Big Ben in Blue Photo

Photographer’s Note

I wasn’t lucky during my week in London, as it was raining all the time. At least, even when you have some milky clouds all day long, you can still achieve one or two better images by shooting when the sun goes down.

Whatever the weather, the blue hour deliver...

So I use one of these night to shoot The Clock Tower, popularly known as Big Ben, however this name actually belongs to the clock's main bell.

Big Ben, officially known as the Great Bell of Westminster, is the largest bell in the tower. The Great Bell, weighs 13 metric tonnes and is 2.2 metres high. After the first casting in 1856, the bell was given a test ring and broke in half, resulting in it being recast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. With the bell recast it was installed into the clock tower, but once again a crack formed. To prevent further damage the bell is rotated and the main hammer has been reduced in weight.

nicole80, barrufeto_77, Floydian, khafes, luisafonso, besnard, asajernigan, PixelTerror, pasternak, bibiweb trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

nicole80 (2162) 2006-12-12 5:12

Salut André,
Tu as choisi la bonne heure pour mettre en valeur Big Ben.
Les couleurs sont bien saturées !!
Dommage que le haut du clocher soit coupé !
A bientôt,
Nicole

barrufeto_77 (25897) 2006-12-12 5:12

Hi Andre.

If you took this pictures in London, I'm impatient about the the Barcelona's pictures.

Excellent colours and sharpness!

My compliments!

Rgs, Oscar

P-S-I-G (24482) 2006-12-12 5:17

Salut André,
C'est parfait : le ciel n'est pas trop sombre à cette bonne heure bleue, la tour est bien placée dans la composition, c'est net.
Amicalement,
Fabrice

Floydian (30970) 2006-12-12 5:29

Hi Andre,
A very tight crop, but i like it a lot. Detail and colour toning are excellent, just like the shadows on the Big Ben. although the weather was not good, this one is really nice.
Regards, Henk

stefanocer (10410) 2006-12-12 5:30

The shot is great , concerning exposure colours andd sharpness is really fine , in my opinion just a bit too thight in respect to Tower , well done.
I also make night shots if you want take a look .
Stefano.

sharpi (883) 2006-12-12 5:30 [Comment]

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khafes (303) 2006-12-12 5:33

Hi Andre,
Very nice picture of Big Ben, i taste the colors and the details.
Congratulations,
Regards from Portugal,
Paulo Monteiro

luisafonso (858) 2006-12-12 5:44

The colors are amazing Andre! I love the blue hour but that greenish yellow above the Big Ben is so good! I love your crop here. It may bother some people, but I find it very effective here. The clock gets all the preeminence here and I like it precisely the way it is. Great!

besnard (30968) 2006-12-12 5:47

Bonjour André
Joli cliché nocturne de cette si célèbre horloge. C'est juste dommage que le haut du clocher soit coupé.
Merci pour le partage et bonne journée.
Nicole

Pictures_Collec (385) 2006-12-12 6:05

Hello André,

Belle image. Les couleurs sont superbes et bien saturées. L'exposition est bonne.
Je regrette juste le haut de la tour tronqué.
Merci pour le partage;

Serge

asajernigan (14236) 2006-12-12 6:58

Andre,
Great color and lighting with good sharpness. I wish you had not cut the top of the tower off, it distracts from a otherwise fine photo.
TFS,
Asa

ixtanbul7 (447) 2006-12-12 10:16

Hello Andre.
I see u are very good in night shots. I like this one very much. I was there last month but it looks realy excellent in your photo. TFS

euryan (8351) 2006-12-12 13:21

It's great to see you posting again on a regular basis. You truly understand how to use the blue hour to get the most color out of a scene. These architecture shots have been especially good, with a nice balance of artificial light on the structure and great natural light in the sky. Very inspirational. I love the compo here.

PixelTerror (86604) 2006-12-13 4:29

Salut Cousin,
Ah le gros Ben, la British Eiffel Tower... Joliiii pour la blue hour et l'exposition sur les structures du Ben himself le rendu est tres chouette, et au vu des conditions que tu mentionnes (et qui je te le rappelle sont typiques du lieu) t'as bien fait d'attendre a l'abri au pub que le soir tombe. Par contre ca m'ennuie un peu de te dire que tes references historiques sont un peu decalees, la guillotine a ete inventee par les Francais et non pas par nos meilleurs ennemis les Anglais ;-))
Sinon j'aime bien ta quote "Whatever the weather, the blue hour deliver..." meme si pour mieux faire la rime tu as un peu massacre la grand mere... Je me la garde sous le coude, elle pourrait me servir un jour !
Bonne journee,
Jean-Yves

pasternak (13502) 2006-12-13 9:53

Yeah, the blue hour is a faithful friend; as we see on the clock, it is 16:30, blue hour comes really early in November... This is a really nice close-up of a famous landmark; I really like the contrast of warm and cold colours, and especially - the small tower silouettes on the right.

Cheers
Alexander

bibiweb (8) 2006-12-25 13:04

Salut André,
En jetant un rapide coup d'oeil à ta galerie pour essayer de rattraper le temps perdu en mon absence, mon oeil a immédiatement été accroché par celle-ci... blue hour oblige!
OK, le haut de la tour est tronqué. Soit. Mais en ce qui concerne le reste: les teintes, la gestion de la lumière et la netteté de l'ensemble, je trouve que c'est un travail superbe et je suis surprise que cette image n'ait pas attiré plus de commentaires.
Grâce au décalage horaire, il n'est pas encore trop tard pour te souhaiter de bien profiter en ce jour de Noël! ;o)
Amicalement, Bibi