starts with a walk in mind, where? I never decide before hand what I will take or what plans I should make before leaving! To be honest, I have tried making plans the night before and then just end up wasting my time on the internet! London has so many things happening, events, street buskers and entertainers, free entry to nearly all the museums and art galleries, so spoilt for choice. When I walk around town, I sometimes do not return until well after midnight! However on this day I knew I wanted to get some daytime long-exposures with an ND-Filter. The skies were semi-grey and quite bubbly, so perfect for what I had in mind. Eventually I came to my favourite part of town, South Bank and went about capturing straightforward shots and then out came the tripod and filters! It was around late afternoon 22 of August 2014.

Lighting

With this shot, I wanted a smooth Thames and moving skies sandwiched inbetween would be the Bridge and tower to give a sense of stillness or calm maybe. I have taken many shots from this view-point before, but not daytime long-exposure and when I mean long-exposure, I mean a minute or more! The lighting was perfect for what I had in mind and I could visualize the end result. I took serveral long-exposure shots, ranging from one minute up to three and a half minutes. I settled on this shot which was 90 seconds.

Equipment

My trusty Canon EOS 650D/Battery Grip with my 18-55mm standard lens, heavy Hama tripod and a Zomei 58mm Ultra Slim HD 18 layer ND2-400 Multi-Coated Fader Variable ND Filter. I like using the variable filters because you set up your focusing and aperture at the lowest density in manual mode and then turn to your desired density when you are ready to shoot, of course taking care not to move the focusing ring. Also rememebering to switch off any lens stabilizers!

Inspiration

Like I mentioned earlier, its a place I visit frequently and this day, I had all the right equipment with me, I had been down to Blackfriars bridge earlier taking shots but nothing awe-inspiring, so by the time I reached Westminster on the South Bank side I knew what I wanted to do, capture something a little less ordinary!

Editing

In Adobe Camera Raw, I was able to get out most of the colour casting which came from the filter and increased slightly the sky contrast. This gave me the shot what we are looking at now. The only problem when shooting long-exposures, is that, no matter how good or bad the ND filter is, there always seems to be colour casting in the shot, maybe a little blue, or purple or like in this case red. Adobe Camera Raw tends to deal with it very well, so not too much post-processing.

In my camera bag

My Canon telephoto 55-250mm lens, reversing rings, JESSOPS 360AFD C flashgun, Tiffen Polarizing filter, 3 spare and charged batteries, cleaning cloth and blower, remote control, at least 4 SD cards from 16GB to 32GB, hand sized mini tripod and my trusty Monopod. It is very rare that I do not use all the equipement in an outing! I was a boy scout when I was a kid, so some things die hard!

Feedback

The best advice for shooting outdoors in London, is be prepared for anything, really! Like this shot, with the ever changing skies and the right lumps of clouds that are about to pass over, you need to have some idea what that will look like in your final capture. The heaviest tripod and a remote control are your best allies. I know this sounds silly, but make sure your shot is level, because sometimes when you have to straighten things up, you loose the good bits. Most of all, PATIENCE, lots and lots of patience, take a book or a newspaper or play angry birds while you are waiting, because if you are like and switch on the reduced noise setting, then thats twice as long to wait for your shot. Keep pointing, keep clicking and always with a smile :)

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Lincsdna

Lincsdna

Westminster Bridge

Behind The Lens

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