Some City Shots

pabloB · 7 Dec 2008 at 22:03

I'm really miffed at these and they're not the greatest however never mind C&C Welcome as always!!

1. This is actually where I work Mon - Fri The Lloyds building

2. That's Willis' new headquaters next door ( Willis are a Large Insurance Broker)

3. More Lloyds

4. Back to Lloyds building looking up Leadenhall Street and left down St Mary's Axe where the Gherkin is.

5. Bank Station

6. Roof of Royal Exchange next to Bank good lighting and fancy roof! Although it looks like some repairs are in order.

L0rdMike · 7 Dec 2008 at 23:08

Why use ISO 560 if you are using a tripod?

Johnny|lucidcomposure · 8 Dec 2008 at 00:31

L0rdMike said:
Why use ISO 560 if you are using a tripod?

maybe to keep the exposure within a 30s period hense not having to use bulb mode with a remote.

Although I'm sure theres enough light to justify a lower ISO looking at the light..

Just an idea.

Bluelion · 8 Dec 2008 at 00:39

There's something about number 5 (Bank station) which I really like, but I can't put my finger on it. Not so keen on 4, the Gherkin looks a bit wonky like there was camera shake (or is it just a bit soft?), and the flare is a bit distracting. I assume that was the Sigma 10-20? What lens were the 50mm shots taken with?

Thanks for sharing them

pabloB · 8 Dec 2008 at 09:06

L0rdMike said:
Why use ISO 560 if you are using a tripod?

This is a good point! I'm trying to mess about with other settings i.e Shutter speeds and aperture and let the Camera go with Auto ISO for the time being (It's locked to a max of 800) - (I know they're all inter related) but it was fun trying out different things. Agreed there was probably more light so could have used a lower ISO Setting ( These were taken about 45 mins after sunset at about 4:45 ish) Do you guys think there would have been a massive difference between say ISO 200 - 560?

The Gherkin one is a tad wonky but this is what you get towards the edges with the Sigma 10 -20 - there's a tool in Photoshop to correct this (Can't remember what it's called) I think but I'm trying to learn the ropes of using a camera before I even get into Photoshop.

The 50 MM Lens is just the cheap £70 F1.8.

Johnny|lucidcomposure · 8 Dec 2008 at 11:10

You can argue noise preferences in high speed shutter exposures but in long exposures I would not encourage the sensor to heat up any more than I needs to.
A sensor gives noise because its asked to work harder at higher ISO's. This heats up the sensor, by leaving the sensor turned on you are again heating up the sensor which will incur noise.

pabloB · 8 Dec 2008 at 13:33

Fstop11 said:
You can argue noise preferences in high speed shutter exposures but in long exposures I would not encourage the sensor to heat up any more than I needs to.
A sensor gives noise because its asked to work harder at higher ISO's. This heats up the sensor, by leaving the sensor turned on you are again heating up the sensor which will incur noise.

Gosh I have much to learn as I hadn't even considered that!

Amp34 · 8 Dec 2008 at 14:15

There is a lot of flare on the first few, do you use a filter on the sigma?

I really like 5 but there is something niggling about it, i'm thinking maybe low contrast or something of that sort, if it were mine I would have a go at adjusting the curves/levels on the background.

Mohain · 8 Dec 2008 at 16:55

No. 5 is great but I agree with Amp, i think it needs a contrast bump

benjo · 8 Dec 2008 at 16:58

I like them, just a shame about the lens flare

pabloB · 8 Dec 2008 at 20:19

Amp34 said:
There is a lot of flare on the first few, do you use a filter on the sigma?

I really like 5 but there is something niggling about it, i'm thinking maybe low contrast or something of that sort, if it were mine I would have a go at adjusting the curves/levels on the background.

Just a UV Filter - haven't invested in any others yet! I think there was soooo many lights bouncing around everywhere lens flare was inevitable!! Leasson learnt though!

D.P. · 9 Dec 2008 at 08:06

Fstop11 said:
You can argue noise preferences in high speed shutter exposures but in long exposures I would not encourage the sensor to heat up any more than I needs to.
A sensor gives noise because its asked to work harder at higher ISO's. This heats up the sensor, by leaving the sensor turned on you are again heating up the sensor which will incur noise.

The sensor doesn't heat up with a higher sensitivity, merely the gain is increased, amplifying the signal and the noise. The snesor itself works in the same way, at each pixel photosite photons hit a diode creating charge. This is then discharged and the microvolts amplified and go through an ADC to the digital circuitry

LEaving the sensor on for long exposures can heat the sensor and may make "hot pixels".

The end result is still the same though, you should use high sensitivities on long exposures.

pabloB · 17 Dec 2008 at 20:31

benjo said:
I like them, just a shame about the lens flare

Guys, Thanks again for the comments back here!

I'm going for another sesh soon chaps and was wondering if you could offer some advice.

1. How do I get rid of the lens flare in these types of pictures?? Is this simply the case of getting some filters?

2. How do you up the contrast whilst in camera so to speak i.e. without Post Processing?

I now have a remote which should help too!

Derek W · 17 Dec 2008 at 20:49

nice photographs of some great buildings in london. cant beat a bit of Lord Rogers and Foster. Its given me a better idea of how photos will appear on a wide angle lens cos I'm thinking about buying a new camera shortly :eek:

33L · 17 Dec 2008 at 21:14

its the uv filter that propbably caused the ghosting - general rule of thumb is take it off while doing low light work with strong light sources.

now that you have the remote trigger set the camera to ISO 100, set it to manual, f8-f11 should be fine for less than a 30s exposure in decent street lighting.

I noticed that your sensor is alittle dirty - might be wise to give it a clean before doing shots with narrow apertures.

Lee

pabloB · 17 Dec 2008 at 22:15

33L said:
its the uv filter that propbably caused the ghosting - general rule of thumb is take it off while doing low light work with strong light sources.

now that you have the remote trigger set the camera to ISO 100, set it to manual, f8-f11 should be fine for less than a 30s exposure in decent street lighting.

I noticed that your sensor is alittle dirty - might be wise to give it a clean before doing shots with narrow apertures.

Lee

Top Man - Thanks Very much! Funny I'm seeing slight marks to - will sort the sensor out!

& Derek Thanks for the comments - looking forward to going back although it's bit much hanging out where I work in the week! Some wicked buildings around there and more being built as we speak!

http://www.skyscrapernews.com/image...=1912ShardSecuresFinalBatchOfFunding_pic1.jpg

This one is finally being built

http://www.skyscrapernews.com/image...00HeronTowerFinallyUnderConstruction_pic1.jpg

This one is going up just across the way from the Llloyds building

http://www.skyscrapernews.com/image...fidi=1820PinnacleSecuresFirstPre-Let_pic1.jpg

Looking forward to taking some of my brokers out to Europe's highest Restaurant!

theNude · 18 Dec 2008 at 12:45

Nice pictures, i work around the corner from you and will be taking some simular pics shortly, there is a really nice 'ruined' church just off Great tower street which is quite photogenic.

Dude.