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City Chrome | Weekly Photo #31
5 Years ago, I would have likely overlooked this image as it would not have suited my style of the time but times change and tastes evolve and this photo of the City of London is a good example of that.
“Change is the only constant in life” (Heraclitus) and never a truer word was spoken when it comes to photography. Landscape photographers have to work with many variables such as the subjects they shoot such as this ever-changing cityscape and the conditions they shoot in such as the weather and time of day but one of the subtler changes that most photographers will experience is how their style changes over time and I’m no exception. The changes can be slight and change slowly over time, or, the change can be rather abrupt such as when the photographer shoots an image and although not their usual style, likes it and proceeds to shoot more like it. I’m pretty sure I have experienced both.
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF18-55mm | 30mm | 1/125th Second | f/5.6 | ISO160
I sometimes look back at older photos and think “Wow, that’s not a good photo” or “what was I thinking?”. The processing may be less refined, the colours too vibrant or shadows opened up way too much (yes, I went through the overdone HDR phase too). The truth is that they are not all bad photos (some of them certainly are) but it’s just that the kind of photos I like to take and the resulting style has shifted since that particular photo was taken.
Talking about this photo here. 5 Years ago, I may have binned the image based on it being a little mono and lacking in vibrancy. It doesn’t have the same wow factor I would look for back then. But I have noticed over the last 2 years or so, my tastes are changing. I’m starting to process my images with a little less saturation, not so garish with slightly deeper shadows and the style of shot shown here of the London skyline is now starting to push the right buttons for me. In life, I have always been one to be comfortable with change and in photography, it’s no different. You should have faith that your style is evolving for the better and If you notice your creative tastes are moving in a different direction, my advice would be to follow it and just see where it takes you.
So, about this photo. It was taken around 30 minutes before sunset from my current favourite rooftop location atop the Dome of St Paul’s Cathedral which provides some of the best views of the city. I’m a big fan of this composition which only works because the Walkie-Talkie building (aka 20 Fenchurch Street, aka The Sky Garden) is included to help add weight to the right-hand side balancing the scene against the cluster on the left. It also provides a subtle frame for Canary Wharf in the distance which I think is a nice touch.
This kind of shoot is ideal for my smaller Fujifilm X-T30 and 18-55 lens combination. When upon the Golden Gallery which sits at the very tip of St Paul’s dome, space is incredibly limited and having s smaller kit with a smaller bag helps you keep out of the way while others pass. If you are caught holding up the line, you will be told to move on so best to stay out of the way as much as possible.
Processed to emphasise the reflective glass buildings, I left the white balance “as shot” to keep those cooler tones and added a little contrast and clarity to give the buildings and those reflections a little more punch. Other than a few more subtle tweaks to the tone curve and HSL sliders, that really was about it.
I hope you like the end result as much as I do.
Until next week.
Trevor
This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.
2019 | A Photographic Year in Review
My photographic review of 2019 including a look back at some of my favourite photos and events that took place throughout the year and finishing up with some thoughts about 2020.
Well, that’s it. Another year passes and as I sit here preparing to write this post, having just celebrated Christmas with my family and friends, I now embark on the quest to quietly reflect on 2019 and contemplate where I want to take my photography and what I want to achieve in 2020.
2019 was, as usual, a busy year for me both in my personal and photographic life. I kicked off 2019 with a focus on getting myself in shape which apart from the obvious health benefits of shifting a few pounds, can really help when heading out and lugging around a big, heavy camera bag for hours on end. There was, however, one downside. As we all know, there are only so many hours in the day so I had to take the decision to prioritise work, family and health over photography. This didn’t mean my photography stopped, not at all, but the number of opportunities to get out with my camera would inevitably be impacted.
It wasn’t all bad, I still made over 40 photography related trips into London during 2019 and still managed to shift a few pounds! Not too shabby.
Below are a few of the photographic highlights of mine that took place during the past year.
Printing my own photos
Previous to 2019, I would occasionally print photos via a professional photo lab but with the desire to print my work more and knowing the benefits it may bring to my photography, in March 2019, at the Photography Show in Birmingham, I brought my first professional printer so I could try my hand at printing my own photos at home.
It was a bit of learning curve but once I got to grips with proofing and printer profiles I cannot emphasise enough how important printing images has become for me. Not only am I able to appreciate my images in a larger, more tactile form but it provided me with the ability to better critique my work.
Whether you use a professional print lab or decide to do what I did and print at home, I cannot recommend enough that you print out some of your best work!
In 2019, I wrote an article about my simplified home printing process which you can read more about here.
Mental Health and Why Photography Matters
The hidden role photography can play in our lives is something I have only just started to explore in 2019 and it has really opened my eyes to the subject. After diving a bit deeper into the positive effects having a creative outlet can have on people that fight various degrees of inner darkness, I decided that this is something I want to continue to pursue and help raise awareness where I can. You can read more in my first post on this topic here.
On-Location Photographing Ghent
One of the photographic highlights for me in 2019 was visiting the charming city of Ghent. I spent an enjoyable few days exploring the city and managed to grab a cracking sunrise along the river. Two of the photos I took during that sunrise shoot can be found further down, towards the end of this post.
Over the last couple of years, I have visited various cities in Europe including Paris, Venice and Bruges and 2020 will be no different with a trip to Amsterdam already booked in for May! If you wanted a recap on this trip to Ghent, pop over to my On Location travel post I wrote a few months ago: On Location | Photographing Ghent.
Weekly Photo Project
This was arguably the most significant photographic decision I made in 2019. I decided to start a new project which would combine my photography with an increasing desire to explore the storytelling side of the craft. I decided that I would post a new photo each week in the form of a blog post that would be accompanied by some kind of short story which I called Weekly Photo (I know, clever, right?) I’m reluctant to call this a project (such as a 365 or 52) as its not something I plan to complete. It has no end date. It is just a change of approach as to how I would be presenting my work going forward.
I embarked on this Weekly Photo journey because I was getting a bit fed up with feeding the social media machine, hunting for a new image each day was quite frankly, boring and I wanted to release photos on my own terms. Don’t get me wrong, I fully understand the important role social media plays for photographers but with this new approach, my website would now be the priority and social media became the supporting act.
There were, however, some unforeseen benefits that after only 30 posts (to date) I have already discovered. The most significant is how the need to curate and select the images to publish makes me think more carefully about what I like or dislike about my photos. Essentially, I now self-critique my photos more than I have ever done which helps me work out what does or doesn’t work and over time will help me become a better photographer.
Another, somewhat related plus side of this process and one that links to the first point above is that as I process and publish my weekly photos, I also print them. Printing my photos is a whole different ball game when it comes to inspecting my work as the physical print will show off any issues such as missed dust spots or distracting elements that I may have missed when viewing the photo on the screen.
Looking forward to 2020
So, what plans do I have for 2020? Well first off is to continue to build upon my Weekly Photos and refine my storytelling ability whilst sharpening my photographic skill set. Taking it even further, I plan to finally give my print store a serious go and offer limited edition, signed prints of a selection of my Weekly Photos and who knows, I may even create a calendar later in the year. I’ve had half-hearted attempts to offer prints in the past but never really promoted my store and this is something I have to learn to do more of if I really want a print store to work. I know it won’t allow me to give up my day job but it may help fund some of the expenditure photography requires and to have more of my work on other people’s walls would mean a lot to me. Anyone that parts with their hard-earned cash to buy my work is paying me the biggest compliment I can receive as a photographer.
Travel wise, I don’t have a great deal planned yet except a trip to Amsterdam in May where I will no doubt capture some travel shots and a sunrise shoot around the canals.
Now, I want to share a few of my favourite images from 2019, starting with some cityscapes of London, my sunrise shoot in Ghent and finishing up with my favourite city by the sea, Brighton.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 20mm | 131 seconds | f/10 | ISO200
The photo above was featured in the third Weekly Photo post found here: THE SHARD AT SUNSET | WEEKLY PHOTO #3
Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 17mm | 1/60th second | f/4.5 | ISO800
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/5th Second | f/5 | ISO160
The photo above was featured in the nineteenth Weekly Photo post found here: THE VIEW FROM ST PAUL'S | WEEKLY PHOTO #19
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1/8 Second | f/8 | ISO160
The photo above was featured in the twenty-fourth Weekly Photo post found here: WESTERN TOWERS | WEEKLY PHOTO #24
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF10-24mm | 17mm | 28 seconds | f/9 | ISO160
The photo above was featured in the ninth Weekly Photo post found here: ST KATHARINE DOCKS | WEEKLY PHOTO #9
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 2.6 Seconds | f/11 | ISO200
The photo above was featured in the twenty-second Weekly Photo post found here: A BLUE HOUR IN GHENT | WEEKLY PHOTO #22
Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1/6th second | f/7.1 | ISO200
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/5th Second | f/9 | ISO200
The photo above was featured in the twenty-fifth Weekly Photo post found here: SKELETAL REMAINS | WEEKLY PHOTO #25
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 28mm | 181 seconds | f/9 | ISO200
The photo above was featured in the twelfth Weekly Photo post found here: 3 MINUTES IN BRIGHTON | WEEKLY PHOTO #12
Thanks to all that supported me in 2019 and I urge you to stick around throughout 2020 by bookmarking my site or by signing up to my newsletter so I can continue to share my work with you in the future. I wish you a happy and prosperous New Year.
I’ll talk to you again next month, next year, next decade!
Trevor
Rooftop Reflections | Weekly Photo #30
Captured on a very wet and windy day in London during a photo walk with a couple of fellow togs, I took this photo of 20 Fenchurch Street while photographing the city from the Garden at 120 rooftop terrace.
A few weeks ago, I met up with a couple of fellow photographers and together we headed into London to photograph a very wet, windy city. We arranged the meet up a week or two beforehand but as the day drew closer, it became increasingly apparent that the weather wasn’t going to be great and we would be shooting in the rain for the entire day.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/13th Second | f/2.8 | ISO200
“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.”
We decided to focus on photographing in and around The Square Mile which hosts some of the tallest building in London and although the weather was pretty bad, we decided resist taking the easier option of rearranging the shoot and press ahead and see what we could capture regardless of the conditions. There was no chance of being gifted epic light or a dramatic sunset but I knew that the rain can bring another dimension to photographing London by adding puddles and wet surfaces that can result in capturing a different kind of light along with some fantastic reflections.
Learning the hard way from a previous rainy trip to London, I made sure I had my weather sealed Fujifilm XT2 camera with me and that combined with the XF16mm F2.8 prime WR lens, I had a fully weather-resistant system which allowed me to keep shooting as the rain continued to fall.
As we explored the city, we decided to pop up to the Garden at 120 which is a rooftop terrace 15 floors up, nestled amongst the city’s high-rise buildings providing some cool views of the city and with the weather still pretty miserable and without any shelter whatsoever, we had the entire place to ourselves. I reckon the Security Guards thought we were a bit crackers as the rain was beating down on us while we took photos but we persevered and it’s here that I captured this shot of 20 Fenchurch Street, AKA The “Walkie Talkie” building.
Apart from the obviously cool reflections provided by the wet floor in the foreground, I like how the lines on both sides of the frame lead the eye towards the main focal point with the wall on the right being the stronger element helping to balance the composition against the building on the left. Colour-wise, I tweaked the tones a little in Lightroom by dialling back the saturation and adding some contrast. Although a little muted, these grey/blue and orange colours are considered complimentary according to the colour science people as they are opposite each other on the colour wheel. I won’t go into colour science in detail here but you can check out this link to a post over at 500px if you want to read more about it.
I had a really good day with my fellow togs, Andrew and Julian and even though the weather was so poor, I managed to grab a few ok shots like this one throughout the day. It certainly helps to be reminded on occasion to resist the easy option and head out into the rain and just see what you might get. What’s the worst that can happen? You scout locations and get a bit wet?
Cheers
Trevor
This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.
Christmas in London | Weekly Photo #29
Being the last post before Christmas, I thought to keep this article “on-trend” and festive. I wanted to use a fresh, new photo of the Christmas Lights in London to round off the year so a few days ago, I headed into London before sunrise to see what I could capture.
Being the last post before Christmas, I decided to keep this article “on-trend” and festive. I wanted to use a fresh, new photo of the Christmas Lights in London to round off the year so a few days ago, I headed into London before sunrise to see what I could capture.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 3.5 Seconds | f/9 | ISO200
With only limited time, I wanted to head to somewhere I knew there was a high probability of getting a shot and although ordinarily, this might mean heading to the likes of Carnaby Street to capture this year’s display, at around 0730 in the morning this would mean the road would have been full of delivery trucks so I knew that area would be no good to me.
I decided to head to Covent Garden as they put up a very tall tree every year and I knew it would be quiet this time of day. Even though it was quiet, delivery trucks are about but with more space to shoot, they are a little easier to avoid. After wandering about for a while trying out different angles and with the blue hour fast approaching, I settled on this central composition, subtly framed either side to allow the large, bright Christmas Tree to stand tall and proud leaving no doubt as to what the main subject is. I love the cobbled road here at Covent Garden and having rained not long before I arrived, they were wet and shiny which helped me get these great reflections.
I had with me the Fujifilm XT2 camera and on it, the 10-24mm lens. This wide-angle lens was perfect to capture the tree and equally important the surrounding area. I want the story of this image to be about Christmas in London, not just a Christmas tree. To do this, I had to shoot wide and expose the photo to ensure the background was exposed correctly and anyone that knows Covent Garden will know this is a photo of London at Christmas.
Back home, I imported the photo into Lightroom and went about making small adjustments to the white balance, colour tones and corrected a little distortion to straighten up the verticals. I then dodged and burned a few key areas to emphasise lights and reflections before sharpening in Photoshop resulting in the final image you can see here.
That’s a wrap! I want to wish all of the readers of my blog a very, merry Christmas and happy and prosperous 2020.
Until next time,
Trevor
This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.
The Glass Canal | Weekly Photo #28
This week I present an ultra-long exposure of 8 minutes taken from the Ponte dell’Accademia bridge during an early morning sunrise in Venice.
“Venice is the exemplar of human wit and ingenuity. Despair of man and go to Venice: you will cease to despair. If human beings can build a city like this, their souls deserved to be saved.”
Like many photographers, I love to take photos of Venice. It has everything I like from charming streets and intimate canals to grand, cityscape vistas that will take your breath away. This picturesque city has an abundance of rustic splendour and oozes history throughout.
Fujifilm X-T10 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 480 Seconds | f/8 | ISO200
During a previous trip to Venice in 2017, I decided to venture out before sunrise to capture the city as it sleeps. As an urban landscape photographer, whatever city you happen to be in, there is no better time to capture it than at sunrise. This is the time where you can have the place to yourself and capture the landscape in a way not normally experienced by most other people.
If there was one shot I just had to capture during my stay it was this composition below looking down the Grand Canal towards the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute in the distance. The light wasn't as epic as I hoped but if I was going to capture a long exposure, this had to be it.
Upon the Ponte dell’Accademia Bridge, I set my camera onto the tripod, composed, focused and then mounted my filter. You can see the settings I used directly under the image above. I also have an easy 10-step process to taking long exposure photos which is available to download by subscribing to my newsletter. Having already taken a test shot without the filter, with the light levels as they were, the resulting exposure was an impressive 8 minutes. So, with the remote cable release connected, I went about taking the shot.
What I really like about this image is I had one chance to capture it while there was some light in the sky. The eight-minute exposure makes the water almost mirror-like with a touch of etherealism and the resulting image is a clean crisp shot ensuring the sweeping curve of the water leads the eye to the main focus being the architecture and Basilica.
Back in Lightroom, I had to deal with one of the downsides of such a long exposure and that was the many hot pixels across the image. These are areas of electrical discharge created by the sensor getting hot whiles taking the long exposure. Noticeable in the shadows, I had to endure the tedious process of cloning out the hundreds of small red dots from the darker parts of the image.
If you’re interested, I wrote a two-part travel blog about my trip to Venice which is filled with photos and information about the many places I visited.
Until next time.
Trevor
This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.
On Location Photographing London With The Fuji XF16mm F2.8
One thing I like to do when I buy new photography gear is to really put it through its paces and to understand everything about it. Having purchased the recently released Fuji XF16mmF2 WR lens, I did just that and took the lens on a rainy walk along the Thames in London at night. Jump in to read how I and the lens got on.
One thing I like to do when I buy new photography gear is to really put it through its paces. To learn how it performs, to understand its characteristics, quirks and drawbacks so when it comes to packing my camera bag, I know what kit is going to help me get the most out of the shoot.
Earlier this year, I brought the pocket-rocket Fujifilm X-T30 and to get to know it well, I used it as my main camera during a recent trip to Ghent, Belgium.
You can read all about this trip in my post here: On-Location | Photographing Ghent
A little more recently I finally got around to purchasing the Fujifilm XF16mm F2.8 WR prime lens. I already had the XF35mm F2 which I really enjoyed using and wanted the same again but wider, so I splashed out the relatively reasonable £350 and bought one.
With the lens now in the bag, it was time to head out and get to know it properly, so a couple of weeks ago I decided to venture out into London after dark to see how it performed while on a walk from Westminster to Tower Bridge.
Just to make a quick note. This is by no means a technical or scientific review of the lens. You will find plenty of reviews that provide technical specifications and deep analysis of how well the lens performs against its rivals but in this post, I will show you the photos I took and talk about how I thought the lens behaved in the pretty tough conditions of a rainy night in London. In addition, this lens is relatively inexpensive compared to the likes of the XF16mm F1.4, the XF8-16mm F2.8 and XF16-55mm F2.8 so this particular review is based on me having realistic expectations of a lens at the particular price point.
To push the limits of the lens and myself as a photographer, I decided to head out to take a mix of street and cityscape photos with just the camera and lens and no tripod whatsoever. I was depending solely on the city to provide enough light to expose the photos enough for most to be taken handheld. I did, however, use the odd wall or ledge to rest the camera enough to enable me to drop the ISO or open the shutter longer on occasion. You can spot these easily by checking the settings I used under each of the photos below.
Photographing London with the XF16mmF2.8 WR
First stop was to capture the London Eye illuminated by these cool colours. As you can see, with no tripod to use, I ended up resting my backpack on the wall, then the camera on top of that which helped me get the angle I wanted. The wider 16mm focal length (equivalent to 83.2 degrees field of view) enabled me to capture the entire scene without having to point the camera too far upwards thus avoiding the distortion this inevitably brings.
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 0.8 Seconds | f/2.8 | ISO160
The image below was about as tough as it got when it came to handheld shots using just the city lights. This area is pretty dark and I needed to up the ISO to 1600 to get close to a sharp image. Just as I had finished adjusting the ISO, this chap crossed the road in front of me and I just managed to capture him as he stepped into the light.
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/17th Second | f/2.8 | ISO1600
For this photo walk, I was shooting in aperture priority set to f/2.8 to ensure I captured as much light as possible. One of the minor drawbacks this lens has is that the aperture doesn’t go as low as other lenses in the line up such as the XF35mm F2 WR. I could have done with that extra stop!
I generally set the camera to auto ISO800 but as you can see by the settings below, I had to adjust this for the odd photo. With the camera deciding the optimal shutter speed that left me to play with the exposure compensation dial on the fly which allowed me to manipulate the shutter speed by under or overexposing.
While up on the Golden Jubilee Bridge, I had to use all of the 16mm I had available to fit both the London Eye and sky swings into the image and still have enough room to correct some of the distortion later in post. It’s not a great composition, I know, but it demonstrates the field of view you can get with this lens pretty well.
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/18th Second | f/2.8 | ISO800
If I could ask for one thing to improve this lens, it would be to somehow add image stabilisation without adding to the cost, size or weight. Yeah, I don’t ask for much, right? Here’s a couple of photos captured handheld as I walked along from South Bank to Embankment which were both taken at 1/10th of a second. That’s a pretty slow shutter speed and with no image stabilisation available from both camera or lens, I needed a very steady hand indeed.
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/10th Second | f/2.8 | ISO800
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/10th Second | f/2.8 | ISO800
The WR in the name stands for Weather Resistant. Not to be confused with Water Proof. This lens can withstand the odd rain shower but don’t go dunking it underwater as you may end up with a rather expensive paperweight.
Ideally, I would have had my XT2 camera with me on this photo walk as coupled with this weather-resistant 16mm prime, I would have had a fully weather-sealed set up but on this particular day, I forgot to check the weather and by the time I realised how wet it might get, I was already in London with the X-T30.
It took a few minutes for the right looking people to enter this scene in front of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre to get the type of photo I was aiming for and although I had to be a bit careful about getting the X-T30 wet, at least I didn’t have to worry too much about the lens. This couple, shielded by their umbrella perfectly told the story about the wet conditions endured on this particular rainy night in London.
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/40th Second | f/2.8 | ISO800
While the famous London Bridge is pretty plain and uninspiring during the day, it recently received a new light installation as a part of the Illuminated River Project and now shines bright and colourful at night making it a great subject for night photography. Closing down the aperture to f/10, (it ranges from f/2.8 to f/22) I was able to create these starbursts from the street lamps but the resulting 9-second exposure meant I needed to support the camera. Luckily, there was a nice flat wall right where I stood. What luck!
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 9 Seconds | f/10 | ISO160
I finished up right next to Tower Bridge in the popular More London Estate. This area is pretty well lit and provides a great subject for night photography and allow me to continue testing this lens I was enjoying using so much.
In addition to letting more light through the lens, the wider aperture of F/2.8 allowed me to get a bit creative with the depth of field which you can see in a couple of the images below. The 9 blade aperture results in a nice, smooth bokeh (the blurry, out of focus part of the image).
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/15th Second | f/2.8 | ISO800
This lens weighs only 155 grams and with the X-T30 weighing 383 grams including card and battery, I had a fantastic, lightweight set up of 538 grams (that’s about 1.2lbs). With such a light combination, carrying around this camera and lens all evening was absolutely no bother at all.
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/25th Second | f/2.8 | ISO800
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/20th Second | f/2.8 | ISO800
I know it’s hard to tell from looking at these photos on this web page but I was really pleased with how sharp the shots came out when using this lens wide open. In these low-light, rainy conditions and with the aperture at f/2.8, these shots taken around More London look really good. Like most lenses in this price range, when used wide open like this, you will rarely get corner to corner sharpness and this lens is no different. The images do soften slightly as you get closer to the corners but the softness is very subtle and only really visible when viewed at 100%. All in all, these photos are plenty sharp enough for me and totally useable.
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/25th Second | f/2.8 | ISO800
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/8th Second | f/2.8 | ISO800
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/17th Second | f/2.8 | ISO800
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF16mm F2.8 | 16mm | 1/13th Second | f/2.8 | ISO800
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, this is far from a formal review of this lens. A quick google will get you to one of those in no time. Instead, these are my real-world experiences of using this cracking little lens on a wet, windy night in London and if all you take away from this post is that this lightweight, inexpensive lens feels solid, performs well and is all around a pleasure to use then that’s good enough for me.
Until next time.
Trevor
Peaceful City | Weekly Photo #27
Taken while on an early morning walk in the city, I was struck by how peaceful this scene looked and loved the silhouettes of the buildings over on the Isle of Dogs. In this post, I talk through my thoughts on the composition and editing process.
This is the view that presented itself to me, one morning in late December as I crossed London’s Tower Bridge. I was on a sunrise walk in the city during that funny time between Christmas and New Year where most people are at home and the city has a quiet, more subdued feel about it so I decided to try to capture some of that feeling tranquillity in my photos.
Fujifilm X-T10 | XF18-55mm | 39mm | 58 Seconds | f/13 | ISO200
What captured my attention when looking across East London was how calm and still, the city looked. There were some subtle pastel colours in the sky as the sun started to make an appearance and that coupled with a slight mist in the air was all I needed to set the camera down and try to capture the scene in front of me. While setting up, I decided I would try the image as a long-exposure to help soften the scene a little more by removing the ripples in the water and make the clouds a bit wispier. I ended up going with a 58-second exposure but with the light increasing fast, I had to close down the aperture to f/13, reducing the light enough to achieve such a long exposure.
I deliberately composed the shot so that the River Thames swept around the right-hand side of the image and flanked St. Katherine Docks that lined the river in the foreground but with the darker heavier buildings all on the left-hand side, I had to make sure I included the clouds on the top right of the frame to help add some much-needed balance. Although only subtle, I think the clouds do just enough to save the entire shot as, without them, it just wouldn’t work at all. In addition, I decided to emphasise the high-rise buildings in the background over on the Isle of Dogs so instead of going wide which may be the more obvious choice, I used a focal length of 39mm to help bring the buildings a little forward in the frame.
When I initially edited the image, I brought way too much colour back in and the image was bright orange and way too garish. After sitting on the image for some time, I decided to pull the colour right back to these subtle pastel tones all helping to communicate the peaceful feeling I experienced on that particular morning. If you edit your photos and sometimes wonder if you have over-edited an image, just stop and let the image sit there for a while. Be it days, weeks or for some, even months, if you are still happy after living with it all that time, then you know it’s a keeper!
Chat to you soon.
Trevor
This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.
South Bank | Weekly Photo #26
This week’s photo is a classic looking scene taken along London’s South Bank. In the article, I talk about how I considered the focal length carefully to ensure the resulting image had the best balance between the foreground, middle and background elements providing me with the best composition possible.
I love the “old-worldly London” feeling I get from this particular view along the South Bank. In particular, the peaceful, sweeping path lit by ornate street lamps and the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral nestled nicely in the background. The dome really does give the image that classic London look.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 55mm | 2.6 Seconds | f/11 | ISO200
“To lose patience is to lose the battle.” - Mahatma Gandhi
Those that follow my work will know that although I have been including the occasional person in some of my street work lately, I still prefer a cityscape image free of people to help simplify and declutter the London skyline as much as possible and people tend to be “easier” to remove using techniques such as long exposure photography or merging multiple exposures later in Photoshop. That being said, it can at times be rather tricky to remove people, especially when you happen to be shooting one of the busiest spots along the river and unless you arrive in the early hours of the morning, you will seldom be on your own here which is why capturing this photo needed quite a bit of patience. I was stood in this particular spot waiting for a big enough gap in the foot traffic for about 30 minutes before I got the clean composition I was hoping for.
On this particular evening way back in 2018, I was out shooting with my recently purchased Fujifilm XF55-200mm lens which I was using to take a panoramic image from Waterloo Bridge. Using a tripod isn’t really allowed along this stretch of the river so being a little cheeky, I set my Fuji XT2 onto the tripod which was parked next to a tree in a bid to keep it well out of the way of passing foot traffic. Thankfully I wasn’t approached while stood there.
How I chose the correct focal length when taking this photo
In my opinion, this image works better if taken with a medium focal length of around 40-60mm so it was a perfect time to have the new lens with me. Taken wider (zoomed out) you can include more of the scene which isn’t always a good thing as it can result in a more cluttered image with no clear focal point. Additionally, the wider you go, the more the background gets thrown much further back and rendered less significant and in a scene like this, the mid and background elements are critical to the composition.
On the flip side, too much focal length (zoomed right in) will prevent the inclusion of key elements such as St Paul’s dome or the trees on the right that act as a compositional frame helping to keep the attention on the main focal points such as the aforementioned dome. As you can see from the settings I used that are listed underneath the image, on this occasion, I stuck with 55mm which, in my opinion, worked best for this shot.
It pays to consider your focal length carefully. Play around with different settings while out in the field and check your framing carefully as this may be the difference between a snapshot you discard and a keeper.
Coming up I have a couple of “On Location” posts where I use just a single lens from the Fuji prime line up for the entire shoot to help me work on my composition and put the lenses through their paces. I will be sharing these posts over the next few weeks so keep an eye out for those.
Talk to you soon.
Trevor
This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.
Skeletal Remains | Weekly Photo #25
During a walk along Brighton Beach with my family on a warm, summer’s evening, I decided to stop and take advantage of some glorious light by taking a photo of the West Pier remains.
I find the skeletal remains of the West Pier in Brighton fascinating to photograph? I enjoy taking these central, minimalist photos of what’s left of this once grand Victorian structure which played such a significant role in the history of Brighton’s beach-front down in England’s South East. It’s not the most original composition of this structure but there’s a reason why the pier has been photographed a million times from this spot.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/5th Second | f/9 | ISO200
In a previous Weekly Photo post, I shared a black and white, long-exposure image of this very pier which you can find here. In the post, I talked about capturing the same composition on a pretty uninspiring cloudy day and using a black and white film simulation to help me visualise the image as I took it.
I took this week’s photo during a warm summer’s evening as my family and I walked down on the beachfront eating fish and chips for dinner. I had the camera with me to capture a few sunset shots of the family. As we walked back to the car I spotted these post-sunset pastel colours that started to appear in the sky I decided to take advantage of the light on offer.
As my family continued towards the car, I stopped and set my tripod up directly in front of the West Pier as close to the water as I could but just far enough away to avoid getting wet feet. I mounted my Fuji XT2 and trust 18-55mm lens on the tripod and went about composing the image being careful to get the structure dead-centre. Without having filters with me, a long exposure image wasn’t an option but with the sea being a little choppy, I was drawn to capturing a some of the movement and energy I could feel as I stood there taking it all in. I kept my aperture at around f/9 which, at ISO200, gave me a 1/5th second exposure resulting in an image with just the right amount of movement and texture in the water whilst retaining those subtle pinks in the sky.
Back in Lightroom, I tried to emphasise the white, frothy water to highlight the movement and add some interest so I subtly brightened the frothy parts of the water using local adjustments. Other than that, I adjusted the HSL sliders to get the tones I wanted and added a bit of contrast to the pier to make the architecture stand out a bit more.
I still have a long exposure photo of the pier in mind which I’ve been trying to get for a while now which requires a low tide and the clouds moving in the right direction. I’m still chasing that one so I’m sure I will be back again soon enough.
Thanks for stopping by.
Trevor
This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.
Western Towers | Weekly Photo #24
A few weeks ago, I shared a photo that I took of the City of London taken from the very top of St. Paul’s Cathedral’s dome. After taking another trip to this London icon, I focused my attention on a forward-facing composition of the Western Towers which I have wanted to capture for quite some time.
A few weeks ago, I shared a photo that I took of the City of London taken from the very top of St. Paul’s Cathedral’s Dome which you can read about here. After taking another trip to this London icon, this time around, I focused my attention on a forward-facing composition of the Western Towers which I have wanted to capture for quite some time.
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 1/8 Second | f/8 | ISO160
Photographing St. Paul’s Cathedral
Being a warm evening in August, I once again took advantage of the Thursday late opening times and got to the cathedral for 7pm. As the doors opened, I had to dart to the spiral stairs and climb up to the Stone Gallery so I could get this central position first and bunker in ready for sunset.
There isn’t a huge amount of space to shoot between the pillars in the wall that surrounds the Stone Gallery and knowing I wanted to shoot as wide as possible, I just managed to squeeze my small Manfrotto PIXI tripod through the gap with my conveniently compact Fuji X-T30 camera. If ever there was a time I was thankful for moving to a smaller camera system, it was then.
I carefully composed the image to ensure the towers were symmetrical and using my remote cable release, began shooting. I wanted to find the right balance between the ambient and city lights to add just a little more interest throughout the image.
Like many cityscape images I take of London, I don’t think I am finished with this one yet. As winter kicks in, I plan to revisit the cathedral a few more times to capture this iconic location as the light changes throughout the year.
Until next time
Trevor
This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.
Mental Health and Why Photography Matters
Mental wellbeing is getting a lot more attention these days which can only mean good things when it comes to awareness and management of the struggles many people privately endure every single day. In this post, I talk about how having a creative outlet such as photography can contribute to moving one’s mental health in a positive direction.
Many articles on this blog are about portraying the creativity, gear and techniques that I use in my own photography journey. I write about the places I go and photos I take, sharing useful information to other members of this close-nit photographic community in an attempt to give something back for all the help I continue to receive but one thing I don’t talk about as much as I really should is the hidden and personal benefits of having some kind of creative outlet that photography or any other artistic endeavour can provide.
Before I start, I want to clarify that I am by no means an expert. I do understand that mental health is not a light switch where everything is either fine or not. There is black and white and every shade of grey in between when it comes to mental health and everyone is different and facing their own unique challenges. I do, however, recognise how important the subject is and in my personal experience, mental health can be an ever-changeable level of wellbeing. There are the good times where I feel positive and ready to tackle what life has to throw at me and then there are the times of prolonged stress and anxiety which I try to recognise and work to keep on top of the best way I can and for me personally, photography plays a huge part in keeping everything under control.
I found a great source of information which helps to describe both good and bad mental health on the mentalhealth.org.uk website here.
Mental Health Awareness Day - October 10th 2019
This year, in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Day, my employer gave the entire workforce the day off to relax, enjoy the day and do something for themselves. This was by no means a small gesture as the workforce is made up of a few thousand staff. If that’s not getting behind this cause, I don’t know what is.
So, with the day to myself, I decided to venture out with my camera to get a bit of me-time, recharge and spend a few hours on my own taking some photos. At this point, I would normally head north into London and go get some cityscape shots but instead, I decided to get out of the Big Smoke and head down to the coast and capture some shots in Brighton.
The main reason I chose Brighton is that if I was going to embrace this opportunity and get some rest and relaxation, what better place to be is on the beachfront, with the waves crashing against the beach at sunrise with nobody else around apart from a few early risers getting their own fix of the peace and quiet on offer. So, I drove down, parked up, put my earphones in and headed out to document the start of a new day.
Why is Photography so Important for Good Mental Wellbeing?
As well as talking about how I spent the morning and showcasing the photos I took, I also wanted to list a few of the benefits that having a creative outlet such as photography provides.
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF35mm F2 | 35mm | 1/1,700 Second | f/2 | ISO160
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF35mm F2 | 35mm | 1/4,400 Second | f/2 | ISO160
Achieving Mindfulness
I believe that achieving mindfulness in pursuit of your creative endeavours can only occur when the act of creation is equal or more important than the product itself.
As a photographer, I am not alone in the photographic community when I say that once you stop worrying about capturing that killer shot each time you venture out with the camera, the pressure really does come off. This leads to less frustration and impatience when out photographing, allowing you to relax and more often than not, create your best work.
Mindfulness is so important in my landscape photography. Taking a breath, being present in the moment and ignoring distractions can help heighten my awareness as a photographer. It also helps me to take some much-needed time out from a hectic work and home life allowing me a bit of time to be alone and process my thoughts. I guess you could say photography is my therapy.
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF35mm F2 | 35mm | 1/1,600 Second | f/2 | ISO160
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF35mm F2 | 35mm | 1/2,000 Second | f/2 | ISO160
Getting Up and Feeling Motivated
I guess this section could also be called “Having a purpose” as that’s essentially the point I want to make. Just the other day, I was talking to my Dad about motivation and drive to get out and he spoke about having to get up super early before a tiring day at work to take his dog for a walk. He said that although it’s a struggle to wake up super early and get out of bed every single day, once he is out with his dog, enjoying the fresh, early morning air he really enjoys that quiet, reflective time. Needing to walk the dog is his purpose and without this, this time he has on his own to relax and process life just wouldn’t exist.
This is also so true for my photography. Having the alarm go off at silly o’clock and getting yourself out can be tough and without that purpose provided by photography, I wouldn't be getting up so early and I would miss out on being out and about at a time of the day that very few people experience.
Physical Fitness
When I head out for a few hours on a photo walk, I usually end up covering quite a distance. and exercise is widely known to be a great way to keep both your body and mind in tip-top condition. Exercise is great at breaking negative cycles such as poor sleep patterns and physical stress on the body causing discomfort and pain which I have first-hand experience with. For some time, I was struggling with tendonitis on my left knee and although seeing a Physio helped, it was never cured. At the beginning of 2019, I decided to up my exercise efforts and focus on my fitness and after only a few weeks the pain in my knee had completely gone. I am now able to walk for hours with my camera without any pain or discomfort whatsoever.
I found a great article on how exercise is so beneficial to your mental wellbeing over at https://www.helpguide.org/. A few of the important benefits the site lists are:
Reduces anxiety
Helps with depression
Helps fight ADHD, PTSD and Trauma
Helps increase overall energy levels
Increases confidence and self-esteem
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF35mm F2 | 35mm | 1/1,400 Second | f/2 | ISO160
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF35mm F2 | 35mm | 1/1,600 Second | f/2 | ISO160
The Power of Creativity
Nothing really beats the feeling you get when you have created something you are proud of and photography is no different as the ultimate goal is still to produce a nice photo, be it artistic or documentary. Although I no longer feel the added pressure to capture a banging shot every time I head out, when I do create something portfolio worthy, it provides such a positive feeling and makes all of the early mornings or cold winter evenings standing around trying to keep warm worthwhile. Occasionally capturing a portfolio worthy image gives me the motivation to keep going, continue to develop my craft and chase that next shot.
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF35mm F2 | 35mm | 1/125 Second | f/14 | ISO400
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF35mm F2 | 35mm | 1/950 Second | f/5 | ISO160
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF35mm F2 | 35mm | 1/170 Second | f/11 | ISO160
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF35mm F2 | 35mm | 1/2,000 Second | f/2 | ISO160
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF35mm F2 | 35mm | 1/1,100 Second | f/2 | ISO160
My goal for this post is not to tell you how to feel or make any assumptions. I wrote this post as I recognise how important mental wellbeing is to every single person and I truly believe that by pursuing any kind of creative endeavour really helps the mind take a break from the many distractions of modern life and allow you time to think or reflect and put things back in perspective once again.
Until next time.
Trevor
City of Gold | Weekly Photo #23
For this week’s photo, I visited the relatively new Garden at 120 in London and caught an epic sunset across West London. I also provide a couple of tips to capture a clean, sharp photo through a glass window.
I enjoy taking photos from this rooftop location along London’s Fenchurch Street. It’s called the Garden at 120 which opened at the beginning of 2019 and it is free to visit with no booking needed. As you can see here, it’s in a great position to capture an epic sunset across West London which I was fortunate to photograph a few months ago on a nice, warm summers evening in the city.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 30mm | 1/120th Second | f/3.6 | ISO200
Like most rooftop locations in London, one thing you will have to contend with is shooting through the glass. Being relatively new, the glass isn’t too dirty yet but to get the best, cleanest photos possible there are a couple of things you can do to eliminate the dirt and reflections when photographing through glass.
I briefly touched on the subject of shooting through glass windows on a previous weekly photo post when I took an early morning shot of Canary Wharf from the Sky Garden which you can read here: Weekly Photo 13 | London In The Mist but simply put, if you do the following 2 things, it will help you get the best results:
Use a wide aperture. f/4 or below should do the trick but the lower the better. This will render the closest subjects to the camera out of focus and ensure the final image is clean of the grime from the window.
Use a lens hood. You can pick these up for under £10 on eBay and they fit around the end of your lens. When pressed up against the glass they cut out the light from around the camera which will remove reflections from the final shot.
I used both of the above techniques when I took the photo above and one of the more refreshing things about shooting up on this terrace is that they allow tripods. As long as you keep out of the way, they really don’t mind so even when the light drops, you can still capture some nice sharp photos of the city.
For post-processing, I started in Lightroom. I brought down the highlights and brought up the shadows. I added some split toning to emphasise the golds and blues in the shadows and then took it into Photoshop to sharpen and remove a few distractions on the horizon.
I’m really pleased how this came out, particularly as the dynamic range was really high but the trusty Fujifilm dealt with it and all the detail in the shadows was there to recover.
Speak to you soon.
Trevor
This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.
A Blue Hour In Ghent | Weekly Photo #22
This week’s photo is a blue hour image shot from Saint Michaels Bridge during the blue hour in Ghent, Belgium.
St. Michael’s Bridge is considered one of the most romantic spots in Ghent. It’s a beautiful setting by the river with cobbled streets and has some great views of the surrounding architecture and majestic churches.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 2.6 Seconds | f/11 | ISO200
I consider Ghent, one of Europe’s biggest secrets as it doesn’t seem to be as well-known as its smaller cousin, Bruges but in my opinion, this city in Belgium is definitely well worth a visit. I have already written my travel blog covering this trip where you can learn all about some of Ghent’s most popular places. You can find the article here: On-Location Photographing Ghent.
Photographing Ghent during the Blue Hour
Although this trip to Ghent was a family city-break, I still made a point of getting some sunrise cityscapes in by heading out early on my own to try to photograph the city while it looks its best with fewer people and good light. It gives me a few hours on my own to explore the deserted city, photograph away and have the best compositions to myself. I can then head back to the hotel and meet my family for breakfast so we can carry on with our day together.
Before I visited Ghent, I researched the city for photo ideas and had spotted a composition similar to this looking across at Saint Nicholas' Church so when I arrived in the city, this is the first place I went. Upon arrival, the way the streetlights lined the bridge caught my eye so I knew I would feature them but it was still pretty dark so I went about preparing for the shot while I waited for it to get a bit lighter. I wanted the cobbled street and streetlamps to lead the eye up, into the frame towards the church which would act as my main focal point.
Once composed, I adjusted my aperture to get enough depth of field which also helped me capture those cool starbursts created by the streetlamps and once the blue hour had kicked in I went about capturing the photo.
Happy I had the photo in the bag, I went on my way to capture a few more photos during this little bit of “me time” I had. I was lucky enough to take a few good photos during this early morning session so I plan to write my last post about my trip to Ghent covering the entire session and showcasing the photos I took, so look out for that article in the future.
Once all of the best light was gone, that was my cue to leave and meet my family for breakfast at the hotel.
Until next time.
This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.
Deserted City | Weekly Photo #21
This week’s photo is a black-and-white, long exposure photo made up of several photos taken at different times blended together to remove the many people that visit this popular viewpoint. In this post, I walk through the process I followed to create this photo.
This week’s photo was taken at the same time I took Weekly Photo #9 while at St Katharine Docks. In that post, I talked about my decision to venture out with my new Fujifilm X-T30 even though the weather was pretty miserable and taking a great long exposure black and white image. This time, I want to share with you a pretty easy photoshop technique to capture busy locations whilst removing all of the people in the photo.
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF10-24mm | 10mm | 8 Seconds | f/9 | ISO160
As it was a dull cloudy day I decided to create a high-contrast, black and white long exposure photo of this great view of Tower Bridge. The idea was to have the movement in the clouds provide some nice framing of the architecture which was only possible as they were moving towards me. If the clouds were moving in any other direction, the composition just wouldn’t work.
Although it was a cloudy day, the light levels were still quite good so even with the Formatt Hitech 10-stop ND filter attached to my XF10-24mm lens, the exposure time was only 8 seconds. Normally this wouldn’t be long enough to capture a good amount of motion blur in the clouds but on this particular day, they were moving pretty fast and even with an 8-second exposure, I captured plenty of movement in the clouds and this meant I didn’t have to close the aperture down too much to reduce the light hitting the sensor which would have also affected the overall quality of the image.
How to remove people from your photos
Although it was a pretty miserable day, this is still a popular location so unless you arrive very early in the morning, you will always have people wandering into your shot. Normally I would have a long enough exposure to blur most of the movement out but on this day, I had an 8-second exposure which meant I still had people showing up in the photo. So, to fix the issue, I decided to take multiple exposures that I could merge in post-production later.
Being careful to keep the camera in the same place, I took one exposure for the sky and over a period of time, a few different exposures of the foreground to ensure I had the entire scene void of people across all of the exposures. The important thing to remember here is that the people do eventually have to move so you don't capture people in the same position across the entire series. otherwise there will be no way to mask them out using this technique.
Here’s how I created the final image:
I edited the first image in Adobe Lightroom.
I then synchronised the edits across all copies of the image to keep the look consistent throughout.
I exported all photos as layers into Photoshop.
I highlighted all layers and selected Auto-align Layers from the Edit menu.
I added a layer mask to all layers and went about masking out the people in each layer to reveal a person behind without the person in.
I may well release a more detailed article with video or screenshots demonstrating how I put this image together. Please do leave a comment if that’s something you might want to see.
Until next time
Trevor
This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.
Venetian Nights | Weekly Photo #20
After just arriving in this great city and armed with my Fujifilm XT2 and a small tabletop tripod, I captured this photo of the Grand Canal while out on a stroll through Venice at night.
As charming as Venice is during the day, it takes on a whole new identity at night. There are fewer people on the island in the evening as most tourists are either day-trippers or stay elsewhere on the mainland. The resulting quieter streets coupled with the dark, poorly lit side canals means the city takes on a whole new aura of mystery and tranquillity and I for one love to walk the streets at this time and soak it all in.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 29mm | 9 Seconds | f/10 | ISO200
Photographing the Grand Canal at Night
I took this photo during my latest trip to this beautiful city. In fact, it was the very first photo I took. After checking in at the hotel and dropping off our bags, my wife and I headed out into the night to explore the island. Armed with just my Fujifilm XT2 camera and a small tabletop Manfrotto PIXI tripod, I was traveling light that evening and it turns out, that’s all I needed to capture this photo.
We arrived at the Rialto Bridge and as we crossed, this composition stood out to me. I particularly liked the way the canal sweeps to the right around the buildings and gondolas. Although it was after dark, the lights were nice and bright and by using a smaller aperture of f/10, I was able to create those cool starbursts around the streetlights.
With the low light and small aperture, there was no way I could handhold this shot so I placed the camera on my Manfrotto PIXI tripod and with a nice sturdy wall to rest the tripod on, I went about capturing this 9-second exposure. Along with the composition, I’m drawn to the colours I was able to bring out of this image in post-production and knowing how good the guys at Fujifilm are with their colour science, I suspect that had a little bit to do with it.
Here are a few other articles featuring photos and stories about Venice:
Speak to you soon.
Trevor
This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.
The View from St Paul's | Weekly Photo #19
St Paul’s Cathedral opens late for a few days in August so I booked my tickets and headed up to the top of the dome to capture this view of the City of London at sunset. Jump into the post to read how I got on which also includes a top tip to allow you to revisit St Paul’s for a further 12 months free of charge!
This week’s photo of the City of London was taken from atop the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral as the sun was setting on a gloriously warm summer’s evening. During the winter months, this view can be captured at sunset but it can be rather cold and windy up there which can make it a rather unpleasant way to spend an evening so when I spotted that the cathedral would be opening late each Thursday during the month of August I immediately booked my ticket!
Fujifilm X-T30 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/5th Second | f/5 | ISO160
TOP TIP: Although it costs around £17 online (£20 on the door) to visit the Cathedral, UK taxpayers can gift-aid the cost of the ticket and receive 12 months free access from the time of your first visit. It’s a fantastic deal if you want to visit again within the year.
Photographing the City of London from St Paul’s Cathedral
I also featured this location to shoot from in my recent blog post titled My Top 10 Photography Spots in London. Knowing I wouldn’t be allowed a tripod and space might be a bit tight, I decided to travel light and pack a small bag with the Fujifilm X-T30 and a couple of lenses, including the XF10-24mm I used for this particular shot.
As St Paul’s Cathedral only opens late four times during August, I assumed it might be a bit busy but I could not believe how busy it might get. I arrived for 7 pm and the queue was literally down the street! I was glad I packed light so I could move quickly and climb the 500+ stairs to get to the top without being weighed down too much by my gear. After getting to the top, I made myself as small as I could so other visitors could walk past me as I was shooting.
As the sun was setting and the light levels reduced, the shutter speed started to lengthen so luckily for me, the curve of the ledge allowed me to rest my camera and keep it perfectly still so I was able to continue shooting without the need to up my ISO or open up my aperture too much.
As the city lights switching on, the scene really came alive and I was able to capture this sunset/early blue hour shot with the city lights adding interest in the scene. The last of the sun’s light reflecting off the high-rise buildings and a hint of the blue hour light finishes the photo off nicely. This is easily one of my favourite photos taken so far in 2019.
Why You Should Print your photos
I am a big fan of printing photos as I do believe a tangible print you can hold and enjoy is far and away, the best way to show off your work. It was an easy decision to print this image which I did so along with a few other photos I have taken recently and I must say, although the photo of the print below doesn’t do it justice at all, it looks fantastic in person!
So, if you don’t usually print your photos, I thoroughly recommend you start. There are so many great online photo labs and costs are normally reasonable for paper printing. Please feel free to drop me any questions that might help you kick start your own photo printing journey.
Talk to you soon.
Trevor
This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.
2 Minutes in London | Weekly Photo #18
This week’s photo is a long exposure photo of the London Eye taken on a late summer’s evening in 2018. On top of the story behind the photo, I also share some of my other long exposure articles that will help anyone looking to improve their long exposure technique.
Long exposure photography in London has been a passion of mine for a number of years now. I love the way this technique allows me to capture the changing light, motion and even colour over relatively long periods of time all within a single frame. This can create stunning ethereal photos which allow the viewer to witness a scene in a way they wouldn’t usually see with their own eyes even if they were standing next to me while I captured the image.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF18-55mm | 24mm | 121 Seconds | f/10 | ISO200
Taking a long exposure of the London Eye
This photo was taken in September last year. I chose this location to capture a long exposure of the London Eye as I like the way it allows you to see down the river towards the buildings near St George Wharf in the distance which adds some great depth to the shot. If you time it right, you can avoid the boats that run up and down the river creating a nice simplified, clutter-free look. Although the sky was pretty clear, as the sun went down, some beautiful pastel colours appeared across the sky.
I took this photo with my Fujifilm XT2 and my trusty XF18-55mm. Using my Formatt Hitech 10-stop ND filter, I was able to change this photo from around a 1/8th of a second exposure to 121 seconds.
I have written many blog posts about taking long exposure images including why I do it, how I do it and so on. So, instead of repeating myself once again, I will list some of my most popular posts below for you to read at your leisure. So, if you have a few minutes, grab a coffee, settle in and have a read.
Slowing Time: Why The long Exposure?
How I take Long Exposure Pictures
My Top 5 Long Exposure Locations in London
Lastly, if you haven’t done so already, sign up to my newsletter and you will get a PDF eBook which lists my 10-step guide to take better long exposure photos. Click here to visit my Subscribe Page.
Thanks for dropping by.
Trevor
This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.
On Location Photographing Ghent
In August 2019, I visited Ghent with my family and took my newly purchased Fujifilm X-T30 so this article is part travel blog and part gear review with some photos of the city thrown in for good measure.
Ghent, Gent, Gand, whatever you call this city, one thing is certain, this city is a great place to visit and quite possibly Europe’s best-kept secret. Travellers heading to Belgium for a short break usually head to Brussels (Belgium’s capital city) or Bruges, which is a small and very charming chocolate box city around 45 minutes from Ghent but judging by most of the people I spoke to about my upcoming trip to Ghent, it would normally be followed by the question “Where’s that?”.
Having already visited Bruges in August 2018 and had a great time, my family and I decided to spend another long weekend in Belgium, this time visiting this beautiful medieval city. As we live in the South East of England, Belgium is such a convenient place to visit as it’s only a short drive to the Channel crossing and around 90 minutes’ drive once we had crossed the English Channel. In total, a 4-hour door to door journey. Not too bad at all.
If you missed my “On Location” post covering a previous trip to Bruges I took in 2018, you can find it here: On Location Photographing Bruges.
Fujifilm XT-30 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/640 Second | f/2.8 | ISO160
What photography equipment did I take to Ghent?
This is a photography blog after all. Not long before heading to Ghent, I had retired my Fujifilm X-T10 and purchased the X-T30 as my lightweight alternative to the XT2 workhorse I tend to use on shoots. On this trip, I took both cameras but I only used the XT2 once during a sunrise shoot and used my X-T30 during the day as I thought it would be a good opportunity to really get to know the camera and put it through its paces. Although I didn’t take all of the gear out with me each day, below is the list of kit I took on the trip:
Fujifilm X-T30 Body
Fujifilm XT2 Body
XF10-24mm Lens
XF18-55mm Lens
XF55-200mm Lens
I mentioned above that I had recently retired my X-T10. In fact, I do still have it and one of my daughters decided to use it as her main camera while we were in Ghent. She shot with the 35mm F2 lens on the camera and came away with some fantastic photos of her own.
A little bit about Ghent
Ghent is a port city in the north-west and Flemish region of Belgium situated about an hour’s drive from Brussels and 45 minutes to Bruges. Dating back to around the 7th Century when it’s first two Abbeys were founded, the city flourished to the point that in the 13th Century, it was Europe’s second-largest city north of the Alps, second only to Paris. Now a university city boasting museums, churches and a charming stretch of river, this city has a great mix of historic and modern cultures.
Fujifilm XT-30 | XF18-55mm | 55mm | 1/420 Second | f/4 | ISO160
Instead of documenting our trip chronologically, in this post, I will cover some of the places we visited with some photos and useful information along the way.
Gravensteen Medieval Castle
First up is this charming but brutal looking Gravensteen Castle located along the River Lieve. Also known as the “Castle of the Count”, this 12th century stone castle has all of the usual medieval features you would expect such as a moat, turrets and arrow slits. Built originally as a fortress, over the years it has been used as a courthouse, prison and strangely, even a cotton factory.
Fujifilm XT-30 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/500 Second | f/6.4 | ISO160
If you decide to venture inside the castle, you will find the inside rather bare so I recommend the audio tour. It’s a bit tongue-in-cheek and a little lengthy so allow extra time as you wander the castle but it is the best way to learn all about its history.
Rooftop views of Ghent from Gravensteen Castle
We visited the roof of the castle which provides some great rooftop views of the city. As you can see below, I used some of the arrow slits to frame some of the city’s other buildings.
Fujifilm XT-30 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/850 Second | f/3.6 | ISO160
Along the River Leie (Lys)
Ghent’s city centre is located along the River Leie and it is such a charming stretch of river and between St Michael’s Bridge and Grasbrug, it is particularly popular with the best of the chocolate box architecture. As we wandered around the city, we really enjoyed walking along both the River Leie and offshoot stretch of water names River Lieve (indeed the names are incredibly similar). Parts of the river had a kind of Amsterdam feel with colourful flower baskets and bikes leaning up against the rails.
Fujifilm XT-30 | XF18-55mm | 22mm | 1/1700 Second | f/4.5 | ISO160
Using the Fujifilm X-T30 as a travel camera
As we wandered around, I was glad I chose the Fuji X-T30 as my “walkabout” camera. This small camera that packs quite a punch was equipped with the standard zoom 18-55mm lens which, when combined, felt nice and light whilst capturing some super sharp images. I also had an incredibly light backpack as I decided to only take one other lens with me from the hotel. Using the X-T30 takes so much friction out of the photography process as the tactile controls and manual dials mean I can compose and adjust settings really quickly. With Fujifilm really upping their focus game with this camera, taking photos while walking about was nice and easy and my family didn’t have to stop too often while I was taking photos.
Fujifilm XT-30 | XF18-55mm | 55mm | 1/1,000 Second | f/4 | ISO160
Saint Michael’s Bridge and Saint Michael's Church
The building of St. Michael’s Church started around 1440 and continued into the 16th century whereby 1566 two levels of the tower were completed. Due to religious conflicts, construction stopped until the 17th Century when in 1623 building restarted to repair and complete the tower. Although a design for the tower was proposed, funds dried up and the tower was never built leaving an odd-looking flat roof where the tower should be. I took a photo of the church from atop the Belfry of Ghent which you can see below showing the church and its flat-roofed tower. To me, it doesn’t look right at all as I am used to these types of religious buildings having impressively tall spires and not at all flat roofs.
Fujifilm XT-30 | XF18-55mm | 55mm | 1/5th Second | f/4 | ISO400
Built-in 1910, the neo-gothic St. Michael’s Bridge is probably the most popular bridge in Ghent. Providing great views of this beautiful stretch of river as well as an iconic view of Ghent’s three towers, it’s arguably the best vantage point in the city. I cover the three towers further on in this blog.
Fujifilm XT-30 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/2,200 Second | f/4 | ISO160
St. Nicholas' Church (Sint-Niklaaskerk)
I mentioned above that Ghent has three towers that dominate the city skyline and St. Nicholas’ Church has one of them. This is the first church we ventured into as when we travel, we like to experience both the external and internal architectural details historic buildings like this have to offer. It was also a good opportunity to put my X-T30 through its low-light paces. More on that below.
In the early 13th century, the building of this gothic church was started and continued throughout the remainder of the century. It also houses an impressive and quite famous organ built by the French organ builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll. There is a photo of the organ below and although I wasn’t aware at the time of its importance, I certainly remember how striking it was when I saw it at the time.
Fujifilm XT-30 | XF18-55mm | 30mm | 1/950 Second | f/6.4 | ISO160
While wandering inside the church photographing the ornate details and impressive architecture, it gave me an opportunity to test the low-light capabilities of the X-T30 camera. Using both the optical stabilisation in the XF18-55 lens and increasing the ISO, I was able to keep my shutter speed high enough to avoid blur whilst handholding the camera and retaining enough quality in the image. I would regularly up the ISO to 1600 or even 3200 and the photos still had low noise levels and were really quite good.
Belfry of Ghent (Het Belfort van Gent)
The second of the “Three Towers” I will feature in this article is the Belfry of Ghent which is the middle of the three towers in the photo below. It’s a 91-meter tall medieval tower constructed in the 14th century. Over the years, the Belfry was used as a lookout tower and more famously, the city’s bell tower that kept time for the locals for many years.
We climbed the tower, well, I say we climbed but we got the lift when we were about halfway up due to some little legs getting tired. As we climbed there were a few rooms to both rest and learn about the tower’s history. I took a few photos of the bells as we climbed but the real treat was when we arrived at the top of the tower. The views! You can take some great rooftop photos of the city including a nice view of the St. Nicholas' Church from the rear which you can see in one of the photos below.
One word of warning. It is single file around the top of the bell tower so there is not a lot of time to take photos before you feel compelled to move forward to avoid holding other people up. If you want to spend some time up there, you may have to walk around the top a few times to get all the shots you want.
Fujifilm XT-30 | XF18-55mm | 55mm | 1/500 Second | f/4 | ISO160
Saint Bavo Cathedral (Sint Baafskathedraal)
Last but not least of the Three Towers is Saint Bavo’s Cathedral which stands just two metres shorter than the Belfry of Ghent I wrote about in the previous chapter. Although construction began on this gothic church in 1274, subsequent construction projects took place throughout the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries.
Personally, I thought this church has the most impressive interior of those we visited. The ceiling and alter alone are just beautiful. I really enjoyed walking around playing with the tactile knobs and dials on my X-T30 camera locking in the settings needed to take pictures in the low light conditions. Again, I was really happy with how this powerful little camera performed.
Fujifilm XT-30 | XF18-55mm | 18mm | 1/3,000 Second | f/2.8 | ISO160
..and finally, the beer, trams and chocolate!
No visit to Ghent could be complete without visiting the many chocolate shops and drinking the local beer. We had some frequent pit-stops as we wandered around and the local beer went down a treat. If you ever visit Ghent, try the Leffe Blond. It’s my favourite and can also be purchased in the major UK supermarkets in the craft beer aisle.
As far as our kids were concerned, visiting the chocolate shops was probably their favourite part of the trip. They liked to wander into the shop in hope that they would be handing out samples. Of course, once we had tried every type of chocolate on offer, we had to buy some!! It was delicious!
While in the chocolate shops, I opened up the aperture on the camera as far as I could which allowed me to capture sharp images handheld in the low light and provided some nice bokeh too!
Fujifilm XT-30 | XF18-55mm | 33mm | 1/150 Second | f/3.6 | ISO160
Getting around on the trams is super easy and, in my opinion, more comfortable than the buses and taxis. It’s also free to travel on public transport when you purchase a Ghent Citycard making it both convenient and cheap!
I’m really pleased I took my Fujifilm X-T30, as this small, lightweight powerhouse of a camera never missed a beat and took some great quality photos. That coupled with the analogue buttons and dials I find so useful when changing settings on the fly, I was able to focus on taking photos rather than constantly fiddling with the camera’s menu. Battery life seems to improve as mirrorless camera technology moves forward and I was able to last almost all day on a single charge but I had a few spares just in case.
Why you should visit Ghent
Hopefully, you got a good taste of what Ghent has to offer from this article but it’s by no means complete. In the few days, we had to spend in this city, we saw and did enough to feel satisfied we had gotten under the skin of the city and didn’t leave feeling we missed out but there were, however, many other places to visit I didn’t cover such as the art museums and city parks but this time round we didn’t have enough time to get to them all. Maybe that’s a good excuse for another visit in the not too distant future!
On a final note, I mentioned earlier in this article, I had my Fujifilm XT2 with me while in Ghent and used it for an early morning sunrise shoot which I will be sharing soon in a followup post in the next couple of weeks so stay tuned for that. Alternatively, signup to be notified of all website updates here.
Cheers!!
Fujifilm XT-10 | XF35mm F2 | 35mm | 1/640 Second | f/3.6 | ISO200
Illuminated River | Weekly Photo #17
This week’s photo is a London cityscape taken at night showcasing the new light installation at London Bridge which was recently installed as a part of the new Illuminated River project.
With the summer ending and the nights drawing in, I’m looking forward to getting out and taking more photos of London at night. This photo was taken a few weeks ago as I wandered the north bank of the River Thames in the hunt for new compositions of London’s iconic structures. As I wandered towards London Bridge, I remembered it had recently had its lights updated as a part of the Illuminated River project (more on that below). Architecturally, London Bridge is a little underwhelming and it’s not always easy to get an interesting photo of it but I have seen this composition before and with the Shard in the background and the bridge creating the obligatory lead-in line, I had my composition locked in.
On to the tripod went my Fujifilm XT2 and wide-angle 10-24mm lens. I then waited for the lights to change so I could capture all those vibrant colours along the side of the bridge. I used an aperture of f/10 to help keep the image sharp from front to back but also, it helped me create these great starbursts throughout the image. The bright white starburst that seems to be floating above the bridge, that would be the moon. Pretty cool, right?
Fujifilm XT2 | XF10-24mm | 15mm | 6 Seconds | f/10 | ISO200
The Illuminated River project
There is an interesting project happening along the River Thames called Illuminated River. This is a long term, multi-year project to roll out new, modern, low power light installations across 15 bridges in central London meaning not only will all 15 bridges get a fresh new look at night, but it will also be more environmentally friendly to run them. So far, 4 bridges are complete including London Bridge above. This cohesive art installation will stretch 2.5 miles along the river, making it the longest of its kind in the world and having looked over the proposed designs on their website here, I think it is going to be a fantastic addition to this great city.
Photographing London Cityscapes at Night
In recent years there seems to be a more conscious effort to implement new and upgrade existing lighting schemes across the city. I guess this is helped by the emerging brighter, low power technologies the city architects and designers can take advantage of but whatever the reason, the results mean we can now capture some fantastic night-time cityscapes across the city.
Until next time.
This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.
La Piazza Desolata | Weekly Photo #16
Have you ever wanted to experience a city like Venice and have it all to yourself? In this article, I talk about capturing this sunrise shot at St Mark’s Square and I also list 3 reasons why I think everyone should try to venture out before sunrise when visiting a new, normally busy location.
This is a very empty St Mark’s Square in Venice. I had just completed the 10-minute walk back from the Ponte dell’Accademia Bridge where I had captured the classic view of the Grand Canal at sunrise and I found myself in a very quiet St Mark’s Square. It feels both odd and exhilarating to be in a place on your own which is normally overrun by thousands of people and I wasn’t going to miss this opportunity to capture such a beautiful city in this unique way.
I share many more photos of my trip to Venice in my two-part blog post:
Fujifilm XT-10 | XF18-55mm | 34mm | 6 Seconds | f/8 | ISO200
After a short while wandering the piazza, photographing the ornate architecture and soaking up every ounce of the history as possible, I started to head back towards the Bacino San Marco. I noticed the sun lighting up the tower that belongs to the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore across the water, basking in gloriously warm sunlight and with the Lion of Venice up on the column appearing to stand and welcome the new day, it was an image I had to capture.
With such a large space in front of me, it was inevitable that one or two people would now be in the shot so I decided to use my Formatt-Hitech 10-stop ND filter to create a long exposure and as long as those one or two people kept moving, they would be rendered invisible in the scene. That’s exactly what happened and with the Fujifilm X-T10 (my camera of choice at the time), XF18-55mm lens mounted on the tripod and my settings locked in, I went about capturing the scene in front of me.
It took a few tries to ensure I didn’t capture any people, but I got there in the end and the resulting photo is one of my favourites from that entire trip.
Whenever I visit a new city, I make a point of venturing out at the break of dawn to enjoy the unique experience of having a normally busy location all to myself. Whether you take a camera or not, I have listed three reasons why everyone should give it a try.
3 reasons to photograph a city at sunrise
#1 You get the best light of the day.
Ok, this is a subjective one but to me, there is something quite magical about the light at sunrise. I love a good sunset like everybody else but with sunrises harder to capture because all of the getting up early nonsense, it seems just a little bit more special when out experiencing it. That coupled with the long shadows and warm sunlight, it can be such a beautiful time to be out with the camera.
#2 You get the whole place to yourself
As I mentioned above, if you like photographing iconic locations then you will no doubt have to point the camera upwards or include the crowds of people in your photos unless you visit early in the morning. Most tourist hotspots will start to get busy just after breakfast as the hotels usually have set times and tend not to serve much before 7 am. This means any time up until 8 am will be the best time to capture the morning light without lots of people in the shot.
#3 You get to do more.
Whenever I travel with my family, I will always schedule in a sunrise shoot so I can get my photography fix in before breakfast. Sunrise is a perfect time to focus on photography especially when travelling with friends and family. It enables you to get a few hours of dedicated photography before meeting back up to spend a full day doing other activities not necessarily related to photography.
I hope you found that useful and as ever, feel free to leave a comment about your own sunrise experiences in the comments section below.
Until next time.
Trevor
This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.