Thames River Scene Photo

Photographer’s Note

Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge is one of London's most iconic landmarks. Construction started in 1886 and was completed in 1894. The bridge itself is made from 11000 tons of steel, which is clad in Portland stone and Cornish granite.

The current colour scheme was introduced in 1977 to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

The architects were Horace Jones and John Wolfe Barry. Horace Jones was the city architect at that time, but the design was chosen from over 50 entries developed in a public competition. Unfortunately Horace died in 1887 - although his death shaped the design of the bridge significantly, his original design was finished in a Medieval style, which Wolfe Barry replaced with Victorian Gothic.

The title is from a silent film in 1899 which I thought was somewhat appropriate :)

More info here @ the official bridge site and here @ wikipedia

Tech notes:
ISO 100, RAW converted using Adobe CRAW 3.2
Processed in Adobe Photoshop CS2
Minor amounts of USM and High Pass sharpening
Minor amount of Curves

carper, Emmie76, Clairedelune, nwoehnl, xlgo, peck, Didi, rtome, Riz, parbo, vero07, Traveller, jvachon has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Emmie76 (2009) 2006-01-07 13:57

Hi Adrian,
I love your picture, especially the reflections in the water. It would have been a pity not to include them in the picture.
I never had the chance to see Tower Bridge by night, so thank you for sharing.
Emma

[2]

Clairedelune (4885) 2006-01-07 14:02

Hi Adrian,
I consider myself a slow one, posting just one picture once in a while. But what about you! ;) I'm so happy to see another of your picture. When I discovered TE in 2003 (I just became a member when I bought my camera though!), I followed your very good work.
Well, about this picture. It is a good one. I like the blue color, the reflection in the water, the "grandiose" effect of your point of view. Very well done!
Claire

[2]

nwoehnl (120) 2006-01-07 14:20

Hi Adrian, and happy new year. A beautiful and technically flawless photo of Tower Bridge in the twilight, with a fine add provided by the reflected tower outlines and light on the Thames. Good tight framing. I imagine that must have been taken from near the GLA building. Well done.

Wow, 1899 must be one of the first British silent movies ever after the Lumiere brothers had introduced their invention of motion pictures in the mid-1890s - Charlie Chaplin was 10 years old then.

xlgo (554) 2006-01-07 15:43

Hi Adrian
A stunning shot of this famous London landmark.Lovely colours and the reflections are great.
Malcolm

alainh (35387) 2006-01-08 3:40

hello Adrian
short but very beautiful gallery you have, particulary this night's shots !
perfect exposure and i like the blue resulting of the good hour to capture the bridge.
congratulations
have a good sunday
alain

peck (2779) 2006-01-08 4:28

Hello Adrian,
Perfect evening photo!! Good point of view, nice framing. Great work!

Best regards
Gregory

rosaline (0) 2006-01-08 5:38

Adrian
I've made an attempt at photographing this bridge. It's a real treat to picture it, and you've done a nice bit of work here. Always good to get a low light shot with some blue left in the sky, and the silvery water is a very good catch in the composition. Nice work indeed. Cheers
Aubrey

carper (65696) 2006-01-08 6:54

well adrian, nice to see you here.
The best wishes for you and your family.
You have a fantastic night shot here from Londons famous bridge, a very good one can I say, well taken shot, technical very good, a fantastic job.
gr. jaap

afderrick (330) 2006-01-08 9:00

Nice picture, I particularly like the reflections on the water, good job.

Didi (36452) 2006-01-08 9:09

Bonjour Adrian
J'apprécie les reflets lumineux sur la Tamise.
Le POV est parfaitement choisi, l'avant-plan donne une bonne profondeur à la composition.
Bonne année.

Hello Adrian
I appreciate the luminous reflections on the Thames. The POV is perfectly selected, the foreground gives a good depth to the composition.
Best wishes for a happy new year.

Luko (13896) 2006-01-08 11:29

Hi Adrian,
even though I can recognize your meticulous approach of framing and exposing, I'm a bit disappointted with how the highlights are rendered in here, especially for the glaring spots around the bare lights.

I think you would have benefitted underexposing a -2/3 to -1 IL (f/5.6), it seems there's still some margin in the shadows ... or maybe the EOS10D sensor is showing its age, comparatively to what we're accustomed to see nowadays. Perhaps waiting for a 50D to come in a few months, as they say?

[2] +

mjdundee (3524) 2006-01-10 11:11

Hello Adrian,
Great colour compo and reflections.
Very well done. TFS Thomas.

jafadabret (40325) 2006-01-10 13:27

On n'a pas l'habitude de voir ce monument avec tant de couleurs et sur une eau si bleue, c'est vrai que la photo a été prise la nuit. Pour moi c'est une photo très réussie.

babri (422) 2006-06-08 18:37

Hi Adrian,
Really nice shot with those reflections in bright ripple water! Good usage of light in night! I wonder how you can take such a sharp photograph without tripod in 1/4 second!
Congratulations,
Reza

lilimih33 (9874) 2006-09-15 7:54 [Comment]

Show Comment

Ulishna (2246) 2006-09-23 2:14

Hello Adrian,
very nice evening picture! Great colors and reflection.
Julia

parbo (11026) 2006-11-10 22:22

Hello Adrian,

Splendid reflection of Tower Bridge at night. You composed well this difficult scene because the light condition is very difficult. I like wonderful reflection on Thames and well illuminated Tower Bridge in your scene. Congratulations.

Best Regards,

Parbo

colinbrenchley (6133) 2007-02-16 7:26

Adrain
Excellent low light study of this much photographed bridge. The reflections have worked well in the rippled water and balance the picture.
Regards Colin

vero07 (1747) 2007-04-22 14:34

Hi Adrian,
Wonderful shot! I like the lights you captured and the lovely reflections.
Well done.
TFS
v.

bigboroboy (1009) 2008-05-09 12:34

There are images in your gallery that I consider to be more artistic and technically superior to this but I've just this minute posted a shot of another London landmark and felt compelled to write about this. The reflection is wonderfully bold and clear with just the right amount of movement in the water.
Tight framing has worked wonders here as there are a lot of distractions around this particular subject but you've managed to keep us focused on the star of the show. Nice work.

PHIL

Hellas (5095) 2008-05-09 12:44

Hello Adrian,
your portfolio is great! This image is perfect having brilliant colours and shining reflections. You managed very well the light and finally got this stunning result!
I am very glad to meet you in TrekEarth.
Best wishes,
Athanasios.

jvachon (542) 2008-09-26 10:39

Hello Adrian,
With this POV you have captured the grandness of this tower bridge. Wonderful lighting, detail and reflections on this shot taken in the blue hour.
Excellent compo, colours. First class!
TFS. Joni