The York Minster Photo

Photographer’s Note

York Minster and the Western Gate or Bootham Bar, York

Scene
A night image of the York Minster with Bootham Bar in the foreground. Bootham Bar is the western gate of the old walled city. From this gate you can climb onto the city wall and walk about 1/4th of the way around the old inner city. From the wall there are fantastic views of the Minster.

Background
Normally I like to make this type image when there is still light in the sky to minimize the black areas in the image. Sometimes it is not possible to be at the given place at the right time and this was one of those occasions. My wife and I and our traveling companions arrived in York at mid day and spent the afternoon visiting the Minster and walking the city wall. We attending the Evensong service to listen to the beautiful choral and organ music in one of Europe's largest medieval cathedrals. After Evensong we roamed the streets of the old town looking for a place to have dinner and stumbled upon Betty's Tea Shop, a York institution. While in Whitby our B&B proprietor recommended visiting Betty's as well. We spent an enjoyable 2.5 hours at Betty's having a light dinner, tea, and dessert.

Walking back to our B&B we passed through the Bootham Bar and looked back at the Minster. I captured this image without the use of my tripod, I know - bad form, but I was able to brace my quick release mount on a pillar and capture an acceptable image.

Color Cast Issue
The Original image had a very strong color cast due to my WB setting and the color and temperature of the mixed lighting. I experimented with different methods to clear the cast but this was the technique I used:

1 - Tungsten WB in the ACR - this cleared about 60% of the cast and rendered the Bootham Bar in more natural light.
2 - Using threshold I marked the White and Black Points.
3 - Using a slick layers and blending mode method (send me an e-mail and I will share) I selected the Grey point.
4 - In curves I set the Black point, but when setting the White point the colors were thrown way off. To make long story shorter I tried different white points without success so I finally opted not to set a white point.
5 - I set the Grey point and got a fairly neutral image but the minster was still very warm in color.
6 - I added a cooling filter at about 32% to remove the warm light but that cooled the rest of the image too much. I filled the Photo Filter mask with Black and painted over only the Minster with a white brush (using about 25% opacity) to build up to about the effect of the mask to about 70% opacity.

feather, Photo65Net, Bruno40, crckt, pboehringer, Floydian, scobert, Didi, rushfan2112, stego, plimrn, gunbud, wishlist, Wandering_Dan has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

crckt (7100) 2008-01-01 8:35

Hi John,
HAPPY NEW YEAR!! 2secs exposure, no tripod..yet a fantastic outcome. Well done. Your PP work was also excellent, this looks quite natural. Beautifully composed.
Regards,
Shaeri

pboehringer (770) 2008-01-01 12:13

John,
the shot is "acceptable"? You must be joking! It is spot on as you so often write in your own critiques. I agree regarding the black sky, but hey 2.5 hours for a light (?) dinner at Betty's Tea Shop is a pretty good excuse. Your color cast issue removal description sounds very interesting and could be a good teaching moment at our next TE meeting in Point Reyes, in case you and Joanne can join us.
Cheers, Peter

Floydian (30970) 2008-01-01 15:23

Hi John,
Not much attention for your image, i really wonder why not. The light is very good on the towers, enough detail in the foreground and a trail of light crossing the middle. Your D2x have you a wonderful exposure, a clean and brightful image.
Wishing you and Joanne all the best for 2008...
Henk

Bruno40 (6442) 2008-01-01 23:56

John,
gree that this photo could have been better during the blue-hour, but that is not always possible. Your result is very nice, and I wonder how much cast you had in the original photo.
Since I joined TE I have tried to understand as much as possible the art of PP, and your work here seems to be of top quality. Before TE I never touched my photos.
I would be extremely happy if you have the time to share it with me.
cheers
Jorge

Photo65Net (43096) 2008-01-02 2:01

John,
A very good night exposure !
You caught details on the Fg, and nice exposure on the building, not OE.
Very nice job, and great note, I like your technical explanations.
Regards,
JB.

feather (50168) 2008-01-02 3:37

Your PP paid off as there is no trace of the orange colour you get with tungsten lighting. The minster really dominates and you emphasise that by using the gate as a frame. You say yourself blue hour would have been best but travellers can't always choose. Good work.
Kath
Happy New Year to you and Joanne.
K

scobert (5333) 2008-01-02 9:52

Hi John,
Happy New Year to you and Joanne! In spite of the imperfect lighting conditions, this is still an excellent and underrated photograph. You handled this difficult lighting expertly and I believe that this style of photography is very suitable for magazine publication. There is plenty of room on the top and on the bottom of the frame for a photo illustrator's text. You did a fine job with this photo and managed to have a good time with friends (which is more important than photography anyway). Well done!
Stan

rushfan2112 (2965) 2008-01-02 13:41

Hi John.

An extremely nicely composed view of the Minster. I've taken a few in daylight but never at night. Superb detail in the stonework and you've balanced the lighting a treat.

(I didn't understand a word of what you wrote about WB in the ACR and slick blending. God, I have a lot to learn......!)

Anyway, techno-wotsits aside, I reckon it's a little cracker. Nice work.

Paul.

Didi (36516) 2008-01-03 0:27

Hi John
Very interesting night composition with a very good white balance and a good lights management.
Best wishes for a happy new year 2008.

stego (22482) 2008-01-03 15:08

Hi John,
You certainly have a special gift for compos! Unlike many others out there, some of them very talented, you go for subtle elegance instead of 'spectacularity', something that makes your photographs very special (abiding?). I guess that this one would still be great if it had been shot during the day, but getting such a sharpness and natural colours at night (and without tripod!) is even more amazing.
Hats off! I am really impressed!
Happy New Year!
Regards, José.

carper (65742) 2008-01-04 3:17

It's a lovely nightshot John,
first of all the best wishes for 2008 for you and your family.
this is a very good quality nightshot, good sharpnes and in a fine composition, very good photojob, thank you. have a nice day.
gr. jaap

plimrn (19740) 2008-01-04 19:04

Hi John,
Your work with the color cast was clearly effective as the light on the towers is magical!! The makeshift tripod also worked well, the detail is impeccable. I like the ghostly, gothic feel so much that I have a hard time imagining how a blue hour shot could be better.
HLJ, Pat

gunbud (28165) 2008-01-05 19:40

Hi John,
Lovely night time capture of the venerable cathedral that is seen in clear focus with clear color and excellent details and sharpness.
Regards, Tom

wishlist (4133) 2008-01-09 0:39

Hi John,
I've been to York a couple of time but never managed to get a decent shot..
This one is really powerful and it's not just acceptable, it's a super shot! It's a pleasure to see the cathedral in all its majesty with such great details. And thank you so much for sharing with us the pp procedure you've follow.
Thanks

Igor

Flavia (10202) 2008-01-11 7:46

Hi John,

Magestic! This place really must be something special. You got the best of the light and features. Really nice result specially considering that you did not use tripod.

Regards,

Flavia

Wandering_Dan (3297) 2008-04-03 10:11

Hello, John -

A LOT of post-processing here! Makes me realize - not for the first time - how much I have to learn. It's a great composition, perfect positioning of the main elements on a diagonal, and excellent light management (even if it was achieved in PP). The night setting adds a touch of mystery and timelessness.

Best,
Dan

macjake (2424) 2009-10-14 15:42

Hi again John

I'm surprised this photo has only produced you 16 positive critiques.

beautiful lights, lovely stonework, with great detail.

Very well done
Craig