Sct Pauls Cathedral as close as I have seen it so far. Next time I will go closer!

I always wanted to see Sct Pauls Cathedral up close, and even though I lived in London for a year, it was one of the things, that I just never did get around to do. This time the purpose was to photograph it. As I moved closer and closer, I realized, that it is so huge, that if I got up close, I might not be able to get a proper shot of the cathedral. It was getting late, and I was tired, so I decided that this was as close I got this time. I had begun shooting right after dinner, and I had walked a long way and for a very long time, and I was getting tired. So this time too, I didn’t much closer than this. It’s something I still have on my bucket list…

About the making of this photo

This photo is a seven shot HDR shot ranging from -5 to +1. Why did I use seven shots? Well, one of the hard parts shooting under conditions like this is, that is pretty dark in a street like this, even if there are a few lamps. Sct. Pauls Cathedral itself is white and lit up by a lot of lights, and it is an incredible contrast to the dark street.

The street lamps are bright too. Because I like to have my ‘city by night’ shots well balanced, it requires to capture virtually all light, from the darkest corner to the brightest light bulb. And in this case, I needed shot 7 shots, to cover approximately all light.

When I processed this photo, I suddenly realized that there were stars in the sky. When in a big city like London, the light pollution usually is so bad, that stars are close to impossible to see. I liked having them, and I began to enhance them. Photomatix really can do an excellent job of this, but, unfortunately, digital noise is also increased. In the end, it is a balance of stars and noise levels, and this is my choice. Had I been standing in a field 70 miles from the closest city, it would have been an altogether different story.