www.leeramsden.com

Infrared lens hotspot.

in ,

Good morning. 

If you have purchased the infrared filter as i previously mentioned in a blog post couple of weeks ago, and have been shooting with it, you will have noticed the strange colouring that you have received. 

The bright red file is normal, Prior to shooting setting a custom white balance is recommended. A lot of advice i have read is setting it again green grass or foliage. For the below image being a city scape there wasn't much grass around, so i chose to shoot in RAW and play with the white balance later in post. 

One thing i have learn is the visible hot spot in the centre of the image. I shot this using Nikons 24-70mm f2.8 and lens hot spots are a most common problem encountered when shooting infrared light. They usually manifest in the form of a bright circle, sometimes in the shape of aperture leaves directly in the center of the image. The problem is exaggerated as you stop down (increase f stop number), with the spot becoming more prominent and defined. 

Hot spots can be caused for a variety of reasons, the most common of which is the coating on the inside of the lens barrel being reflective in IR light. Another frequent reason is light interaction between the coatings of the lens elements. A less common reason is light interaction between the lens elements and the imaging sensor(usually the micro-lenses) in the camera. In this case using the lens on one camera model may have no hot spot issues and on another model there could be prominent hot spots.

Unfortunately, if your lens has this issue the only solution is to simply use a different lens altogether. Fortunately the majority of lenses don’t have this problem or the problem is very minor and normally not visible in images.

Once i find a suitable lens and am happy with the results ill report back. 

If you have any suggestions to use on a Nikon body id like to hear your views. Feel free to use the contact page.

I hope that you enjoy these images. This is a new technique and something i am enjoying playing with. 

 

Thanks

London early morning.

in
<img src="morelondon" alt="The Shard greater London city ong exposure Lee Ramsden river Thames">

Nikon D800 f14 60sec ISO100 24-70mm@28mm

Good morning, 

An images taken from Tower bridge at 04:35hrs. I shot this purposefully knowing that the sun will rise behind me. Some times shooting towards the sun isn't always the best option. I wanted to illuminate the buildings and not cast them into silhouette. As the sun raised it lit up the buildings perfectly just as i wanted. 

This concludes the two weeks of colour London images. 

I hope that you have enjoyed my colour London photos as i have sharing them with you. 

Next week starts 10 days of Black and white images of London. 

 

Please feel free to share this post on your social media, giving credit to the photographer Lee Ramsden www.leeramsden.com

 

Thanks

London Bridge, Big Ben, Westminster on the River Thames. London

in
<img src="London river Thames.jpg" alt="Big Ben Westminster houses of parliament government Lee Ramsden capital city london bridge clock face">  

Nikon D800 f11 5min ISO100 24-70mm@50mm - taken 04:46hrs

<img src="Big ben.jpg" alt="westminster river Thames London Bridge houses of Parliament reflection long exposure lee ramsden">

Nikon D800 f8 30sec ISO100 24-70mm@50mm - taken 04:33hrs

A couple of images taken from Jubilee bridge in London of Big Ben, westminster and London bridge on the river Thames. The difference to the colouring is not photoshop, it is time. 

From checking the META data to these files there are 13 minutes difference from when they were taken. Its amazing how fast the sky changes and it can dramatically change the feel to your image.

Alarm set at 3am, drove into London and set up for 4am. 0520hrs sunrise time, my fave time to shoot is just before sunrise, and the time on the above files are 0433hrs and 0446hrs. 

For long exposure images like this, i use Lee Filters. Either the big stopper which is a 10 stop filter or the 0.9 Neutral density filter. 

 

Please feel free to share this post on your social media, giving credit to the photographer Lee Ramsden www.leeramsden.com

 

Thanks


London Shard building.

in
<img src="Shard colour.jpg" alt="the shard view at the shard viewing gallery hotel office building sunset sunrise dusk dawn london greater lee ramsden">

Nikon D700 F18 0.4 ISO3200 21mm

An image of the Shard building in London, taken from moreLondon's shopping area. If you are taking picture from here watch out for security as they will move you on. Even at 5am and not a sole about... 

This was a frame taken from a timelapse video, foolishly i changed the ISO to a ridiculous 3200 and forgot to change back. Luckily the Nikon D700 can handle the high ISO not too bad and so all not lost. 

 

I am fascinated with the Shard, i think it is a stunning looking building. I took the below image from the viewing gallery near the top. Please check out a couple of posts on the Shard, 

The view at the Shard - How to work around using a tripod

And the importance of a polarising filter - When shooting through the glass windows. 

<img src="London.jpg" alt="London view from the Shad viewing gallery London HMS Belfast greater London UK capital dusk Lee Ramsden">

 

Please feel free to share this post on your social media, giving credit to the photographer Lee Ramsden www.leeramsden.com

 

Thanks

Two weeks of London in colour.

in

Hi, and welcome to the new blog format. 

I thought that id kick things off with over the next two weeks ill be posting an image a day of London. I hope you like them, and please feel free to share these on your social media sites giving credit to the photographer Lee Ramsden www.leeramsden.com, and add the URL http://leeramsden.com/blog to your RSS readers. 

Many thanks.

 

<img src="London.jpg" alt="London moreLondon tower bridge river Thames long exposure writing office buildings street lighting Lee Ramsden">

Nikon D800 F11 15seconds 24/70mm@24mm

Lytham Time lapse iPhone images.

in ,
Kessler crane timer oracle controler control count down timelapse uk england

Here are a few iPhone images taken whilst i was waiting for a time lapse set up to complete.

As you can see from the above image i had 4 and a half hours to kill...

Kessler crane timer oracle controler control count down timelapse uk england cineslider slide

The Kessler Cineslider. So far I'm pretty impressed with this bit of kit. Each time i take a time-lapse it gets tweaked and set up slightly different. Using lighting stands and moveable heads with the aid of a spirit level helps no end in getting the shoot straight from start to finish. 

time lapse rig kessler sun set colours nikon d700 iphone iphonography slider estury sea beach colours golden hour

My old Nikon D700 is now used for the time lapse work.  

Lytham life boat jetty pier esturay beach sea sand black and white
Lytham St Annes Lancashire England windmill sea beach sand grass bright blue sky church spire iphone image iphonography iPhone4s lee ramsden photography

Lytham green and windmill. 

Snow in Dunstable.

in

I spent Christmas at work on an oil rig,

I was down in the south of England for New Year with family and loved ones.

As you are all aware the weather has been awful of late.

We got it hard in the North Sea over Christmas, I was itching to get home and have a play in the snow with the camera before it all melted.

Well, my luck was in, i’m now in Dunstable and the heavens are open, I set out to get some pictures of the snow. 

<img src="snow scene" alt="Dunstable west street baptist church burial grave yard christianity lee ramsden Bedfordshire"> 

The sky was dark and not looking good, I took a few shots of the people who were wrapped up warm braving the cold. 

Whilst on the retreat back to the house... 

feeling a bit disappointed, as there wasn't much that could be taken. I see the sky start to clear. 

Oh yes, happy days....

I take my time to see what will unfold before my eyes. Some stunning colours started to come out.

I took a few snapshots of the cold and grey. My favourite piece of the weather is the cemetery scene.

 

<img src="Father and child on the snow" alt="Dunstable downs Ciltern Chilterns Lee Ramsden"> 
<img src=" Dunstable Downs" alt="snow milfs house wives walking dogging dog walking"> 

Xav and Corinne Shoot.

in

Good friends of mine Xav and Corinne wanted some pictures taking of themselves. 

Corinne is a singer/song writer. Her personal site is here and goes under the name Vanessa René

" and so want a promo pic, where as Xav loves his bike and so wanted one with his beloved triumph bike...

The Bike picture, i was trying again with the flash at sunset theme i like. This has worked better then the car one i have previously done. 

Once again the TTL mode is letting me down. It has made me bite the bullet and im saving for some pocket wizard flash syncs. With syncs you can be so much more creative too, rather then just placing the flashes where they can see one another.

Here are my 2 favourite images from the day.

<img src="Xav Lomas" alt=" Xav Xavier Lomas Triumph motorbike weybridge surrey lee ramsden">
<img src="www.vanessarene.co.uk" alt="Vanessa rene singer song writer lee ramsden"> 

Ronin Ryu Atemi JuJitsu, Martial Arts Club.

in

A mate of mine runs a martial art club in Blackpool. I loved the idea of trying to catch some natural shots of the guys, and girl - doing they're thing.

I didn't want to use a flash on this shoot so I could fit in better and try to be unnoticed.

Scot who runs the Club is a fantastic teacher, very clear and puts things into perspective, so everyone can understand. 

<img src="Ronin Rhy" alt="Scot Tudhope Judo Throw Black belt master martial arts teacher professional Lee Ramsden"> 

The people who train there are great, there are no egos, 

all just want to train hard and enjoy it.

Scot runs self-defence and fitness classes also.

<img src="Ronin Rhy" alt="Scot Tudhope Judo Throw Black belt master martial arts teacher professional Lee Ramsden"> 

Car Shoot with Dom.

in

Through a friend, i have met a photographer called Dominic,

He has some fantastic ideas and some very well exicuted work.

We decided to hook up and have a play with our cameras, he has a love for car photography and so i cleaned up the car. It was interesting to see how he views things.

i always find it interesting to talk to the educated photographers.  As i am self taught, its nice to see how they tick. 

This was a fun day, the fish eye'd picture was taken right on Preston North End's football ground. We turned up and asked the girl on reception, that we are students and for a project, can we shoot a car there. 

This is something i think can be used time and time again.

Here are a couple of shots from the day.

<img src="Audi Quattro Deep Dale" alt=" Audi Quattro S3 RS3 S-line sline 2 litre limited edition Lee Ramsden www.leeramsden.com Preston football club deepdale">
<img src="Circles at Deepdale.jpeg" alt=" Circles Audi Quattro S3 RS3 S-line sline 2 litre limited edition Lee Ramsden www.leeramsden.com Preston football club deepdale">

Lee has Discovered PHOTOSHOP!

As anyone who is looking to improve their photography, will at some stage came to the cross road, where you have to decide, 

how and what to use to edit your images. 

After much reading as there are hundreds of programmes out there, some free, some mega expensive. What offers you what.

I chose the Adobe Photoshop brand, there are many versions, and different programmes, but I am a big believer in buying what you can to try and limit the need to upgrade at a later stage. So I went for Photoshop CS4 and im over the moon.

Well, I say over the moon lightly, its more frightened feeling to be honest, you sit there download the programme and it opens, oh my!

Now what do I do?

There are a million of settings, boxes, tools....

hmmm I think a book is going to be needed for this or a Degree course Ha!.

I would strongly recommend downloading Podcasts, they are free and offer some fantastic tuition,

if not there are various magazines out there, books all sorts on the photoshop software.

Multiple Exposure lots of the same person three 3 Lee's
headlock photoshop challenge multiple person tutorial experiemnetal learning ideas

Here are a couple of pictures of me playing about on Photoshop, i took the first image trying to be smart and have a photo of lots of me, but that evening out in a bar, a mate suggested a picture of trying to give yourself a head lock...

Aaaarrrgghhhh,, you cant throw a curve ball at me like that!

and so hung over the next morning, all i could think about was to try and create this shot,

and so here is me - giving myself a head lock :0)