London’s Millennium bridge on the river Thames with Saint Paul’s Cathedral in the background
London’s Millennium bridge on the river Thames with Saint Paul’s Cathedral in the background
London’s Millennium bridge on the river Thames with Saint Paul’s Cathedral in the background
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Oct, 2018Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This phonto was taken in London (of course! :-)), on the South bank of the river Thames, with a small gorilla portable tripod perched on the path wall, on my way back to the hotel from a long day at the Client's site. The exposure is about 1 minute, and you can see that in the light reflection on the slowly moving water. Small ISO (100), F22, open shutter and manual focus (yes, manual focus :-)) on the closest bridge brace. I love this photo, it's one of my finest night long exposures, and Saint Paul's Cathedral is majestic.Time
I think it was taken at around 19:00, obviously on a autumn or winter night, as the days in England are short eiher side of summer.Lighting
I think the sky was more grey ro cloudy that I would have liked. If you look at my portfolio for other night shots in London, you'll see some spectacular night sky, but this one left a bit to be desired.Equipment
Sony ILCE alpha 6000, with an old manual focus 35mm Prinzflex and an M42 (bayonette-to-NEX adapter, so the focal length is likely to be close to 60 mm, once you account for the adapter. I use quite a few of these old lenses from my film cameras, it makes the challenge more interesting...and they're free! :-) You can find all sorts of mount adapters for M42, Pentax, Nikon, etc...and they have great adaptation, including infinity focus.Inspiration
I've always looked at that walk and the view from that angle every time I passed it, so I made a mental note to take my camera equipment in my rucksack next time I was going to be in London, and took some great shots at night; this one and some of the Houses of Parliament are my favourite ones.Editing
Not a lot of post processing at all, just a bit of a bump on the contrast, dehaze and vibrance on Photoshop Express on the iPad! :-)In my camera bag
I don't have a lot of money to spare, so the Alpha 6000 is my main body. I have another couple of smaller Sony ones, but I'm hoping to upgrade to an Alpha 7 soon. The rest, as I mentioned, is mainly good old lenses mounted on adapters, as well as the Sony original 16-50 lens, which is still ok for wide-ish angles and landscapes. Monopod, tripod, smaller tripods and a simple manual switch fo open shutter operation at night. Not much, really.Feedback
Take your time, try a few, choose a time when you don't have to rush. For me, I was in London on business, nothing else to do at night, so I could have taken all the hourse that I wanted. Try a few focus spots and definitely try manual focus if you can, applying the good old fashioned photography rules of thumb, no pun intended :-)
