Bond Street.........James Bond Street

Bond Street, James Bond Street

With the release of the latest Bond film Skyfall being this month (February 2013), London's Bond Street underground station was done up as one big advert for the release.

I felt like a bit of a spy myself trying to get this shot, above, without being seen , I did want it without any people but this is such a busy station I think I could have been there all day and still not find the right time to get the shot.

The shot below was a little easier to time between waves of people streaming through this area out to the escalator shot above.

Skyfall at Bond Street London

Bond Street station is going through a bit of a makeover in general as it will be part of the London Crossrail Project so the station is being improved and expanded to accommodate the extra foot fall.


The station was first opened on 24 September 1900 by the Central London Railway, three months after the first stations on the Central Line opened. The surface building was designed, in common with all original CLR stations, by the architect Harry Bell Measures.
In 1909, Harry Selfridge proposed a subway link to his new Selfridges store to the west, and the renaming of the station as "Selfridges". Contemporary opposition quashed the idea.
The station has seen several major reconstructions. The first, which saw the original lifts replaced by escalators, a new sub-surface ticket hall and a new façade to the station, designed by the architect Charles Holden, came into use on 8 June 1926. This was demolished with the construction of the "West One" shopping arcade in the 1980s, a period that had also seen the Jubilee Line services to this station commence on 1 May 1979. Some slight elements of the original facade do survive above the eastern entrance to the station.
In 2007 the station underwent a major modernisation, removing the murals installed on the Central line platforms in the 1980s and replacing them with plain white tiles, in a style similar to those when the station opened in 1900

Thanks to Wikipedia for the info on the station.

The architecture on the underground is so diverse dating from the 1920s right up to modern times so there is something there that should appeal to anyone who has the time to just take the time to stop and admire what most people just take for granted.

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Turnpike Lane Underground

Turnpike Lane Underground London

Turnpike Lane tube station is on the Piccadilly Line of the London Underground, between Manor House and Wood Green, in Travelcard Zone 3.
It is in the London Borough of Haringey. Opened on 19 September 1932, it was the first Underground station in the Municipal Borough of Tottenham.
Like all stations on the Cockfosters extension, Turnpike Lane set new aesthetic standards not previously seen on the Underground. During the planning period for the extension to Cockfosters, alternate names for this station (North Harringay and Ducketts Green (Ducketts Common is located opposite)) were considered but rejected


The station was designed by the architect Charles Holden and is a well-preserved example of the modernist house style of London Transport in the 1930s. It was listed at Grade II in 1994. The ticket hall is an enormous brick box, with two large ventilation towers, half-sunk into the surrounding ground. Its high walls contain segmented windows that allow natural light to shine far into the station. The effect in late afternoon light is akin to that in a cathedral transept. Two of the street entrances gave access to the tram routes to and from Alexandra Palace via tramway island exits into Turnpike Lane. These tram services were withdrawn in 1938 and replaced by buses, which continued to use the tram islands until 1968 when they were removed.
The sub-surface areas are tiled in biscuit coloured tiles lined with yellow friezes. The booking hall is 12 feet (3.7 metres) below street level. In common with Manor House and Wood Green, the station tunnels have a diameter of 23 feet (7 metres) and were designed for the greater volume of traffic expected. Bounds Green and Southgate have only 21 foot (6.4 metres) diameter platform tunnels. The construction of "suicide pits" between the rails was also innovative. These were built in connection with a system of passageways under the platforms to give access to the track.

Again Thanks to Wikipedia for the info above.



Again this station was designed by Charles Holden, love his style and really want to find out which other stations he designed so I can plan a visit to those at some point.

The 5D mkiii came into its own with the high iso performance especially as I don't have any really fast glass at such a wide angle.

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London Underground



Gants Hill Tube Station London

Took my 5D mkiii to London yesterday for the first time since I have owned it. The weather has been nothing less than depressing all year so far so not exactly great for photography. However London underground is always a place of architectural beauty all year round, as this shot of a Art deco style underground station shows very well. This is Gants Hill, in the London Borough of Redbridge. It is served by the Central Line and is in Zone 4. It is the easternmost station to be entirely below ground on the London Underground network.

Construction originally began in the 1930s but was suspended during the Second World War. During the war, the station was used as an air raid shelter and the tunnels as a munitions factory for Plessey electronics. The station was finally completed and opened on 14 December 1947. During planning, the names "Ilford North" and "Cranbrook" were considered.

The station, like many others on the same branch, was designed by notable Tube architect Charles Holden; during the planning period London Underground Holden advised on the construction of the new Moscow Metro, which is why the barrel-vaulted halls of Gants Hill echo many stations on the Russian capital's system.

The station is located beneath Gants Hill roundabout, and reached via the pedestrian subway under the roundabout. There are three escalators from the ticket office to the platforms

Thanks to Wikipedia for the info.

This also gave me a chance to test out the much talked about high ISO performance of the camera. The shot above for instance was shot at ISO 3200 F/8.0 1/50th sec. While there was a little noise in the image it did not destroy it and was easily fixed in Lightroom for a perfectly useable image. This high iso capability is great for low light situations such as the underground where you are not allowed to use a tripod, officially!

This was the first time in a long time I had been to London with my camera but without a tripod, and it made a pleasant change not to have to carry that beast around all day. Its even made me consider purchasing the Joby Gorillapod slr and ball head as a option to keep in my bag for days when I do need a tripod for outdoor work. So if anyone has used one of these would like to hear your thoughts on how practical they are in a real world situation.

With the shots I did take yesterday I have been pleased with the results and look forward to sharing more of the images as I process them.

Check out my new website has been redesigned to go supersized !

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Website updated

Been working on a new website lately and I had a specific look in mind. I wanted a site that gave a full screen view of the images which fills your browser when you enter the site. For some of you out there that may have seemed like a simple straight forward thing to do, but for someone that knows really nothing about html or css this posed a challenge for me.

After a little research I came across the Jquery Supersized plugin which when looking at there site seemed to be exactly what I was after so set about trying to use it.

Try as I might I could not figure out how to get my images to display at all!! Very kindly Mark Lee gave me some help and pointed me in the right direction. Managed to figure out how to load the html script into a html editor such as dreamweaver and edit it to my preferences.

I have only managed to get a simple slideshow up and running but I think its looking good so far. I hope to be able to add some more content such as pages and images more links etc but I got to figure that out next!

Thanks again to Mark Lee for his invaluable help please have a look at the site and let me know your thoughts.

www.LeePellingPhotography.co.uk

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Herne Bay Clock Tower



Herne Bay Clock Tower

Well haven't been out much recently mainly due to the weather. Today I went to Herne Bay and parked along the seafront. I got out the car and the wind just hit me, it was freezing cold!

Needless to say I didn't spend very long here, just long enough to grab a couple of shots. The clock Tower really stands out along the seafront and is a very interesting piece of Architecture.

http://www.hernebayculturaltrail.co.uk/clocktower.asp

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Clamshell Lighting Portrait

Clamshell Lighting Speedlite Portrait



Clamshell Lighting

 Finally got round to photographing my little girl, after doing this I had the horrible realisation that she not so little anymore.

For the portrait I used three speedlites,  two were arranged in the clamshell format and the third was used as a hair light with a grid attached.

I don't use a light meter at the moment so I set up the lighting and started of with the key light, which is the top light in the clamshell set up,  set to 1/8th power with a 1/4 cto gel attached give some nice warm tones to the skin and fired through a umbrella.

The fill light, which is the lower, set to one stop less so that was 1/16th power through a umbrella

The hair light I used with a grid attached for two reasons, first it is much more directional and that leads to the second reason, being more controllable allows you to place the light where you want it and not flaring into your lens. This was set to 1/64th power.

I initially had the camera ISO set to 400 and the Lens to F/8.0. I wanted a good depth of field and wanted to keep the speedlites on low power so they recycle quickly allowing you to just keep shooting without waiting for them. After a few trial shots I soon increased this to ISO 800 which as you can see produced some good results. ISO 800 on modern cameras is fine and on the 5D mkiii is flawless.

As I have never worked with any models before I did find it difficult to shoot and communicate ideas to her and trying to find the right pose is a art in itself.





Clamshell Speedlite Portrait

Including the hands in any portrait is always a challenge but I wanted to try, the one thing I will say is that its better not to show the back or palm as a general rule and stick to a profile of them as I have done here. This is a general rule and as any rule I am sure someone has broken them with great results.

This is the first time I have used this clam shell set up and was very pleased with the resulting light. You have complete control of the shadows by either increasing the key light and or reducing the fill light.


Starting to enjoy photographing people even though its outside of my comfort zone and hope to do more of it , would like to here any feedback as long as its constructive either here in the comments or add me as a flickr contact and comment there.

 

 

 

 

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Thats Snow Portrait

Speedlite Portrait

Well today the snow finally arrived in the far south east of England. Took the opportunity to photograph my wife in the garden. Wanted to try this shot out for a while but had to wait for the right conditions. The umbrella is my telescopic Westcott studio brolly with a speedlite attached to the inside.

The flash was set to manual at 1/4 power and a set of Youngnuo YN622c wireless triggers were used to fire the flash. These are great triggers with full ETTL and you can control them using the in camera menu so you don't need to keep walking to each flash to make changes to the settings, all this is done from the back of the camera.

Mono Portrait



The above mono is a crop from the colour image below, the amount of detail and sharpness continues to astound me, the 5d Mk iii  is a truly amazing camera.
 

Speedlite Portrait

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St Mary The Virgin Church Minster

St Mary The Virgin Church Minster Mono

St Mary The Virgin Church Minster Colour

Was out and about today had a few odd jobs to do but took the camera out with me. On my way back I decided to head off into Minster to photograph the church. It was cold out today and there was a light dusting of snow left over from the previous night, which I hope has added a little something to the Image.

Couldn't decide after which I prefer, the original colour or the mono conversion. Any thoughts welcome here or on my flickr photostream.

Here is a little something about the church, hope you like it.

St. Mary's Church, known as the 'Cathedral on the marshes' is the mother church of western Thanet. Founded in 670AD it was originally both a monastic and a parish church. The first Church was probably built of mud and wood. Close by is the place where St.Augustine landed in 597 to bring Christianity back to this part of Britain.
The oldest part of the present building was built just after the Norman conquest with work continuing for about 100 years. The Chancel is Early English in style. The nave has stood in its present form since about 1150.
The Church has a set of 18 mediaeval monks, stalls (Misericords) which is one of the finest in the south of England.
At the west end of the Church Roman bricks have been used in the wall and tower, which may have come from the nearby villa. An older turret tower of unknown date is incorporated into the massive Norman tower carries a peal of 5 ancient bells, four of which are dated from the early 17th Century. Visit the Bellringers website: Minster Change Ringers
In bygone days the sea would have come up to the Churchyard wall which acted as a barrier during high tides. The turret may have served as a watch tower for shipping.
In the Church grounds is the Old Schools which was the village School from 1847-1946 and is now used by the Church for community functions.

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Arlington Square, Margate



Arlington Square Margate

 Took a trip out to Arlington Square in Margate, this area has become rather run down over the last few years and as I write is shrouded in controversy with Tesco trying to acquire the site for future development and locals trying to stop them as they rightly think that Margate deserves a better focal point and attraction for the seafront area. Why not follow the link above and have a read all about the area past and present.


Dreamland Margate

Arlington Graffiti Clown 



Arlington House Margate

The area is very urban looking and as a result has lead to many photographers using the area to take urban style images and portraits.

The area really is crying out for a major development plan to compliment all the work done at the Turner Art Gallery. Something that will help pull in much needed tourists like the Margate resort of years gone by.

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Folkestone , Kent



Folkestone Harbour Waiting
 

Wanted to get out the house today with the camera, day off but had a appointment to keep this morning so when I got home I grabbed the camera and headed out. When I left I had no idea where I was going. I ended up driving to Folkestone. Parked the car and had a walk around. Found myself down by the harbour around half three when a few of the local fishing boats were returning home from a day at sea with there catch. They were greeted by every gull from miles around, there really not as daft as they are funny looking !!


Seagull Folkestone Harbour

 

 Only managed to get out a few times since Christmas with the new Canon 5D mk iii , the thing that really strikes me is the pin sharp focus system. My previous cameras were the Canon 400d then upgraded to a Canon 7d , I thought the 7D was a great camera but after seeing the raw files from the 5d mkiii I am very pleased I decided to go full frame. The focus is pin sharp. Still trying to get to grips with a few of the features and locating some of the options in the menu when needed but I am getting there and really enjoying the journey.

Back Home

Waiting

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Ramsgate Harbour, Kent

Ramsgate Outer Harbour

So 2013 is here, happy new year everyone. What was you up to last night ? I was working until 23:30,got home just in time to see the new year in and watch the fireworks on the telebox.

Today we decided to take down the decorations as I wouldn't get a chance for a while due to working. So once they were down we just had to get out the house for some well deserved fresh air.  Took a walk down through Ramsgate Harbour and along the seafront. There was not a cloud in the sky as you can see it looks like it could be a summers day, except I was still a bit fresh out !

Look forward to 2013 and hope to share loads more images with you and hope to get out again with the camera soon.

Happy New Year all

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Stormy Broadstairs



Stormy Broadstairs

Well Christmas was really good to me as it brought me a Full Frame camera, the Canon 5D mkiii. Really haven't had much chance to get out with it yet but so far I have been blown away by the level of detail in the raw files to how sharp the images are. The auto focus system has many settings and I am still trying to find my way around but it really does a great job. The build quality is nothing less than impressive and I hope the weather sealing is of similar standard although I don't wish to put it to a test!

Hope to be able to show more images in the coming weeks and months. I still have my Canon 7d and may well be selling this in the near future . I also have a Canon 10-22 lens and Sigma 8-16mm lens I will be selling to. If you are interested in any of them, then please feel free to contact me for further info and help.

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Happy Christmas All

Hello to everyone out there, may I wish you all and your family a very merry Christmas and all the best for the coming year. I would like to thank you all for you comments and support over the last year and hope I have improved as a result. I hope to continue to learn over the coming year and look forward to sharing my images with you over the months to come.

Happy Christmas Everyone

Lee Pelling Photography
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London 2012 The Final Trip of The Year

Southwark Blue

Today myself and fellow photographer +Barry Stewart  visited London for the last time this year, picked a good day as at least the weather was kind and the rain stayed away. Decided to visit a few underground stations as some of the architecture underground is better than that above. The problem I have is recalling which image was taken at which station and thanks to another Flickr contact, Sean Batton, for correcting me on my Flickr post. The above image was actually taken at Southwark underground station and not Waterloo which is originally what I listed it as.

Think you will agree when you actually stop and look around the vast underground network there is some really nice architecture going on from some really old stations to some of the modern stations. The problem in London is so many people all going about there daily lives very few actually ever notice. The other problem for those of us that do is trying to find the composition and time to shoot when there are not vast crowds getting in the way !


Sothwark Underground Station

Kings Cross Roof
 



The O2



Smile

Hopefully in 2013 we will return to continue to document some of the great places our capital has to offer both above and below ground level.

I would like to take this opportunity in thanking you all for your comments and support in 2012 and I wish you all a great Christmas and best wishes for the new year.

Lee Pelling

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Gritty Speedlite Portrait

Gritty Speedlite Portrait

 

This is my son Ben, I haven't done much photography lately no real reason other than work getting in the way really. I had seen this type of light set up and processing on Kelby Training so thought I would give it a go.

 

This set up requires three speedlites or strobes. Two speedlites behind model one each side and higher than model aiming down towards the back of the neck area. These two strobes were also fitted with grids to help pin point the light. The idea is to get the light falling on the shoulder separating model from the background and also falling on the cheek area. These were set to about 1/64th power.

 

 

The third speedlite is in front of the model and lower so as not to get in the shot and acts as a fill light set to about 1/128th power with a stoffen diffuser fitted.

 

The camera was set to ISO 800 Shutter speed of 1/200th sec at F/8.0  and the speedlites fired with a set of youngnou 622c wireless triggers.

 

The lens was a Canon 70 - 200  F/4.0 USM L at 91mm on a Canon 7D

 

 

The image was then processed in Lightroom 4 and a few minor tweaks in Photoshop CS6

Strobist Three Light Portrait

 

 

 



 

 

 

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