Good Evening St. Paul (how technology made the difference)

Zogger

Zogger

Zogger

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I thought I would share this shot from Saturday. The reason I think it's interesting is because it would have been almost impossible for me to take this picture with my old equipment.
I recently switched from a 30D to a 60D, and also decided to buy a Sigma 17-70C f/2.8 -4 (with IS) to use instead of my Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 (no IS).

I took this to London on Saturday along with a gorillapod - as photography wasn't the main purpose of the visit (especially with a 2 year old) it had to stay lightweight, and I mostly got a bunch of rubbish shots. :p

However this one stood out - taken from the balcony of the Tate Modern after the sun had set. I happened to be in the right place at the right time for the lighting and weather. The wind was rather bracing and I had very little time so the gorilla pod was out of the question (as I don't have much experience with it, it seems getting a stable position takes a while...)

These are the settings I got
37mm - 1/25th at f/5.0 ISO 3200.

With the 30D, ignoring the extended mode, I would have been limited to ISO 1600 (-1 stop)
With the Tamron I could maybe have opened up a stop to get that back, at the risk of softness, but at 1/25th in the wind there's very little chance I would have got this shot.
With the sigma, the IS managed to cut out most of the movement and actually delivered an acceptable shot. I have slightly sharper shots at the same shutter speed but they weren't the right framing. I had a go at the 'camera shake reduction' feature in photoshop which also improved the general sharpness after a little adjustment.


Good Evening St. Paul by TheRealZogger, on Flickr

Comments welcome - still not sure if it's quite bright enough overall.
 
I really like that :)

The low light and cloud make it appear to be a dark and dingy place like going back a few hundred years to coal burning and smoke covered skylines. Although it looks to be grainy, this would have made a really nice HDR shot, love it! Almost industrial.

Well done! I wish I could get out more, this damn rain stops me taking my camera out :(
 
thanks, when I was editing I did keep thinking that lower cloud looks quite a lot like chimney smoke. For the sky I slightly lowered the exposure and increased the saturation in lightroom (graduated filter) - I think the saturation also increased the noise but I don't mind that in the sky as it almost looks like deliberate grain.
 
Nice shot, great colours and an interesting post. Having recently moved from a Tamron non IS to a Canon with IS, I'm genuinely surprised at the impact it has. I can now get shots handheld that simply weren't possible before. Of course it wont help with a moving subject but in the scenario you were in, it's invaluable.
 
I like that :) Nice and gloomy, and the light on St Pauls looks really nice.

As I'm a black and white whore, what's it look like converted? :D
 
Great shot. After seeing the original and the black and white, I think you've done a good job on the processing too - the right hand side is a lot more interesting in your first post. Nice :)
 
Your first version is the best of the three really nicely processed to give a balance of light and dark, I really like the composition to I'd be chuffed with that shot.

It's a very good point about the IS, people often say it's a waste of time on shorter focal lengths when your shot clearly demonstrates the massive advantage it can give you in hand held photography.
 
Agreed, great shot. I was probably walking across the bridge at the moment you took it :)

a1ex2001 said:
It's a very good point about the IS, people often say it's a waste of time on shorter focal lengths when your shot clearly demonstrates the massive advantage it can give you in hand held photography.
Click to expand...

Yeah I never understand why some regard IS as only useful for telephoto. I recently moved from the Tamron 17-50 f2.8 non VC to a Canon 17-55 f2.8 IS, and while the Tamron is an excellent lens, my keeper rate for handheld shots must have quadrupled with the Canon.
 
I was in London last week for 3 days. Visited the Galleries and took pics with my New 5DMkIII + 24-105mm and got nearly the same pic as you. Yours is looking Good & you must have a steadier hand than me is it's sharper than mine. The First one. Well Done.
 
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