Tag Archives: snow
OXO Snow
Gosh I seem to have managed to capture quite a few snow images this year, which isn’t bad considering our snow didn’t last too long here in London and I only went out in it twice.
This is a spot that will be recognised by many, especially if you have ever visited London and taken a walk down the South Bank. I’ve attempted to shoot this scene many times as I really like how the wooden boards of the pier look in the foreground as they lead up to the tower. The problem(s) with my previous images here have mostly been to do with the OXO sign which often had a lightbulb that was blown whenever I went to take a photo, or had a spot light on the side of the text that was too bright. The other thing that makes me happier with this image than those shot previously from here is the fact I was not using a wider lens and can simply fit more of the scene in.
Snowy steps
Another day, another snow scene from London. It’s pretty much all gone now so I’m not going to have many of them left to show you.
However, today we do have one – and it’s a shot I took on Sunday when I (foolishly) decided to head out into the snow and see what shots I could find. The answer is, not many.
There’s a reason that I’m a fairweather photographer. It’s not really because I don’t like to get wet, or that I’m worried the camera will be ruined by a little bit of water. I think it’s because of the fact the lenses always get water spots on them if it’s snowing/raining and I’m too lazy to then clean it before each shot, in the knowledge that within 3 seconds of a 30 second exposure it’s going to be just as bad as it was before I cleaned it.
Okay, perhaps there is something in my not wanting to get wet also.
I was walking down the Euston Road on my way to Oxford Street to buy some gloves (playing with cameras and tripods in this weather makes your hands very cold).
Walking past these steps they really leapt out at me because of the fresh layer of snow that remained on them, and so I stopped in my tracks and backed up to the curb for a better view of the scene.
The camera had the 14mm on (let’s face it, that lens is going to be on the camera 94% of the time from here on) and viewing through that I really liked what I saw; there’s the main attraction of the steps in the middle of the frame with lovely untouched snow on them, likewise a couple of nice snowy rails that all lead up to a door (if you look closely you’ll see snow as it falls past the door) that has a sterile light coming from the window above it. The sterile light continues to the left where I see a window and…what’s that?…oh it’s a sign that states ‘Death’. I wonder what this place can be? This is then all offset nicely by moving to the opposite corner of the frame where we have a nice iron gate, cast in shadow and leading down to dark and unknown depths.
Snow Trails
As I was walking through a snowy London on Friday night I wasn’t too sure where I wanted to go to take photos, and so I headed to the usual spots where I go in circumstances where I’m clueless, and that’s to the Southbank. Specifically I will do a loop or figure of eight that takes in all or part of the stretch from Westminster Bridge to the Millennium Bridge, crossing over either Hungerford or Waterloo bridge. On this occasion I did the section from Waterloo Bridge to St Paul’s along the South bank.
This was the first image I took that night, stopping part way across Waterloo Bridge in order to get the light trails from the passing traffic, in particular buses as these provide the best lights (I’ve always been hopeful for an ambulance or fire truck, but never had the pleasure of them passing at the right time and in the right location). Though I’ve taken plenty of these shots previously I thought the snow would add a little more interest to the scene rather than the usual pavement.
Of course, buses rarely pass at just the right moment so I too two exposures and blended these together to get the final result.
A cold seat
It came a little earlier than last year, but London now has snow. Yay.
I like it during the early stage when it’s freshly settled and nice and white, and when it gives a satisfying crunch as you walk through it. I’ll be cursing it in a few days time when it’s turned to brown mush and lethal ice patches.
On Friday night I took a nice walk after work. It was still snowing a little but had eased off from during the day so I was able to stay out for a few hours and get some nice shots. The streets were pretty empty compared to usual and so I was able to snap a few images from the Southbank, such as this one, without having to wait for hoards of people to pass. I took another walk yesterday but the snow was a little too heavy to get too many shots.
Hope everyone else had a lovely weekend.
Snow Seat
Remember that day of snow London got this year? Yeah, that was awesome…but seems like such a distant memory now. Here’s a shot of a bench in Greenwich park that day, where people gathered to build snowmen, throw snowballs and slide down hills on plastic sleds. It’s also where we went to shoot some fireworks in the evening – happy days.
Today, well when this goes live on the blog I’ll be sat in a passport office hoping that the scheduled 4 hours for a passport renewal will be reduced by…ooh…3.5 hours ideally. On the plus side, when it’s done I can at least start booking flights; I’m looking at you New York.
Have a good day all 
Winter Tree
I’ve never shot images in the snow before, I don’t think, so when I went out on Sunday for a quick walk with Dylan and John I found myself with a new challenge to contend with. Though most of the snow in London had melted away, there was still a little bit left in the park areas, and as we were in Greenwich park there was enough left on the ground to be a recognizable part of any image taken, even if it wasn’t the freshest snow in the world.
This image was taken shortly after the sun had gone down as we headed along to watch a firework show. As it was dark and there was little light in the park I was surprised by how much detail I was able to see in the tree, which is no doubt due to the light reflecting off of the snowy surface. I would love to be in an area that has snow over a period of weeks where I can actually attempt to learn about how it affects and image, and how to capture it well; in the meantime I’m happy to just have a go and see what comes from a shot which I know is there on a compositional level.
Downhill From Here
Lego Wars is a monthly contest held by Chris Nitz, it’s free and fun to enter so why not play along with us?
Another month, another Lego Wars. The last one of 2011 saw us handling a snowy theme…which is nice as we haven’t seen any snow in London at this time of year. Still, where there’s a will there’s a way – and where there’s a Waitrose there’s a bag of flour to be found…
Here’s a few images that show how it was created:
It would be great if you could pop over to the site and vote for your favourite one for this month…and even better if you like Lego and photography and wish to take part in future months…it’s top fun and does get the creative juices flowing.
Four Seasons
It’s amazing how many tools are available to the modern photographer. I admire those who go out there and compose wonderful shots which they then post without any real treatment, and who are able to catch an image as they wish without resorting to technical trickery. I also admire those who take a photo and use this as the canvas for which they then create their digital vision. Take a look at Flickr and you’ll see numerous examples of both of these.
I think I sit somewhere in the middle. Give me a camera and I’ll happily snap away, but I unfortunately think it would be rare that I get a straight from camera shot that I am happy with, nor do I actually go out there and try to actually take a perfect shot from one single click. It’s a digital camera, and as it’s the first camera I have owned I haven’t had the experience or expense in learning with film. I’m happy to therefore snap away and use what is good and put aside what I don’t want.
My aim when I go out is to try and capture something which is appealing to me. This could be anything, and I see things that other people don’t see on a shoot (dead people not included), and I very much miss things that other people see. When back at the PC I flick through the images taken waiting for one to grab me and say ‘pick me for processing…pick me’ and there’s that little something that makes me spend further time on it. I wish to simply get something that I can work with, not a finished product.
Unfortunately, my skills with image manipulation – although improving – are pretty poor in comparison to some people. I love those creative soles who can piece an image together and bring it to whatever is in their mind. I’m not there yet.
Looking at myself realistically I think I am an okay photographer. I can get some basics right in composition and lighting and such. I think I am quite good at basic processing though (not great, but quite good) and this is something that I’m improving with. Eventually I hope to be a great manipulator of images as that’s where I would see myself heading creatively.
I’ve always been quite creative, but never had the artistic skill to fully display it. With my photography I am able to do that a little more, and am building up the tools and the skills I need to progress with.
I have many ideas running around in my head, and many concepts that I would eventually like to turn into proper images. I have a particular series in mind that I would just love to pull off, but know from my current skill level and knowledge that this is just not feasible, but hopefully in five years it might be.
The image above is a scene in Scotland which I tone-mapped after my holiday but never returned to as I didn’t know how I wanted to process it. For a bit of fun I played around with Phototools by OnOne Software and quickly processed it four times using the various filters they had based around Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.
Very little work was involved from my side really, and I didn’t spend much time on it. However, I think it’s a great example of how the tools available to us can change an image in many ways. I could spend a little more time on it to bring out more of a difference between the Spring and Summer panels as these aren’t drastically different, but love how the Autumn and Winter panels look in comparison to the others.
This also goes to show there are many ways that you can process a single image to produce a different look and feel to it. There are few limitations to what you can do with an image nowadays, and your imagination is one of the only things that provides these limits. Sure, it may take time to build up the skills and to buy the tools that you need to get there, but you can work towards it. It’s something I certainly aim to do.
St Paul’s – World AIDS Day
On December 1st 2010 I read an article stating that several London landmarks would be lit up in red to raise awareness of World AIDS Day. I had been spending some time on a rooftop near to St Paul’s so thought this would be an ideal time to capture this amazing landmark lit up in an unusual way, so in the early evening I set out with a friend to go take some shots.
The dome wasn’t lit quite as I was expecting it, and we spoke to a guy in a hut (to the left of this shot) as it was his job to stand there all night pointing a spotlight at the building. He said the whole dome couldn’t be lit due to budget…which was a shame.
I remember it being extremely cold that night; there was a new piece of scaffold erected at the location which meant the roof extended further forwards than it used to, and the wetness combined with wind made the scaffold like Ice – but I got a few decent images out of it.
Our photowalk ended on the south side of the Millennium Bridge where you can get a view of the bridge with St Paul’s behind it, so I said goodbye to my friend and we parted ways – I opted to head back over the bridge which was one way for me to walk home, and would allow me to take a few final shots before packing up.
I’m glad I did!
Now that night had set in the red light cut across the sky and was pretty nice to look at, and I knew with a long exposure I would be able to capture it quite well. At the same time it was starting to snow, which annoyed me as it was the kind that moves in all directions and kept on landing on my glass which was frustrating. Still, it enabled me to get the shot above, and the movement of the snow was captured quite will in the strong beam of red light that was being cast towards the cathedral.
Readers who have been following my photography for a while may recognise this as I did process the shot originally in December:
I wanted to enter another competition which requires submitting an image of St Paul’s, so I opted to do a re-process of this image, and I hope you agree I have improved a bit since December.
