Here is an image i have taken in London on a cold 4am morning.
Westminster with Big ben clock face is an iconic view and a tourist hotspot, but at this hour not a sole around.
I hope that you enjoy and are having a great weekend.
Lee
HDR
Canary Wharf London.
With recently spending some time at the in-laws waiting for the baby to arrive, i have used the time to head out and about at sunrise
Above is an iPhone image of my location on the Thames.
Alarm call for 02:15hrs - and headed out, just a shame the weather did not really play ball, but thats landscape photography for you.
Below is the image created by the d-slr.
This is certainly a location ill revisit to try and capture an image of more what i had in my mind.
Thanks
Lee
15 minute exposure using Lee filters big stopper and circular polariser.
The view from the Shard London HDR image break down.
Hi, hope your keeping well and have had a good weekend.
Here are some images from the previous London landscape image that i have posted.
I wanted to show the images used to create the final image.
I clamped the camera down to the handrail using the Manfrotto Magic arm and using a cable release i rattled a few bracketed frames.
I have included the metadata on each image, but other then converting to jpg, they are straight from the camera and in the order the camera took them and i added to Nik softwares HDR efex pro 2.
Here is the first base image. In face i quite like this exposure but i personally prefer having the extra range to play with.
And finally this is the out put from the software. As you can see it has little punch, no halos. or even much contrast going on. But the key is to get a nice base to start with, and then bring this into photoshop and make it your own.
I have tried many different HDR software on the market and not one will you be able to click process- done.
But i do think that this is a good thing, no 2 images will ever be processed the same and so this way it makes you take your time and make something unique and more realistic.
Here is the final image.
Thanks.
Lee
The View at The Shard London photography tips.
Hi, how are you?
I hope that you are well, while I'm stuck out at work on the rig for a month....
Last week for the Mrs's birthday we took a trip to the new viewing platform in the Shard building- London.
72 floors high you get an incredible view of London.
You have to book in advance, and pick your time slot, i was particular in that i wanted sunset to dark.
After googling the timings i was happy that we would catch the setting sun, but just had to have our fingers crossed for the weather :0)
As you can see, we were so very lucky in the weather front, after so much snow and bad weather recently.
I wanted to give a couple of tips that i found so handy while shooting here.
and these tips will not only help if you fancy going up the Shard but I'm guessing 99.9% of tourist locations.
Tip 1
- The venue Tripod ban...
A lot of tourist venues have a tripod ban and so you are not allowed to enter with / or use one.
As you can see i over came this by using a Manfrotto magic arm, and super clamp.
The security observed me using this and did not bother in the slightest.
While using the clamp and magic arm, i treated it like a tripod and so was using my cable release to gain much longer shutter speeds.
Tip 2
- Don't for get your polariser filter.
To try and reduce the reflections you gain shooting through the glass, a circular polariser filter is not perfect, but cuts down the problem loads.
Nothing will stop the other members of public and their point and shoots, using the flash - still amazed at what they recon the on camera flash will light up.
That its, i can really recommend the Shard, it was a fantastic experience.
Keep in touch in the comments bar bellow...
Thanks
Lee
My Volvo V50...
December i bought i brand new Volvo V50.
the previous car was a guzzler and so was fed up of paying through the nose to keep it on the road..... Que the volvo... and being an estate car its a true family work horse, loaded to the hilt with gear and getting away for weekends is fantastic.
Here are a few images of the car on a great rough location 50 metres from the house, plus some detail images.
These two images are a mock advert that i made.
HDR London Landscape.
Here is an image that i recently took from the London Park Lane Hilton Hotel.
I included this shot to show that the final image was made up of 45 images of various exposures and was trying to show, how much overlap is advisable when making a multiple image panorama.
Q & A on HDR.
I recently was asked to show the before and after images of the Landscape Gate that i took last November in Dunstable.
Im not going to explain the HDR techniques as i have mentioned this a few times now,
But this was to show my eye for HDR. As many will know i try and keep things looking as real as i can.
With a view like this in front of me, i knew HDR would work as the sky is too blown out for my liking. Some people will prefer the before image but its all down to our own opinions. No one is ever right or wrong.
I do not particularly think that "oh i will do a HDR image" for the sake of it, i look at the scene in front of me and if i feel that it will enhance the image then i will use it.
When looking at this scene on the lcd screen on my camera, i could see that either the sky will be blown out or if i expose for the sky, then the ground will be too dark.
Another options would have been to use graduated filters over my lens,
or take two images. one of a correctly exposed sky/ and then the ground.
Place one above the other in Photoshop as layers and hide/reveal the correctly exposed parts of the image.
Both good techniques, my train of thought here was, 1- i dont own any graduated lens filters, and 2 - trying to mask out this sky would of taken time. plus i like the textures HDR processing can produce.
The After image was created using HDR techniques with 8 images at various exposures.
Please feel free to share this post on your social media, giving credit to the photographer Lee Ramsden www.leeramsden.com
Thanks
An iPhone app called "True HDR"
A little while ago i got an iPhone app called
Like most photography apps you download them, then instantly have a play in the home, not to be used again for awhile.
Well this was no different.
Today i was walking along a road where i saw an amazing setting sun illuminating some interesting looking information dishes.
I tried to take an image on my iPhone 3GS, but the contrast between the sky and the foreground was too great and so the phone could not expose correctly.
Perfect settings for a HDR image me thinks.
The app takes 2 images one after the other and blends them together all automatically.
You have to hold the camera extra still for this to work.
Here are the images all taken with the app, and the final blended image. Which was processed in the phone.
I used the photoshop express app to add slight contrast and a vignette.
Multiple Image HDR's.
Hiya,
In this post i want to try and explain how i create some of the large HDR landscape images and to answer the question that i have recieved alot recently, on how you can make an image with 54 exposures from a
From the following image i am trying to show where all the images go in the make up of the final image.
As you can see each section is made up of different exposures.
I used Photomatix Software to render these. I started with the lower center section, as this is the main focal point.
I made a note of all the settings i used on this section and rendered all the other sections the same.
If you fail to render each section the same, you will have some very unrealistic looks and will make blending to the final image extremely tricky.
Once you have 6 nicely rendered HDR images, i opened these into Photoshop and blended together to create the large image.
One massive point to remember when taking an image like this, is to overlap each image to make the blending process easier, and so you know that you have not missed anything.
You can always cut to much extra away but not add any missing data that you didn't shoot.
I hope that this makes sense,
as always feel free to ask any questions and comment.
Thanks Lee.
Regiment Fitness training.
For a few months now i have been training with the guys and girls over at
Here are a couple of images that i have created for them.
Why not start Getting in shape,
Here are a few words from Regiment on what they are all about..
"We are a fitness company who specialize in military style training outdoors. Our classes take place on the fantastic site of Dunstable Downs, where we are surrounded by panoramic views and plenty of fresh air!
Regiment Fitness provides a variety of enjoyable training activities within a supportive group, so expect something different each session to keep you on your toes!
Your instructors are fully qualified with military backgrounds and are helpful and encouraging, aiming to help you achieve exactly what you want from your fitness programme.
We cater for all levels of fitness and interests including team runs, paired skills, endurance running, muscular endurance circuits and much more. This variety of activities means boredom is not an option, something many people find training at their local gym!
Whatever you are looking for to get fit and STAY fit, Regiment Fitness is at the core of what you need!
Come and see for yourself… train outside, feel great inside!"
‘Help for Heroes’ is supported by Regiment Fitness. 10% of each session fee will be donated to this charity.
Regiment Fitness classes are now running -
Saturday mornings from 10:00am – 11:00am - Dunstable Downs site.
Sundays mornings from 10:30am - 1130am - Stockwood Park Luton.
Tuesday evenings from 18:30pm - 19:30pm - Stockwood Park Luton.
Wednesday evenings from 18:30pm - 19:30 - Dunstable Downs site.
Regiment Fitness can show you the path to success!
A play up Dunstable Downs this evening.
This evening around 1600hrs the sun looked stunning, and so i grabbed my camera bag and headed out, to catch a sunset.
the sun had other views and finally set behind a huge cloud.
Here are the images i took, and so i hope that i did not waste my time.
This HDR is made up of around 54 images.
Another HDR image
This was lit by an oncoming car.
A play with car lights.
HDR Photography.
HDR.... No, stop, don't click away! I know that high dynamic range techniques can be controversial, mainly due to the way that the extreme forms of hdr - alien skies, over saturation, halos, are more like computer generated images than real photos. But if you have a go, and take it easy, you may find that the results are pleasing to say the least
The Meaning of High Dynamic Range Imaging in Photography
Some people might think that the purpose of HDR is to produce unrealistically colorful, flat, or artistic photos. In my opinion the real purpose of HDR photography is to produce a photo, the quality of which is higher than that of a normal photo. The purpose of HDR is to overcome the limitations of camera equipment. HDR photography has the following advantages when compared to normal photography:
HDR photography captures higher dynamic range
HDR photography can produce noise free photos
HDR Photography Captures Higher Dynamic Range
Let's imagine a situation where one photographs (without a flash) a high contrast scene where the subject is against the sky. Typically there is a problem in the result. Either the sky is too bright (over exposed), or the subject is too dark (under exposed). That doesn't equal to what was seen with eyes. Eyes can see details in both the subject and the sky clearly. Normal digital camera isn't able to see as high contrast as a human eye is. In other words a digital camera isn't able to capture as high dynamic range as a human eye is able to see.
An HDR photo can have a very high dynamic range which makes it possible to capture scenes with extremely high contrast. HDR photo can include all the details that a human eye is able to see. In photography, the goal is often to capture the view and the mood that was seen and experienced. Unfortunately, because of the limitations of digital cameras, some details are often missing in photos. In high contrast scenes, a digital camera isn't able to capture both the brightest and the darkest areas simultaneously. HDR photography offers a solution to this problem.
Taking the photo(s)
So what is HDR? High Dynamic Range is creating images that contain more data than normal, usually by combining three pictures. This enables you to pull out details in the darkest and brightest areas of the image, without having to resort to lots of dodging, burning, gradients, or pasting two pictures together. A HDR photo in its original form is in no way a finished product - you have to use further processing to pull out these different details, this is usually called Tone Mapping, and tools in Photoshop, or the very popular Photomatix achieve this.
Here i am using the new HDR efex pro by Nik software.
To create an HDR photo you need at least 3 differently exposed photos of the same shot. That's not as difficult as it sounds. Many cameras give you the ability to change exposures from shot to shot. Since all cameras are different you'll have to figure out how to change these exposure settings on your particular camera. Look for Exposure, AEB (Automatic Exposure Bracketing), A-EV, BKT, or a little +/- graphic.
Important: Make sure the camera does not move between shots. Use a tripod or place the camera on a stable surface, minimizing movement as much as possible between shots.
Here are the 8 exposures i used for the final image.
Using the new HDR efex pro by Nik software.
You need to make up your own mind up about hdr, all I will say is give it a go, and see what you can come up with. In the past i have over done it with HDR and so backed right off. With recently downloading HDR efex pro from Nik software i have certainly got the bug back to play.
Justins Clio Sport.
A mate owns a Renault Clio Sport and wanted some pictures taking.
On a freezing Sunday morning,
Parked up on Lytham front and took some shots.
The 2 images below are HDR.
But have been processed differently, as I processed them in layers building up the scene. Personally I feel that they are too much and so i will be stepping back from the HDR technique for a little while to try out other views.
A new Buzzword for you "Vert-o-rama"
I have seen many photographers now adding albums and calling photos vertorama's.
What is a vertorama? Well simply it's a panorama but vertically. Makes sense now..
for the following images i wanted to play with HDR more.
HDR explained:
"High dynamic range (HDR) images enable photographers to record a greater range of tonal detail than a given camera could capture in a single photo. This opens up a whole new set of lighting possibilities which one might have previously avoided"
I set the camera to 9 exposures, of different shutter speeds to achieve the full tonal range of a subject.
Took these images into Photomatix software, then a colour balance and tweak in Photoshop.
But for a Vert you need to do this for all the sections of the photo and then blend together.
The following images are all 9 exposures but into 3 sections, (top-mid-bottom),
So that works out at 27 pictures per each one!
