Central London and Police involvement...

pm63

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Night shots of central London landmarks are something I've always wanted to do, so I met up with a photographer friend on Friday and went shooting. Anyway, comments on the shots would be much appreciated. Larger versions can be found on flickr (see sig). I'll post more as I process.

It started off pretty well. Got a few angles of Big Ben which I hope were original:

3206692083_d3f9a80064.jpg


The orange light trails are from taxi indicators.

Next, we photographed the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre. I've never seen this building before but it's very nice architecturally and the lights go through colour changes:

3206692595_3b93d383e0.jpg


Unfortunately, at this point a police van pulled up right in front of us with flashing blue lights and they took our details because it's a "government security zone". We could, of course, continue to take photos. It was a thrilling and dramatic experience. ;)

Thanks for looking.
 
i love these pics I am really trying to lear n how to take these typs of pics with the traffic going by would you care to share some tech.??
 
i love these pics I am really trying to lear n how to take these typs of pics with the traffic going by would you care to share some tech.??

if your talking about getting the light trails, that mainly involves a longer shutter speed. I like these pics, especially the second one.
 
Thanks to both of you.

As for how to take them, there isn't really anything to it. Just:

1. Decent tripod and self-timer/cable release
2. Tungsten/incandescent white balance
3. ISO as low as it can go
4. Set aperture for the DOF you require and match shutter, trial and error will be required here as your cameras metering system will often be confused by the passing cars. Stop down more if you need a longer exposure
5. Shoot away. Try to anticipate when the cars will be coming to release the shutter at the right moment.

Also, the best night shots are taken during the blue hour, just after sunset. I couldn't get there for the blue hour, but I'm sure they would have been better.
 
in the first one, there seems to be a overhanging tree and flare (off-camera??) that seems a bit distracting.
but they are both gorgeous. great work :D
 
in the first one, there seems to be a overhanging tree and flare (off-camera??) that seems a bit distracting.
but they are both gorgeous. great work :D

Thanks. The flare is indeed annoying, it's from a lamp post that was just out of the frame. I would have shielded it with my hand during the exposure had I noticed. I thought the tree added to it though? Maybe it would have been better to strobe it to make it clear it's meant to be there?

Two perfectly shot photos, nice work

Many thanks.

Anyone else?
 

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