Ian Bramham's Photoblog
The Bridge
Posted by Ian Bramham (Manchester, United Kingdom) on 12 October 2008 in Architecture and Portfolio.
Another shot of the bridge in France that joins the Ile de Re with La Rochelle.
This photo was a 30 minute single exposure using my new 10 stop nd filter. This is the maximum that is possible with my Nikon D40. I wasn't sure what to expect....it's underexposed as it's difficult to calculate exposure at these extremes but I still like it.
Like what you see here and are interested in photographic composition?.....the blog section of my website now has a complete set of 5 articles covering my personal approach to the subject: Ian Bramham Photography - Blog
For purchasing high quality archival prints of any of these photos you can send me an email by clicking here or by going to my website Ian Bramham - Fine Art Photography where prices are listed in the gallery sections under each individual photo.
Links to the websites of other photographer friends (and the world famous Michael Kenna!) whose work I admire:
Michael Kenna
Hugo Poon
John Leech
Ian Smith
Mike Spriggs
@shoti: Thanks Shoti!
@Daily Phototherapy: Thanks very much...I'm really pleased you liked it!
@Ana Lúcia: Thanks Ana!
@Oly B: Thanks Oly!
@Hoshisato: Thanks Hoshisato!.....I wasn't sure about the underexposure and the amount of black.
@Laura Vink: Hi Laura!....yes it's 30 minutes which feels like a long time to wait besides a camera waiting for it to take a single photo. I was lucky it was such a beautiful spot and that I was there on holiday with no real time pressures.
@Ted: Thanks Ted...this was my Sigma 10-20 and even this lens struggled to get the bridge in shot.
@Giovanni: Thanks Giovanni!
@zOOm: Thanks Florence!....I still don't have my normal computer back so posting of photos is likely to be patchy for a while.
@Daryl: Thanks Daryl.....it took me 5 nights to get this photo. It's so difficult to get the exposure right at these extremes and at this time of day when the light is changing so quickly.
I started the exposure just as it was turning to night but underestimated the increasing darkness during the half hour exposure - it should really have been another stop brighter at 1 hour (but my D40 won't do that) or better still at iso 400.
@Mirko Herzner: Thanks Mirko....it's extremely difficult to correctly judge exposure at this time of day just as it's getting dark so I was pleased to get anything at all from it.....an attempt the previous evening had to led to my tripod being overtaken by the incoming tide which moved one of the legs!
@melhiug: Thanks melhuig....technically speaking, this is by far the most difficult photo I've taken so far with my D40 as it took 5 attempts on 5 separate evenings to get this. With such a long exposure you only get one go at it per night. (with noise reduction activated in-camera the time is doubled to 1 hour before you can use the camera again.)
@Batkoï: Thanks Batkoi!
@amy: Thanks Amy....I can't tell just how difficult it was to get this photo. It took 5 separate goes on 5 successive evenings because so many things went wrong. The previous night my tripod got overtaken by the incoming tide which undermined one of the legs :-) on another evening the attempt had to be abandoned due to a sudden torrential rainstorm....the list goes on.
With in-camera noise reduction activated my D40 takes 1 hour before it can be used again (1/2 hr for the photo and another 1/2 hr with a blank screen while the camera deducts purple noise from the sensor heating up during the shot) so I had plenty of time to talk to some local fishermen and admire the view!
@MadScientist: Thanks very much!
@Rob: Thanks Rob!....well I had to lighten the image a little in post processing even to get what you see here. Overall I would say it should have had at least 1/2 a stop extra exposure (which is not possible with my D40) or a higher iso such as 400.
As I used the ML-L3 Nikon remote the setting I used in camera was the one just past 'bulb' and it's represented on the LCD by a series of dashes -----
@Laurent: Thanks Laurent....I'm really pleased you liked the mood of the photo as that's what it's all about with this type of photo isn't it!
@Laurie: Thanks Laurie!
@Tilala: Thanks Tilula! (although I'm not sure what N&B is I presume it's something nice :-)
@navin harish: Thanks Navin!
@GJC: Thanks GJC!...... I'm very happy with this photo and it's one of my favourites although I've had to lighten the shadows somewhat in post processing.
I guess it was about 1/2 a stop underexposed; in other words it should have been a 45 minute exposure not 30 minute or else I should have used a higher iso than 200.
As you can see, the post processing is a little clumsy on this so I may try re-processing this when I get my normal laptop back with the CS3 that is installed on it.
@Michael Skorulski: Thanks very much Michael!
@IanSmith: Thanks Ian....as you wil see from some of my replies above it took 5 successive evenings to get this shot because of various problems such as my tripod being overtaken and undermined by the incoming tide during the long exposure time.
It was lovely though to be able to stand on the water's edge for half an hour as the camera did it's thing while I watched the tide and the light change as night drew in over the bay.
I'm working with a temporary computer and processing software at the moment so this is a bit clumsy.....hopefully I'll be able to do a better job with CS3 when I eventually get my usual laptop back.
It would be great if one day there was a demand for limited edition prints....at the moment I'm just trying to keep 'improving' - I'm not sure if that's the right word but this particular photo has felt like one of those moments when you feel something shift inside.
@Disoriented: Thanks very much for the support....that's very kind of you!
@Michael: Thanks Michael....I used a very wide angle lens (Sigma 10-20) to get this photo which tends to dramatise perspective in a way that I really like.
@LGB: Thanks very much LGB!
@Polydactyle: Thanks very much for that...I appreciate it!
