Camera Labs

I didn't want to post this image onto rogersjt's thread and then take it over (found here).

This was my interpretation of the Covent Garden Market building today. Comments and critique welcome.


D200, 10-20 Sigma @ 10mm, 1/40 at f/11. ISO100. ND used.

_________________
Nikonian

http://www.edtangphotography.com
http://journeysintophotography.blogspot.com/

Concrete gazebo, Bedford Square, London.

IMAGE REMOVED

LEFT: D200, 10-20 Sigma @ 14mm, 1/20 at f/22. ISO100. ND grad used, three exposures combined.

RIGHT: D200, 10-20 Sigma @ 18mm, 1/1000 at f/5.6. ISO100. ND used.

_________________
Nikonian

http://www.edtangphotography.com
http://journeysintophotography.blogspot.com/

fantastic Photoj I really have to invest in that lens. I've tried lots of pictures on an angle like that but not as good a result as yours.
The depth of field seems just right to catch to atmosphere in the hall
GCJ

_________________
Nikon D80, D40 and various lenses.

Thanks for your comment GCJ. The 10-20 excels when it comes to capturing architecture with a lovely distortion profile.

I'm also putting up a pair of images from St Pancras Railway Station and one of the main glasshouse at Kew Gardens. And in the habit of sharing a little about how the images were taken, EXIF is shown below.


D200, 10-20 Sigma @ 10mm, 1/8 at f/22. ISO400, three exposures combined.

IMAGE REMOVED
D200, 10-20 Sigma @ 10mm, 1/60 at f/22. ISO400. ND grad used.

IMAGE REMOVED
D200, 10-20 Sigma @ 13mm, 1/25 at f/22. ISO100, ND grad and two exposures combined.

_________________
Nikonian

http://www.edtangphotography.com
http://journeysintophotography.blogspot.com/

Hi photoj/Ed,

I really enjoy these shots. The twist on the first one gives it more drama and interest than a straight up-and-down angle would have.

The shots of that concrete gazebo are fantastic beyond what it's interesting architectural shape affords. The light and color you manage to lay on it really makes it come to life.

Your B&W of the railway station is a good composition too and I think it's perfectly suited for B&W with those lines and the light.

Thanks for sharing

Cheer!

Hey Ed,

I'm not going to say what you already know These are some nice photographs. I really like it that you titled that first shot, works great. I think i need to start tilting alot more (you seem to do it quite often compared to myself) when do you suggest doing this, do you have a rule or is it a trial and error process that you get used to and just get an eye for it as cropping?

I was wondering when you say "two exposure combined" what exposure are we talking about and how do you go about combining them?

The only critique that i have is that the last shot (which is my favorite out of them) looks very uneven because the house isn't center, its a bit more to the right then to the middle.

Great to see some of your work, its been a while since the shoot of the "nothing less" time

p.s what ND are you using?

_________________
My Picasa

My Flickr

Thanks Alex. Having critiqued a lot of CL members' work, I thought I ought to submit some every so often for reciprocation.

Regarding tilt, it comes with experience; lt is a very good way of adding dynamism on something that could be quite static if taken horizontally or vertically. The key though is enough tilt and purpose in doing so, so that it doesn't look like you took it wonky. I'll create something on my blog explaining tilted perspectives a little more.

In the first image (Covent Garden), I looked for the bannister on the far left as a leading line. Secondly I made the right line of where the glass ceiling begins to be central and that's how I guaged the angle. For the image in colour of the railway station, that was aligned with the escalator as a leading line and the glass railings as secondary lines.

The final image that you liked was taken at that image because of flare. Even though it was a cloudy day, there was a patch of sun that got in the way. And so I adopted the composition you see with the tree on the right covering the sun to stop the flaring; the 10-20 is slightly prone to it.

As for the NDs, I use only the low end Cokin filters - grads were a standard ND4 and a soft ND8, and the full ND was an ND4. As for those who say it does affect the colour balance a little, yes it's true. But for the optical effect you get in return, the Cokin filters are great value for money and I couldn't justify buying a Singh-Ray or Lee filter for 5-10x the price.

Two/three exposures combined essentially means I took different spot exposures, then took the whole frame or the best parts and joined them in CS3 to broaden the dynamic range.

_________________
Nikonian

http://www.edtangphotography.com
http://journeysintophotography.blogspot.com/

Sometimes you get some good feedback but other times you don't. These forums some time work in a very odd way if you ask me at time.



I m looking forward to that article, i have tried tilting the images as you know, but never really worked it out that great.




What do you mean b a soft ND8 filter? same goes for a "the full ND was an ND4" i dont follow you here Ed, sorry. I think the Cokin sure looks great for the price you pay!



This is going to sounds some what stupid, but how would you take different spot exposure if your hand holding a camera? Did you take these images with a tripod? Would you mind sharing for example on that photo at the bottom of the glass house where you spot metered of?

_________________
My Picasa

My Flickr

Nice shots Ed. I tried tilting once or twice but never get it right.

_________________
Graham
Flickr

You can see here for some illustrations. Full means that the filter covers the whole area, soft means that the graduation moves slowly from top to bottom, a harsh ND will have a graduation that will change halfway, the medium ND will be the same as the harsh but with a softer grey for a lighter effect, and a light ND will have very little graduation usually faintly restricted to 1/3 of the filter.



You don't quite take an image with the camera - you can use the metering in manual to find out the dynamic range whilst handholding before using a tripod. For example, I point the camera at the foreground and find that I'll need 1/15 at f/11; I then point at the sky and find that I need 1/250 at f/11. So counting through the stops: 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250 - there are 5 stops. All I now have to do is to adjust the camera on a tripod to capture that range to combine in PP. When handholding, I spot meter to find out the range from top, middle and bottom. Once I know the spread from the middle I adjust the camera for AEB and tell the camera how much bracketing is needed.

_________________
Nikonian

http://www.edtangphotography.com
http://journeysintophotography.blogspot.com/

Off-topic: an entry on the tilted perspective is now on my blog.

_________________
Nikonian

http://www.edtangphotography.com
http://journeysintophotography.blogspot.com/

Great Ed,

Thanks for sharing that little secret of yours with me

_________________
My Picasa

My Flickr

More images to add to this thread. This is Jeff Koon's Balloon Flower sculpture displayed at St James's Square, London, before being auctioned later this month at an estimated £12 million. Despite how light it looks, it's made of steel.


D200, 10-20 Sigma @ 13mm. 1/80 at f/11. ISO100. ND grad used.


D200, 35-70 2.8 Nikkor @ 35mm. 1/640 at f2.8. ISO100. ND grad used.

_________________
Nikonian

http://www.edtangphotography.com
http://journeysintophotography.blogspot.com/

One last one before I head out of London for a fortnight - meaning I won't be on the forum as often as usual.

This is Tower Bridge in London; again another tilted perspective.

IMAGE REMOVED.

_________________
Nikonian

http://www.edtangphotography.com
http://journeysintophotography.blogspot.com/

Thanks for the blog article Ed!

_________________
Graham
Flickr