No. 53 to New Cross Photo

Photographer’s Note

It’s midsummer in London and an advantage of the long hours of daylight is that after a day’s work one can go out for dinner, do some shopping, have a stroll and still have plenty of time before Blue Hour. This is of course a familiar and much photographed London landmark, and yet I found it very difficult to get a pleasing POV. Not too optimistically I set up my tripod on the pavement and experimented with capturing the light trails from passing vehicles. I found the most pleasing to be those of buses, which gave nice perspective lines - this was the no. 53 to New Cross.

It was difficult not to blow out the clock face of Big Ben against its darker surroundings. To keep the details I underexposed by -2/3 of a stop, then to balance the highlights and shadows I saved two different exposures using the RAW file and combined them using Photomatix software to give this result.
Image rotated, some transformation of the verticals, cropped and levels adjusted.

Just for comparison I’ll post the unprocessed original version as a WS.

xavshot, cherryripe, delic, AmiBe, jwmunro, riclopes, fayeulle, PixelTerror, Prop, grafu, leo61, jiherka, oldsock, lilimih33, alainh, patdeph, Muse, euryan, Photo65Net, capthaddock, pboehringer, cdmonson, crhieatt, balatrek, Elaine_Blath, gramma, Davids has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

xavshot (62409) 2007-06-29 12:43

Bonsoir Susanna
c'est le genre de photo que j'aurai aimé faire. Le décor de Londres va très bien et apporte une belle ambiance à cette image nocturne. Très belle photo.
Bravo
Xavier

cherryripe (18973) 2007-06-29 14:08

Hi Susanna
This is excellent. We didn't get a chance to take any blue hour photos when we were in London and it would have been nice. It's a classic place but the photo is really well executed and I like how Big Ben stands out through the trails of the "Night Bus". The lines on the road as well help make it graphic and I like the orange colour of the buildings against the blue sky.
Enjoy your evening.
Nikki

Floydian (30970) 2007-06-29 14:30

Hello Susanna,
I am not a big fan of Photomatix exposures, most of the time they look unreal. But, after seeing this i have to be more careful next time in making a statement on that piece of software. This is a proof that when you use it under the right conditions and not work over the top the result can be beautiful...and this one is beautiful.
I really like this photo, stunning light and an excellent trail of light from bus no: 53.
Great piece of work, well done..!!!
Have a nice weekend, Henk

delic (6735) 2007-06-29 14:42

Hello Susanna,
A refreshing composition and pov for this much photographed London cliche. The double-decker has produced wonderful light trails. Post-processing has resulted in striking exposure improvement. Only nitpick would be the slight tilt of Big Ben to the right. Great work! Regards,
Hakan

KostasKon (0) 2007-06-29 14:50

Excellent night shot. Great colors and lightness, perfect POV, very good sharpness. Congratulations!!!!

bwiti (402) 2007-06-29 15:14

This a picture really well made, your exposure time was completed and it gives a beautiful urban photo.... Congratulations and sorry for my poor english...

AmiBe (6042) 2007-06-29 15:35

Hello Susanna,
très dynamique cette prise au grand-angle, la trace lumineuse est parfaitement capté grâce à un bon choix du temps d'exposition.
Très bonne technique en voyant l'original.
a+

jwmunro (6575) 2007-06-29 15:57

Hello Susanna -

Well done! Reading your notes some very thoughtful work was done to produce this wonderful image. The light trails formed from the passing autos and buses adds a very dynamic element to this touristy image. I like it, an over photographed icon shown in a new and vibrant manner. As and understatement, all the technical stuff is spot on. Bravo.

As an after thought, I think I might have tried to correct the verticals but they are no so intrusive as to be noticed first off.

Thank you for sharing.

John

jonathan_hart (22576) 2007-06-29 19:39

hello
great work, beautiful effect of the light, beautiful POV, & good colours,
beautiful result !
jo

fayeulle (26543) 2007-06-29 23:09

Bonjour Susanna
Voici une photo surprenante avec de très jolies couleurs. Exposition parfaite et raies de lumière dues au passage du bus parfaitement cadrées. Seul petit reproche le focus n'est pas situé sur Big Ben qui me semble être le sujet principal.
Amicalement
JP

riclopes (32993) 2007-06-30 0:31

Wow, the result is quite impressive, Susanna. It seems that you are a Pro using diferent exposures, because this is perfect to my eyes. It reminds me the gallery of Aubrey (rosaline). Love the lines of the 53 and the strong perspective that they give in front of the historical setting. Superb work.
Regards,
ricardo

PixelTerror (86088) 2007-06-30 1:53

Hi Aubrey ;-)
You've been having fun at night and did not leave home without your tripod I see, hope you've not been bugged by the cops, from yesterday's new paranoia is well on the way again, the result is just superb in perspective, light and dynamism, and exposure blending as well, a fine technical firework Madame !
Nice WE, JY

Budapestman (41886) 2007-06-30 3:30

Hi Susanna,
Great impression. Colours are gorgeous, I like the superb perspective and the fine details. Creative and effective realization, Congratulations. Have a nice weekend
George

gilou530 (35204) 2007-06-30 4:53

salut suzanna
excellent cette photo est super réussi avec ces filets restilignes de lumiére comme j'aime, la maitrise de l'expo est top, et donne une image réussie bravo
amitiés
gilbert

devimeuxbe (55865) 2007-06-30 4:58

Bonjour Suzana
tu es donc repartie a Londres. C'est image est belle et c'est assez rare de voir des traits de lumiere comme cela aussi haut dans l'image. Le resultat est etonnant et magnifique
Amities de Phnom Penh
Bertrand

grafu (1883) 2007-06-30 11:24

hello Susanna, wonderful work... i like fine definition here, superb colours and details, especially texture of sky. beautiful shot, best regards, p.

leo61 (43398) 2007-06-30 11:30

Hi Susanna!
A very creative blue hour shot.I like it a lot.
The lines of light,caused by your well choosen exposuretime give a great depth to the image.I like the nice deep blue tones of the sky and the contrast with this famous tower.
Regards,Leo

dkeus31 (26182) 2007-06-30 12:28

hello Susanna,
Nice using of the lamps as a strong diagonal here.
good timing at the blue hour
have a nice week end
didier

toni_al (15430) 2007-06-30 16:07

Salut Susanna
Le ciel est vraiment a mon goût, un bleue intense et plein de relief par l'effet des nuages. En plus tu as ces belles traces lumineuses, une belle reusite.
@+
Toni

jiherka (4465) 2007-06-30 16:13

Hello Susanna,
Belle vue de big ben. Superbe exposition avec le ciel d'un bleu dramatique, et ces phares de véhicule comme des phantomes qui traversent l'image.
Bravo.
Salutations
Jacques

rhizomes (15325) 2007-07-01 2:52

Salut Susanna,
Belle lumière, couleurs excellentes et point de vue classique mais très réussi dans cette photo de nuit avec les trainées de lumières du bus !
Bon WE !
Christophe

oldsock (575) 2007-07-01 10:19

Hi Susanna

Great night photo of this famous building.
Good sharpness and colours, interesting comment.

Best regards
Matt

lilimih33 (9872) 2007-07-01 17:19

Hello Susanna!
Great night shot and very beautiful colours, light and clarity!
Lovely perspective and nice effect!
Excellent done!
Lili

cbrman (18847) 2007-07-02 4:18

Hello Susanna,

Tu as su faire preuve d'une parfaite maîtrise de ton exposition pour parvenir à ce filé sans grillé les hautes lumières ! De plus tu as pris cette photographie au bon moment ! Le ciel était encore légérement bleu et cela apporte un plus à ton image !
Bravo !

A+

Dominique

lucinka (9902) 2007-07-02 12:13

Hello Susanna, even though this is very typical view of London, I know how big pleasure it is to nicely capture such a wonderful photograph. Great PP work. Lovely shot. Lucie

alainh (35367) 2007-07-03 1:34

bonjour Susanna
un mur de verre et de lumiere. superbe rendu que ces 6 secondes de pause. magistrale dgestion de l'heure bleue.
bonne journée à toi
amicalement
alain

ben4321 (9793) 2007-07-03 1:50

This works well Susanna, although I think it would have worked even better if you had used a less wide focal length setting and angled the camera down a bit to avoid the perspective distortion on Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.
I find the area of pavement in the bottom right corner a bit empty - maybe you could have waited for some passing pedestrians to fill that area of the frame. A bit of movement blur there would have balanced with the light trails nicely.

Cheers,
Ben

patdeph (17846) 2007-07-03 2:19

bonjour Susanna
quelle créativité!Il fallait y penser,et le résultat est superbe!On a vraiment l'impression de voir un mur transparent et lumineux à la fois.Le PP est bien réussi,j'aime beaucoup le bleu du ciel.Le POV est bien choisi,et met bien en valeur ce "Big Ben".
Bonne journée.
Pascale

Muse (30993) 2007-07-03 3:00

Hello Suzanna,
Très belle vue nocturne. Des couleurs magnifiques et des lumières qui donnent une très belle ambiance.
J'aime beaucoup la perspective du faisceau et des lignes blanches.
Excellente journée
Denise

euryan (8347) 2007-07-03 18:48

I've never used Photomatix, but this makes me want to check it out. You mastered the exposure in this photo. The composition and the colors both look perfect. Very inspirational work here Susanna.
Regards,
Ryan

jemaflor (39357) 2007-07-04 2:38

Salut Susana,
Génial cet effet avec ces lignes lumineuses qui traversent la vue prise à cette fameuse heure bleue, cela donne du dynamisme et de la profondeur à l'image sans gêner la visibilité des monuments de plus elle s'accordent aux lignes blanches de l'avenue, très belle réalisation, bravo !

delkoo (34296) 2007-07-04 3:57

bonjour Susanna,
j'aime cette façon écologique de voir les choses, les vehicules deviennent transparents et rendent a la ville toute sa beauté.
superbe photo de nuit et de L ondres.

amicalement
didier

vincent24 (9038) 2007-07-04 14:31

Salut Susanna,
Je suis fan!ça me rappelle celle là que j'ai faite a Dublin,mais toi tu es devant un venerable monument...a l'heure dites "bleu",l'eclairage doré est sublime,
un grand bravo,
vincent

Photo65Net (43084) 2007-07-05 11:34

Susanna,
Wow, amazing image !
The blurred lights are superb, and the colors and sharpness of the BG are spot on.
A great one !
Regards,
JB.

capthaddock (28640) 2007-07-06 9:03

Hi Susanna - fab timing, the light trails make the shot, though everything else is also superbly executed, it was very interesting (and educational) to see the the WS version, I will also try this underexposing technique next time.

AyseGurel (542) 2007-07-06 13:15

Hello;
this is just excellent!
perfect shot.
TFS
ayse

InasiaJones (20229) 2007-07-06 23:19

Bonjour Susanna,

D’obtenir un bon équilibre entre les lumières du ciel et celles de la ville exige déjà une bonne exposition et un bon timing, mais en plus, tu as rajouté un filé d’autobus! Le résultat est fort concluant et permet de présenter cette icône britannique de façon dynamique et recherchée.

Je vois que le pont est toujours en réparation, avec ces panneaux qui bordent l’autre côté du pont... Ces mêmes panneaux m’ont empêcher de prendre le point de vue que je voulais lors de mon passage l’automne dernier... :-p) C’est toujours frustrant d’être en visite dans un endroit au moment où les "landmarks" sont recouverts de toile ou entourés de clôtures le temps de leur rénovation...

Bravo pour cette image bien réussie!

André

sebinho342 (18740) 2007-07-07 3:06

Salut Susanna, je m'étais promis de venir critiquer cette photo et de laisser qq mots : c'est le genre de photos dont je raffole, ces trainées lumineuses qu'on peut appeler "wall of lights" me fascinent et captent mon regard pendant de longues minutes lorsqu'ils sont bien réalisés. Alors quand en plus il sont colés sur un superbe batiment en arrière plan, monument, ça donne qqch de grandiose, c'est le cas ici. A en juger par ton WS tu t'es sacrment bien démerdée en PP pour produire ce cliché.
Un grand bravo, c'est très réussi, et sache que je suis très fan

pboehringer (770) 2007-07-08 8:21

Susanna, this is a masterpiece in every respect. You're right, the Big Ben is certainly a very popular motive at TE and makes it difficult ot come up with sime novel approach. You succeeded extremely well with this task! The POV, the perspective, the idea of the bus light ... everything is perfect and finally the PP puts the image at a wonderful level. Thanks for giving also the original version to "see" your workflow.
Ciao, Peter

cdmonson (2751) 2007-07-09 10:24

Hi Susanna:

You did a good job getting a different perspective. I love the depth that the lines give, both the lines in the road and the lines of the bus lights. You picked a good time of evening to photograph this, with a bit of light still in the sky. The blue and the clouds adds a bit of texture. Nice work.

Clark

crhieatt (5143) 2007-07-09 13:36

Susanna,
The technicalities are a bit beyond me - but the result is pretty stunning.
(I'm also surprised to find that it's not yet illegal to erect a tripod in central London!!! - only a matter of time I'm sure.)
Best regards
Colin

balatrek (7419) 2007-07-12 14:18

Hi Susanna,

Very interesting a nocturnal work, the slow speed of exposure has created a great atmosphere and the light in movement a very dynamic effect, I like the control of illumination that you have created, the result is excellent, you have demonstrated a great technique, congratulations.

Regards
José

jrj (34779) 2007-07-13 2:31

Simply outstanding work Su. Perfect pov, just the right time to have the deep blue sky, top light managment at the building and then of course your very creative capture of the passing bus. Impressive!

verswe (4426) 2007-07-18 13:03

Excellent night shot. Great colors and lightness, perfect POV, very good sharpness.I like the superb perspective and the fine details.Greetings,
Kris

Elaine_Blath (6170) 2007-07-30 1:50

Hi Susanna,

wonderful London evening shot, I like this a lot!

Well done, Ivana

gramma (3519) 2007-07-30 13:26

Hello Susanna,

Que de belles images depuis ma dernière visite. Celle-ci est particulièrement magnifique. Ces couleurs et surout ce filé, excellent !

Christophe

Steft (5962) 2007-07-31 3:26

Hi Susanna,
Very good night shot with beautiful light beams. Good that you also posted the original so we can see what you did with the photo. The photo is very sharp. The light beams and the lines on the road give the photo a very good depth.
Thanks for sharing,
Stef

eyesthetix (637) 2007-08-15 6:24

YES!!
Great visual drama and colour!
I like the diagonal lines.
Metering for the lights has been well managed - there is no over-exposure there.

Well done.
best regards, Daniel