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Llandudno Pier

Posted by
Ian Bramham (Manchester, United Kingdom) on 13 April 2011 in Landscape & Rural and Portfolio.

Another long exposure photo of Llandudno Pier from my recent photoshoot in north Wales with John Leech and Mike Spriggs.

NIKON D700 15 second F/16.0 ISO 200 16 mm (35mm equiv.)

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.

Marie LC from Entre montagnes et Bretagne, France

As usual an exposure time perfectly chosen as a black and white magnificent

13 Apr 2011 5:28am

@Marie LC: Thanks Marie!

Richard from Duns, United Kingdom

Beautifully done Ian!

13 Apr 2011 6:34am

@Richard: Thanks Richard!

Punit from Somewhere in, India

The contrasts of the blacks of the foreground and the whites of the background makes this capture wonderful. I read your article on long exposure and how you go about it in general on flickr - was very insightful. Thanks for sharing! Btw, it was an article over a year ago - are there things you do differently now since then (as far as general workflow for long exposure is concerned)?

13 Apr 2011 8:11am

@Punit: Thanks Punit and I'm pleased you found the article on my website useful!

Since getting the new camera I've changed things very slightly. The D700 uses a much more complex Nikon MC-36 wired controller than the infra red wireless Ml-L3 that I used with the D40. The disadvantage is that that it's more complicated and it needs plugging into the camera body. The advantage is that I don't need a separate stop watch any more as the MC-36 is programmeable.

The other main change with the D700 is that it's imperative that the viewfinder eyepiece is closed off (there's a dedicated metal shutter for this) during long exposures otherwise light will enter resulting in ugly streaking across the resulting photo. On my D40 which has a much smaller and dimmer viewfinder it didn't seem to matter.

The rest is basically the same on the technical side of things, although these days I try and use the shortest possible exposure that will give the effect that I'm after. An example would be that a couple of years ago I would often go for exposures of, say, 8 minutes whereas now I'll use 2 minutes if it gives me the effect I'm after and there's less chance of something going wrong. Also it allows me to take a few more long exposure photos in the time available :-)

missparis from PARIS, France

It is really very beautiful

13 Apr 2011 8:52am

Punit from Somewhere in, India

Thanks, Ian for the detailed response! The point about the viewfinder on D700 is interesting. I've never had or operated the D700 - D40 is all I've been living with and now it makes me wonder, despite the D40 viewfinder being smaller and dimmer - would be interesting if some (even though less) light enters in through it.

Thanks a lot for taking out the time to share.

13 Apr 2011 9:01am

Scene by Sharon Photography from Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Another beauitful image! I especially love the softness on the water - beautiful!

13 Apr 2011 10:10am

Ralph Jones from Detroit, United States

This is such a beautiful B&W!

13 Apr 2011 11:22am

Photographs by M.E. from San Francisco, United States

this is GORGEOUS!

13 Apr 2011 1:56pm

Jason Politte from Conway, AR, United States

Lovely monochrome!

13 Apr 2011 2:26pm

Curly from South Shields, United Kingdom

Yes masterfully done Ian, just wondering if any additional work was required to mark the difference between sea and sky? I.E. any careful burning there?

13 Apr 2011 3:41pm

@Curly: Hi Curly, it's 2 weeks since I processed this one but I do remember some of the processing steps that I took: I did darken the top of the sky a little and there's an edge vignette; I also added contrast to the water to bring out the reflections of the pier which will have lightened the water. The most difficult part however was the foreground rocks and deciding just how dark or light to leave them. I didn't want them to dominate and distract from the pier but I didn't want lose all the detail by making them too dark and flat.

For me, the main issue in B&W processing of photos like this one is the difficulty of trying to strike a happy balance between getting a photo that has impact yet which also retains some subtelty.

Another of the things I really enjoy in B&W photos of this type is the balance between the light and dark areas of the photo. The light areas usually hold the key to the photo as that's where the eye naturally gravitates but they depend on the darker areas to achieve their impact. Both are just as important as each other unless your photo is deliberately high or low key.

sunstone_maria from California, United States

gorgeous!! brilliant!!!! Another masterpiece in your portfolio Ian!!

13 Apr 2011 5:19pm

Anna.C from LA ROCHELLE, France

I'm fond of this pier and your long exposure ! great work !

13 Apr 2011 6:06pm

Sergei Z from Türi, Estonia

Beautiful capture and it's perfect in b&w.

13 Apr 2011 7:37pm

DarkElf from Perth, Australia

fantastic composition here! love the flat, smooth surface of the water!

14 Apr 2011 2:43am

Joao Mourao from Portugal

Magnificent, as only you can do it.

14 Apr 2011 6:14am

pixie from Mumbai, India

this is absolutely picture perfect! what time of the day was this taken?

14 Apr 2011 12:30pm

@pixie: Hi pixie, the photo was taken at around the time of sunset about a month ago. (it was taken just after this photo: http://ianbramham.aminus3.com/image/2011-03-25.html )

Hoshisato from Ealing, United Kingdom

Excellent, I start to appreciate these long exposures more and more!

19 Apr 2011 10:56am

Chris Franklin from Pretoria, South Africa

Lovely tones and good B&W processing!

19 Apr 2011 1:17pm

Adrian from Wakefield, United Kingdom

beautiful work.

20 Apr 2011 7:34pm

Rayak from Paris, France

Your long exposure photo are splendid, thanks for editing the exifs, very interesting. Superb portfolio!!!

6 May 2011 11:24am

NIKON D700
15 second
F/16.0
ISO 200
16 mm (35mm equiv.)