A.J. Pye - busy with work, off flickr completely..'s photostream

Another one from my long-exposure test trip in Portsmouth, taken slightly further along from my previous upload. I got my feet wet taking this (again - I always get caught by an unexpectedly high series of waves), only this time I was going out to dinner with friends after my photo walk and I had to sit through dinner with feet soaked in freezing water...

I've wanted to do this kind of minimalist shot ever since I stumbled across m_i_n_o_r's amazing photostream nearly 2 years ago. As a relative (and very blinkered) newbie back then, his images really struck me, but I had no idea how he achieved that look.

This is my first attempt at creating an image inspired by his work, and I think I've come close, but still have many improvements to make. I'm not going to be getting any chances to try again any time soon though: my PhD supervisor has just told me that I need to put a lot more effort into my research, and that's unfortunately going to mean sidelining photography for quite a while - if I can manage to do that!

The shot:
- Canon EOS 400D/Digital Rebel XTi
- Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC Macro @ 30mm
- 105 seconds @ f/6.3, ISO400, Manual mode
- Cokin P-series circular polariser (P164) and Shade 10 welding glass (~14-stop ND filter), and Cokin P-series 2-stop hard ND grad (P121M)
- Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod with 322RC2 joystick grip ball head

Processing:
- Slight WB and tonal adjustments in Adobe Camera Raw
- Noise reduction with Noiseware Professional plug-in
- Slight perspective correction with the Lens Distortion filter
- Selective Curves and a global Levels and Curves layer
- Curves layers with blend modes for dodging and burning
- Local contrast boost with a High Pass layer
- Converted to mono with a B&W adjustment layer
- Added a "vignette" at the top and bottom with a Multiply layer
- Resized and sharpened with USM

Again, not too sure about the exact location on the map, but I guess I've got it to within the nearest kilometre! ;-)

Just after getting my welding glass "ND" filter, I was looking for all the opportunities I could to get out and play with it. In one week I visited 4 different towns/cities looking for possible long exposure shots. This one is from Portsmouth, where these light rays were beaming down the entire time I was shooting (a few hours). This shot's almost an "aside"; I was taking a long exposure in the other direction, and while I was waiting I pulled out my phone to take a picture of this scene because I liked the outcrop and the tower on it, and the clouds had got really heavy and dramatic-looking. I figured that if it could look as good as it did on my phone, it was worth shooting properly, although I have to say there's very little difference (aside from resolution and image quality!) between the two. Needless to say, this one's the one from my SLR, although I did consider putting the phone one up as well ;-)

The shot:
- Canon EOS 400D/Digital Rebel XTi
- Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC Macro @ 17mm
- 1/50th @ f/8, ISO100, Aperture Priority with +1/3EV exposure compensation
- Cokin P-series GND4 hard, P121M
- Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod with 322RC2 joystick grip ball head

Processing:
- Minor exposure adjustment in Adobe Camera Raw
- Noise reduction with Noiseware Professional plug-in
- Distortion and perspective correction with the Lens Distortion filter
- Selective Curves and a global Levels and Curves layer
- Curves layers with blend modes for dodging and burning
- Local contrast boost with a High Pass layer
- Converted to B&W with a Gradient Map layer in Colour mode
- Added a slight vignette with a Multiply layer
- Resized and sharpened with USM

Edit: just added this to the map but can't remember exactly where it was shot from, so it's a bit of a guess and most likely a bit wrong!

I'm having a real crisis of confidence about my photography at the moment. Shooting a few bits and pieces but barely getting anything usable, mostly just testing new ideas and equipment. Also, I've finally got my computer sorted to the point that I can resume my research work, so that's going to be taking a lot of my photography time away again. Shame, because I've fallen waaaay behind with my one-a-week resolution.

We went to Ikea in Croydon on Monday (yes, this is my quickest ever shoot-to-upload time at two days, embarrasingly) and my girlfriend mentioned the two chimneys there - it used to be a power station until it was closed down in 1984. I've been looking for more test subjects for my welding glass ND filter and currently towers and such like are my favourites - I think they can look great against a moving cloud background. I find it strange in this shot how little the distant clouds (at the bottom of the frame) moved during the long exposure, while the upper clouds moved a lot...

Incidentally, I've found a reasonable workaround for the "purple spots" issue I was initially having with my welding glass "filter" - the Cokin P-series polariser, when dropped into the first slot of the filter holder, sits flush against the rear of the welding glass when mounted in the middle slot, preventing any light getting in behind the filter. Saves me ages of time in post cloning out dots! :-)

Oh, and Ikea's a great place to get strobist lighting mods on the cheap - I got myself a white shower curtain (for a diffuser - like a massive softbox, makes beautiful window-like soft light) and three tupperware-style tubs for bare-tube style effect, all for around £4. Not a bad deal, hope to post some shots at some point using them!

The shot:
- Canon EOS 400D/Digital Rebel XTi
- Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC Macro @ 33mm
- 40 seconds @ f/5.6, ISO100, Manual mode
- Cokin P-series circular polariser (P164) and Shade 10 welding glass as an approximately 14-stop ND filter
- Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod with 322RC2 joystick grip ball head

Processing:
- WB correction in Adobe Camera Raw to remove the green cast caused by the welding glass
- Perspective correction using the Lens Distortion filter in Photoshop
- Cloned out the top of a streelight that crept in on the right of the shot
- Shadows/Highlights adjustment, blended in Luminosity mode
- Selective Curves adjustments
- Curves layers with blend modes for dodging and burning
- Converted to B&W with a Black & White adjustment layer
- Final tweak to Levels
- High Pass layer in Hard Light blend mode to boost local contrast
- Resized and sharpened with USM on L channel

Wow, my photostream's gone over 10,000 views in the last week! I remember that when I started on here around 30 months ago that I never even expected to make 100 views, so thanks everyone!

Yes, I've joined the seemingly ever-growing long exposure shooters out there. I don't like jumping on bandwagons but I've seen too many awesome-looking shots made with either the B+W ND 110 or the Hoya ND 400 that I couldn't resist! It's taking me some getting used to and my "filter" (more on that below!) isn't exactly great quality - but then it only cost me around 2% of the price of the "proper" strong ND filters so I'm prepared to put a little extra effort in to make it work! ;-)

I went for a wander around Woking looking for some p r i m e r-style building shots. Got a couple but the reeeally nice one's covered in spots from my "filter", so clearly there are still some teething problems to resolve. This one of the statue/sculpture of a Martian from H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds" came out alright though, I reckon. The long exposure effect's subtle, but it gave me that yummy blurred cloud background that I like.

The shot:
- Canon EOS 400D/Digital Rebel XTi
- Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC Macro @ 36mm
- 25 seconds @ f/10, ISO100, Manual mode
- Shade 10 welding glass as an approximately 14-stop ND filter (though not so "neutral" - it has a monster green cast to it!)
- Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod with 322RC2 joystick grip ball head

Processing:
- Exposure and WB adjustments in Adobe Camera Raw
- Shadows and Highlights adjustment with Luminosity blend mode
- Cloned out some purple spots caused by my cheap "filter"... :-/
- Selective Curves
- Curves layers with blend modes for a bit of dodging and burning
- Selective High Pass sharpening to make the metalwork pop
- Partial blue-green split toning with a Curves layer

I've dipped into the archives for this one. Amid the illness, business etc. that's been slowing my "one-a-week" resolution, I also have to admit that part of the problem is that I've run out of finished images worth uploading for the time being, and I haven't been too motivated lately to get any more ready.

I took this shot of the globally-famous St. Paul's Cathedral from the rather excellently named "Knightrider Court". There were these steps everywhere and I spent a while trying different compositions using the steps. I have two that worked pretty well, and although initially (6 months ago!) I preferred the other, I now agree with everyone that's seen both that this one is better.

Ironically, when I shot this I was going through a similar "uninspired" phase with my photography, and this trip (which I ran for my University's photography society) actually helped rekindle my love of photography. Fingers crossed that's just around the corner again...

The shot:
- Canon EOS 400D/Digital Rebel XTi
- Sigma 10-20mm f/4.5-5.6 EX DC HSM @ 17mm
- 30 seconds @ f/20, ISO100, Manual mode
- Manfrotto 190XPROB tripod with Giottos MH-5001 3-way head

Processing:
- Exposure and WB adjustments in Adobe Camera Raw
- Perspective correction with the Transform tool
- Cloned some (a lot!) of chewing gum patches off the foreground
- Gradient Map Soft Light layer for contrast
- Selective Levels and Curves for colour and contrast
- High Pass layer in Soft Light mode for local contrast
- Local contrast boost with USM on L channel
- Resized and selectively sharpened with USM on L channel