Dom cathedral
This is an image from the Dom cathedral shot across the Rhine river. It's a magnificent structure and a must see if you get the opportunity! Crazy story behind ...
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This is an image from the Dom cathedral shot across the Rhine river. It's a magnificent structure and a must see if you get the opportunity! Crazy story behind this shot, but it was literally all fogged in when I got there, and couldn't even barely see the Dom cathedral from my vantage point. I had a grand total of 5 quick shots in the 5+ hours I tried to wait it out in sub-freezing weather. I was there with intent on catching a long exposure image to make some prints of. There will be another day....... hopefully. ;-)
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Feb, 2015Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This image is from Cologne Germany, and it is of the "Dom Cathedral."Time
I was set up to get this shot as soon as full darkness set in. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I didn't get the shot until almost midnight.Lighting
The intention of the set up of this shot was to capture a long exposure to make a very large print on acrylic with back lighting. My original settings were (ISO100 f/22 30sec cable release) Crazy story behind this shot, but it was literally all fogged in when I finally got there, and could barely see the Dom cathedral from my vantage point. I was only going to be there this one night, so I set up the tripod and camera and dialed in to what I had planned before the trip. I figured I would hope for eventual clearing of the fog and still be able to get the shot I planned for. Locals came by through the evening and talked about the history of the Dom. I asked them if there was a chance that the fog would clear up enough to still be able to get a shot, and they said it's possible as the fog rolls in and out all the time along the Rhine river. I was talking to a couple of guys that were curious about California and the USA for hours, when I noticed a slight break in the fog down river and noticed the steeple of another church. I quickly told the guys to please excuse me, I need to try and catch this shot! They laughed at my sudden enthusiasm and said go for it. I was mentally going over my setup to make sure I was dialed into what I had planned, then took some deep breaths as it got closer. Right before it got to the cathedral, I realized that I might not be able to get a long exposure as the fog was fast moving and it had a short window of opportunity. I quickly flipped my setup to a high ISO (3200) and low f-stop (f/4) and dialed in the exposure to 1/5. I had a grand total of 5 quick shots in the 5+ hours I tried to wait it out in sub-freezing weather. There will be another day....... hopefully. ;-)Equipment
Canon 7D, Canon - EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM, Manfroto tripod.Inspiration
I had seen some very large images in a gallery that were back lit, and was looking for the right subject matter to take advantage of the visual. I came across information about the Dom Cathedral, and visualized using the bridge across the Rhine river as a leading line to the Dom. I thought the night lights would work better than whatever light the sun may supply on the day that I was there. ( I certainly didn't think about the fog possibility)Editing
There is always some post-processing that can be done to fine tune an image to what your own eyes saw and represent that in the image. In this instance, I had to add quite a bit of noise reduction due to the higher than normal ISO I used and then the fog that was present. I added A bit of exposure and adjusted the white balance, a little clarity and vibrancy. This was done using Lightroom as I use it for most of my images.In my camera bag
I have my main camera which is a Canon 7D and an older Canon Rebel just as a backup. I have a Canon ES 28-135mm 1:3.5-5.6 IS, Canon EF 17-40mm 1:4 L USM, Canon EF 75-300mm 1:4.5-5.6, 3 extension tubes 12-20-36mm (for macros) 3 extra batteries, 3x 32gb memory cards, cleaning equipment, sunscreen. Outside of the bag, I have use of a Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender.Feedback
I would always visualize what the final image you are trying to capture, then make a checklist of what you will need to get it. I did my homework on the weather and location and scheduled the location and travel far enough in advance to make sure I was ready. Try and get as much information as you can about the location and available lighting. It's also a good idea to check for any other possible subject matter that might be possible to shoot if the subject matter that you originally chose doesn't work out. (as was almost the case in this image) The end result was, I wasn't able to get the original long exposure image I had planned for, but was able to still get a usable image on a smaller scale. Due to the grainy fog that was present in the image even after noise reduction, I only felt comfortable selling a 19" x 13" image. Prepare, then double check...
