Big Ben upon Thames River
Big Ben and parliament at blue hour
Big Ben and parliament at blue hour
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Aug, 2016Views
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Awards
Action Award
Legendary Award
Contest Finalist in Architecture And The Night Project
Member Selection Award
Winner in London Photo Challenge
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Superior Skill
Top Choice
Magnificent Capture
Outstanding Creativity
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williamjohnbates_8406
April 09, 2020
Good photo, but a correction needed: the tower is the Queen Elizabeth Tower. Big Ben is the 10 ton BELL inside the tower, not the tower itself. Thank you!
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
The photo was taken in London at the south east side of Westminster bridge. But I was hopping for the photo to speak for itself regarding its location!Time
I lived in London for 7 years and visited this spot numerous times. However, never with a camera, tripod and enough time to take a long exposure. Up until a lazy Monday afternoon when I finished work early and happened to have my gear with me. I quickly checked the weather and planned a long walk to end at Big Ben during blue hour. I was worried about the thick overcast throughout that afternoon but I was lucky enough that the clouds started breaking up right after sunset, letting some nice colors slip through and giving a more dramatic look to my photo.Lighting
I was around the area before sunset but I knew if I waited for about an hour, the lamp posts on the bridge and the parliament would light up and transform the scene to this interesting interplay between the last light in the sky and the artificial light on the ground casting its reflections in the Thames river. The cherry on the cake were the light streaks on the bridge by passing cars and buses.Equipment
I used my Nikon D7200, a 35mm DX 1.8G lens with a 4 stop ND filter, my Amazon basics tripod and a release cable. The above was actually all the photography equipment I owned at the time :)Inspiration
Since I am planning to leave London at sometime during the next few years I am trying to make the most out of it's beautiful landmarks. I know that landmarks like Big Ben have been photographed millions of times from all possible angles all year around, yet I wanted to have a photo that I took myself and give a personal touch to it. I also wanted to challenge myself to create good quality photos by using the only lens I had (a 35mm prime) and a combination of a number of techniques including stitching many bracketed long exposures.Editing
To capture the entire big ben and leave some breathing space on top and bottom of the river I had to capture a 4 photos wide by 3 rows panorama with my 35mm on a DX camera. I also used 5 bracketed exposures for each. The total amount of photos taken where 60. Each bracketed filed of view was merged into an HDR image using photomatix. I then stitched the entire scene into PS and adjusted the highlights, whites and shadows using ACR filter. I finished the image by sharpening and reducing noise.In my camera bag
Since I don't own much equipment I travel light! A always carry my Nikon D7200, a 35mm DX 1.8G lens, an Amazon basics 154 cm tripod, a release cable and some ND filters.Feedback
I believe no matter how many times a given place like Big Ben was photographed before, it is still rewarding and fun to go out there to take your own photo and interpretation of it. For us photographers, at the end of the day a photo shouldn't be just about the light captured but the entire experience that led to the moment of capture. To make things more interesting and improve, try to challenge yourself in order to master a new technique. As an amateur photographer I am constantly trying something new (HDR or other post-processing approaches, panoramas, the Brenizer method, long or short exposures etc. ) at everything I shoot and this has improved my photography greatly. I guess at some point a professional photographer should settle to a specific type of photography and style, yet one has to try everything before taking that decision. ...ah and don't forget to have fun during the process!
