Low-Light London

KevinKalKevinKal Registered Users Posts: 246 Major grins
edited April 20, 2005 in Landscapes
Wheew, I am exhausted! Just got back from a whirlwind tour to London over the weekend, and have been trying to process a few of my pictures. Prior to my departure, I had been in contact with Luben Solev who was kind enough to offer me more than enough advice on shooting this great city - unfortunately the weather didn't quite cooperate with me on the evening of these nightshots, but they seem to have come out reasonably well.

Any suggestions for improvement with respect to cropping and color would be greatly appreciated....

1. London Eye & Council Hall
20076066-L.jpg




2. Big Ben & Parliment
20076068-L.jpg



If the framing of these two shots looks familiar, that is because I was specifically trying to recreate the same shots done brilliantly and far more professionally by Luben (www.solev.net).

Cheers,
Kevin K.

Comments

  • KhaosKhaos Registered Users Posts: 2,435 Major grins
    edited April 19, 2005
    Excellent shots. The first almost has a 3D effect where the ferris wheel almost looks like a actual wheel on top of the photo.

    Great colors in the second.
  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited April 19, 2005
    nice work thumb.gif

    i shot with luben, and we had a blast. i have the same shot of parliament, 3' x 2' hanging on my wall, i did it up in b&w and it looks gorgeous - i highly recommend printing that big!

    thanks for sharing
  • KevinKalKevinKal Registered Users Posts: 246 Major grins
    edited April 20, 2005
    Khaos...
    Hi Khaos,

    Thanks for the comments - I agree that the wheel does have a 3-D appearance. It turns quite slowly actually, taking 30 minutes to do 1 revolution.

    Cheers,
    Kevin K.
  • KevinKalKevinKal Registered Users Posts: 246 Major grins
    edited April 20, 2005
    Andy...
    Hi Andy,

    I look forward to having the opportunity to shoot with Luben one day, but alas while I was here in Europe he traded places with me and was in the States. He helped me plan my shots via email though, and was a great help. I will definitely try print a large version of the Big Ben shot to hang on my wall.

    Cheers,
    Kevin K.
  • RevcoManRevcoMan Registered Users Posts: 42 Big grins
    edited April 20, 2005
    Kevin,

    First of all, those two pics are outstanding. thumb.gif

    Did you use Solev's technique of stacking multiple exposures to create that first pic? It's almost an exact reproduction of his version on his website.

    Very nice.
  • KevinKalKevinKal Registered Users Posts: 246 Major grins
    edited April 20, 2005
    Revco...
    Thank you for the compliments Revco. For the second shot, I used Luben's technique of stacking/blending multiple exposures in order to (1) reduce noise and (2) increase dynamic range.

    For the first shot, I simply took 25 pictures with the same settings (f/8, ss=20 sec), selected the best (about 16 shots), blended two sets of 8, then blended the resulting 2 images. After that, I did a fair amount of PS work to try and replicate the original (the one on Luben's website).

    I give all credit to Luben for his help with these shots, as he gave me quite detailed information on where and how to shoot each one - he is a terrific teacher.

    Cheers,
    Kevin K.
  • USAIRUSAIR Registered Users Posts: 2,646 Major grins
    edited April 20, 2005
    Kevin
    Wow both are very nicethumb.gif
    I think #1 is my favorite ...cool shot :):

    Thanks
    Fred
  • rahmonsterrahmonster Registered Users Posts: 1,376 Major grins
    edited April 20, 2005
    eek7.gif WOW

    Really great shots! I LOVE the water and the colours. You have done REALLY wellclap.gifthumb
    www.tmitchell.smugmug.com

    Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life...Picasso
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