Otto Berkeley
Electrify
Back in January, annual passes to the Shard's viewing gallery became available to 2,016 people at a price of £20.16. I was fortunate enough to obtain one, and since then have used the unlimited access to make repeated visits to the Shard's 69th and 72nd floors, photographing a variety of sunsets and nighttime views of the city as the seasons and weather gradually changed over the past six months.
While the Shard's promotional material proudly (and rightly) boasts about the spectacular 360-degree views its gallery offers, it glosses over the key challenges for photographers: no tripods are allowed, and the reflections in the reinforced glass are so intense that the view back into the gallery itself is often clearer than the view outside. This doesn't make shooting impossible, though. I've slowly gotten used to using my satchel and a few solid books to steady the camera, and when positioned correctly it's possible to dodge many of the reflections with the right focal length and crop.
This image was taken on a chilly February evening, when the skies were clear and visibility was exceptionally good. The favourable weather brought a significant crowd up to the viewing gallery, which helped to obscure the majority of the reflected lights from inside the viewing gallery and allowed me to capture a clear view north of the Shard, looking across the Thames towards the city's financial district and all of North London in the distance. I'm often amazed by the clarity and sharpness the D800 offers -- even through 12mm reinforced glass -- but when I began editing this image I discovered that it was possible to make out people standing at the counterpart viewing gallery at the top of the Walkie Talkie building across the river.
I used a high ISO to ensure the sharpest possible image while my camera was perched on my bag, but also to reduce the shutter time needed to capture several exposures of a low-light image before the people standing behind me had a chance to move away and reveal reflections in the glass. The final result is a blend of seven exposures via luminosity masking, with particular emphasis on preserving highlights in the buildings and bringing out the detail in shadowy streets below. It was important for me to retain as clean and noise-free a finish as possible, especially given the high ISO, so post-processing beyond this was kept to a minimum. I shifted towards a cooler finish using Colour Balance and Curves adjustments, then a applied a soft Gradient Map set to Soft Light and offset this with a Solid Colour adjustment set to Exclusion. This, along with a sparing amount of Dynamic Contrast in Colour Efex Pro, helped to bring out the shadow detail from the brighter exposures to just the right amount.
Besides the breathtaking view, I always marvel at the scale conveyed from this vantage point. The final crop for this image includes the tip of the Monument Building at the bottom left of the frame, where I've previously photographed the opposite view looking towards South London, as well as the spires of St Mary-at-Hill Church and Christ Church, Spitalfields; buildings which were towering giants in their day, now dwarfed by the immense size of the skyscrapers emerging around them. While there's much to be said for the claim that London's previous skyline is being wiped out by high-rise developments, it's also difficult to resist the vibrant energy and sheer spectacle of this labyrinthine view.
You can also connect with me on Facebook, 500px, Google+ and Instagram.
Electrify
Back in January, annual passes to the Shard's viewing gallery became available to 2,016 people at a price of £20.16. I was fortunate enough to obtain one, and since then have used the unlimited access to make repeated visits to the Shard's 69th and 72nd floors, photographing a variety of sunsets and nighttime views of the city as the seasons and weather gradually changed over the past six months.
While the Shard's promotional material proudly (and rightly) boasts about the spectacular 360-degree views its gallery offers, it glosses over the key challenges for photographers: no tripods are allowed, and the reflections in the reinforced glass are so intense that the view back into the gallery itself is often clearer than the view outside. This doesn't make shooting impossible, though. I've slowly gotten used to using my satchel and a few solid books to steady the camera, and when positioned correctly it's possible to dodge many of the reflections with the right focal length and crop.
This image was taken on a chilly February evening, when the skies were clear and visibility was exceptionally good. The favourable weather brought a significant crowd up to the viewing gallery, which helped to obscure the majority of the reflected lights from inside the viewing gallery and allowed me to capture a clear view north of the Shard, looking across the Thames towards the city's financial district and all of North London in the distance. I'm often amazed by the clarity and sharpness the D800 offers -- even through 12mm reinforced glass -- but when I began editing this image I discovered that it was possible to make out people standing at the counterpart viewing gallery at the top of the Walkie Talkie building across the river.
I used a high ISO to ensure the sharpest possible image while my camera was perched on my bag, but also to reduce the shutter time needed to capture several exposures of a low-light image before the people standing behind me had a chance to move away and reveal reflections in the glass. The final result is a blend of seven exposures via luminosity masking, with particular emphasis on preserving highlights in the buildings and bringing out the detail in shadowy streets below. It was important for me to retain as clean and noise-free a finish as possible, especially given the high ISO, so post-processing beyond this was kept to a minimum. I shifted towards a cooler finish using Colour Balance and Curves adjustments, then a applied a soft Gradient Map set to Soft Light and offset this with a Solid Colour adjustment set to Exclusion. This, along with a sparing amount of Dynamic Contrast in Colour Efex Pro, helped to bring out the shadow detail from the brighter exposures to just the right amount.
Besides the breathtaking view, I always marvel at the scale conveyed from this vantage point. The final crop for this image includes the tip of the Monument Building at the bottom left of the frame, where I've previously photographed the opposite view looking towards South London, as well as the spires of St Mary-at-Hill Church and Christ Church, Spitalfields; buildings which were towering giants in their day, now dwarfed by the immense size of the skyscrapers emerging around them. While there's much to be said for the claim that London's previous skyline is being wiped out by high-rise developments, it's also difficult to resist the vibrant energy and sheer spectacle of this labyrinthine view.
You can also connect with me on Facebook, 500px, Google+ and Instagram.