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Westminster Sunset
Westminster Sunset
Nuzzer


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Free Study 2007-11 (Advanced Editing V)
Camera: Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT
Lens: Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS
Location: London, England
Date: Nov 10, 2007
Aperture: f/8
ISO: 800
Shutter: 1/60 second
Galleries: Landscape, Architecture
Date Uploaded: Nov 13, 2007

 Lots of editing to get this look. I planned to get a sunset with the London Eye in the frame but with the sun going down so early this time of year I was running out of time to get there. I stopped and decided to use Westminster instead. The title is a loose reference to the Kinks song "Waterloo Sunset".

Editing Steps:
Convert from RAW in exposures from -3 to +3
HDR
Tone map for the dramatic sky
Tone map differently for the buildings
Lay over copy over the other in Photoshop
Clone out elements such as a crane and things in water
Mask in second copy of image to lighten the buildings
Brightness +17, Contrast +18
Dodge/Burn layer for building
On Sky & Water
* Saturation +15
* Colour Balance 27,0,0
Brightness +2, Contrast +9
Cloning out tents by waterside and halos on edges
Dodge/Burn layer again
Contrast +9 on buildings
Flatten
Skew image to get buildings looking vertical
Noise reduction
Resize
Add border
USM
Save for web

Post Challenge:
My first Honerable Mention, cool. It would have been a little funny if I'd got another yellow though! Anyway, to clarify some things about the image that some commenters made:
More of the bridge isn't in the frame because it was filled with tourists. I also had to cut of the left end of the buildings because that's all I could get with 24mm. I didn't have my 18-55mm with me. I've since purchased a 10-22mm so I won't have that excuse anymore.

It's quite funny that on two visits to London I've managed to get two Free Study Top 10's from the same bridge, just shooting from different ends and different directions on the river:


Thanks for the votes!

Statistics
Place: 4 out of 393
Avg (all users): 7.0968
Avg (commenters): 8.1304
Avg (participants): 7.0789
Avg (non-participants): 7.1463
Views since voting: 5451
Views during voting: 304
Votes: 155
Comments: 31
Favorites: 20 (view)

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AuthorThread
 12/09/2007 02:05:56 PM
Congratulations teammate! I knew this would score well. :)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/08/2007 07:35:48 PM
This is a very nice example of what HDR is good for, wonderful capture and congrats on the high finish!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/08/2007 05:39:03 PM
Congrats on your 4th place with this beautiful shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/08/2007 09:40:08 AM
Very nice HDR technique. The sky is ridiculous.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/08/2007 12:20:54 AM
Congrats! The HDR editing is darn near flawless, which means it was destined not to win. You should have been more sloppy with it.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
12/07/2007 06:47:51 PM
The sky is beautiful! The light and texture on the building is perfect as well.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/07/2007 02:20:37 PM
The lighting in the skies does quite seem to match the lighting on parliament. Still a very striking shot!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/07/2007 12:23:12 AM
Gorgeous!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/06/2007 07:17:52 PM
Seriously impressive!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/05/2007 09:03:47 PM
neat
looks like a video game
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/05/2007 04:08:31 PM
Great sky, great detail, the bit of bridge makes it for me.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/04/2007 02:22:17 PM
My favorite of the challenge. 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/03/2007 11:10:59 PM
WOW ! 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/03/2007 10:07:13 PM
The buildings are a great, delightfully British understatement here. Great processing. The sharpness in the buildings is just right. 8
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/03/2007 08:55:10 PM
not a set up you see every day. must have been a heated discussion to create a sky that dramatic :) The only real thing is that you can teall where you had your gard ND.May be with some careful dodging you could have brought the towers back? Lovely picture.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/03/2007 05:31:29 PM
nice detail on the building
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/02/2007 09:22:06 PM
Well, this image is excellent, the balance of bringing the details out of the shadows and still not blowing out the sky is really well done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/02/2007 07:50:43 PM
good use of tonemapping. I love the sky
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/02/2007 12:31:51 PM
Stunning photo. Such a dramatic sky. Excellent detail on the architecture.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/02/2007 11:35:41 AM
Awesome colors!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/02/2007 09:54:42 AM
I have witnessed this view many many times and this is beautiful. One of my favorite shots in this challenge, bumped to 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/02/2007 06:39:02 AM
Marac? good processing, like the burning skies. had included a bit more of the bridge, perspective is a bit lame
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/02/2007 05:25:09 AM
Ooooooooooh very interesting... very very firey! Love your work on tthe post processing completed the whole shot
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/02/2007 03:21:40 AM
I love the overall picture. Strong colors, good choice of a subject, the sky is crazy. But for me the left side of the picture seems incomplete as it it cropped unexpectedly.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/02/2007 12:40:48 AM
sky is nice but maybe a little over the top, overall very good though
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/01/2007 10:33:37 PM
I think I am in love....eh, that's amazing
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/01/2007 07:49:45 PM
Amazing sky.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/01/2007 03:34:50 PM
certainly has impact. Not sure its good impact. For me it is too overprocessed and unreal (intended?) Not the best composition either. 7
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/01/2007 02:13:23 PM
fricken awesome. I love the sky, the sharpness.. It's perfect.. Well done. 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/01/2007 12:17:03 AM
hot damn... 10..
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 12/01/2007 12:08:53 AM
very nice, great colors and composition
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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