St Paul's Cathedral, London (2934) April 2006 | Another

Unreal
As I cycle past this building in the evening I feel like I'm moving through a film set, it feels unreal. I stop to make a picture, a few other people, also with cameras, stop to photograph this illuminated building.

I set up my tripod close to the edge of the pavement, the air from a passing bus rattles the hanging lens cap against the tripod. I see the moon and some stars appear through the umbrella of mist and dust above. A couple stop, wondering if they are going in the right direction for Covent Garden, I say they are. They both look into the LCD screen of the camera and look at the building again, for a little longer. I press the remote release just as another bus passes by.

The camera software crunches this raw information and stores the data in the memory card. The bus has gone, probably way down Fleet Street, the couple are walking towards Ludgate Circus, and the people with their cameras have moved on. I look at the image the camera has processed a few moments ago. It looks 'unreal' just like I first saw it.

More Info on St Paul's Cathedral

(2934) Posted on 4/10/2006 10:33:40 AM | Comments

1. Posted by jobO on 4/10/2006 4:34:07 AM
WOW!!!
Thank you for the inspiration I always get looking at your shots...

2. Posted by w|e|s on 4/10/2006 6:33:58 AM
A nice montage moment of words and pix Tony... have a great afternoon...

3. Posted by Cindy on 4/10/2006 6:45:29 AM
This is awesome!

4. Posted by Greg on 4/10/2006 6:50:39 AM
So sweet is the feeling to sit in pure adoration of the master at work... beautiful! - and beautiful again! .-)

5. Posted by tony on 4/10/2006 10:18:53 AM
Hi jobO, thanks for the motivation! It's good to have you come by.

6. Posted by funny on 4/10/2006 10:27:05 AM
beautiful picture and story, I forgot the name of that church???
its a long time agoo I visit Londen

7. Posted by tony on 4/10/2006 11:29:59 AM
Hi w|e|s, thank you. I did have a great afternoon. Met up with Douglas 'Photoshed'. He's off to the US, Washington/Virginia, to see his family over Easter for a week or so.

8. Posted by Melissa on 4/10/2006 11:43:45 AM
Wow, this is amazing!
What a beautiful shot.

9. Posted by maurits on 4/10/2006 11:53:37 AM
The best picture on TA that I've seen in a long time....
Great expanatory text too ... so,
Super post. Thanks for this ;-]

10. Posted by tony on 4/10/2006 11:57:35 AM
Cindy, thank you!

11. Posted by tony on 4/10/2006 1:02:55 PM
Greg, I am just a humble messenger from the land of light ;-] .. thanks, thank you!

12. Posted by tony on 4/10/2006 1:09:41 PM
Funny, hi, and thank you .. and this is the west front of St Paul's Cathedral from Ludgate Hill.

13. Posted by tony on 4/10/2006 1:14:10 PM
Melissa, hi, thank you. The sun had set just half an hour earlier, and the long exposure captured the lights of the moving bus.

14. Posted by tony on 4/10/2006 1:19:28 PM
Maurits, hi, and thanks very much. I began the writing thinking I would work towards 'reality', but never quite arrived ;-]

15. Posted by maurits on 4/10/2006 1:21:41 PM
now that's your reality picture Tony ;-]

16. Posted by tony on 4/10/2006 1:36:27 PM
Maurits, ah .. the image is just a 'reality stop' on the journey of life .. a slice of memory through time.

17. Posted by maurits on 4/10/2006 1:40:14 PM
;-]

18. Posted by stewart on 4/10/2006 2:49:18 PM
A great shot of St Pauls from a different angle without the dome being prominent at first I was not sure where it was.These grand buildings do look quite unreal when illuminated and the vivid blue sky you have captured must have been just before it got properly dark.I also like the way everything seems to be leaning inward at an angle as if in some sort of surreal perspective that must have had something to do with your small tripod to capture the angle from low down.

19. Posted by funny on 4/10/2006 2:54:27 PM
thanks tony I remember it whit his famous whisper galery

20. Posted by tony on 4/11/2006 12:01:51 AM
Stewart, thanks. I was using a larger tripod for this picture, but the camera was set to a fairly wide angle on the zoom lens, and pointing up slightly, which exaggerates the perspective causing the converging verticals, noticeably the leaning belisha beacon ( http://tinyurl.com/mprms ).

21. Posted by tony on 4/11/2006 12:22:31 AM
Hi funny, the Whispering Gallery ( http://tinyurl.com/fst6e ) is an acoustic anomaly. The circular gallery runs around the interior of the dome and if you speak towards the wall this sound will be heard near the wall on the opposite side of the space.

22. Posted by funny on 4/11/2006 2:36:54 AM
Thank you for the info tony have a nice day

23. Posted by angie on 4/11/2006 4:16:31 PM
This is an amazing shot Tony! I love this!

24. Posted by robertm on 4/11/2006 4:25:44 PM
Hello tony, a great shot of St Paul's, seen through the light streamers from bus headlights(?) -- robertm

25. Posted by Clintus on 4/11/2006 4:26:02 PM
I love photos like this.

26. Posted by Robert K. on 4/11/2006 6:57:46 PM
WOW!! This is an incredible shot Tony! Thanks for describing the scene for us also :-) Definitely one of the best shots on TA in a while :-)

27. Posted by DeafAngel on 4/11/2006 7:54:12 PM
whoa... awesome shot!! :D

28. Posted by francis on 4/11/2006 10:11:01 PM
spectacular shot. i've been liking a lot the transparency afforded by conflicting temporal realities.

29. Posted by tony on 4/12/2006 12:03:35 AM
Angie, hi, thank you. It's a spectacular building, even more so with this illumination.

30. Posted by tony on 4/12/2006 12:07:25 AM
Robert, the double-decker bus comes in handy for this effect - the streaks of light come mainly from the interior bus lights on both floors.

31. Posted by tony on 4/12/2006 12:13:14 AM
Hi Clintus, thanks, it's good to have you come by.

32. Posted by tony on 4/12/2006 12:16:00 AM
Hi Robert, thanks, and thanks .. I really appreciate your thought.

33. Posted by tony on 4/12/2006 12:17:09 AM
DeafAngel, hi and thank you, thanks for stopping by.

34. Posted by tony on 4/12/2006 12:28:05 AM
Francis, hi and thank you. Maybe a little terrestrial reflection and a touch of light refraction can lead to some form of enlightenment!

35. Posted by twig on 4/12/2006 3:19:26 AM
Nice shot TH. What exposure d'ya use?

36. Posted by tony on 4/12/2006 4:30:43 AM
Twig, hi, this was made on the Nikon 8400, the camera data says the shutter speed was 2.8sec, with an exposure of f/7.2 and an ISO of 50. Hope this helps.

37. Posted by Earl on 4/12/2006 10:35:39 AM
Remarkable shot, and I liked the thoughts, too. 10!

38. Posted by twig on 4/12/2006 11:14:03 AM
thanks for info...was that on auto or did you set a 'priority'?
Also was the sky this light or was it the 'colour temperature' thingy?

39. Posted by twig on 4/12/2006 11:15:57 AM
...Yeah, the words are good too. A small textual snapshot of life!

40. Posted by josie on 4/12/2006 11:19:04 AM
Fantastic shot!!!!!!

41. Posted by tony on 4/12/2006 11:33:35 AM
Hi Earl, thank you. I think it's worth trying to write something to go with the pics, which takes time, and isn't particularly easy.

42. Posted by tony on 4/12/2006 11:36:52 AM
Twig, the camera was set on 'manual', and the sky was grey-blue. I let the auto white balance 'read' the iluminated building, which meant the blue in the sky was exaggerated.

43. Posted by tony on 4/12/2006 11:41:04 AM
Twig, thanks, I always find writing difficult. This is a great environment to practice in though.

44. Posted by tony on 4/12/2006 11:42:34 AM
Josie, hi, thank you, and thanks for stopping by.

45. Posted by Tom on 4/15/2006 4:23:10 AM
Hi Tony. Excellent picture, interesting story and a lively discussion. I think that the streaks of light from the double decker bus draw attention to St Paul's unusual facade. The facade, like the bus, is a double decker, but it fronts one big single storey space. Sir Christopher Wren explored many design options before he came to this one. In its day, when it was surround by lower buildings the upper part of the cathedralappeared to be a whole building floating above the rooftops. Blank out the lower tier of columns to get this effect.

46. Posted by j on 4/15/2006 4:57:54 AM
brilliant pic. love it!!

47. Posted by Neoslv on 4/16/2006 7:48:12 AM
Awesome pic and cool description Tony!. Congrats

48. Posted by tony on 4/23/2006 10:48:36 AM
Hi Tom, thanks for this extra info .. a double-decker building, seemingly sitting on top of the surrounding buildings, fascinating stuff - I hadn't thought of it that way before.

49. Posted by tony on 4/23/2006 10:51:20 AM
Hi Neoslv, thank you .. and Happy Wedding Anniversary.

50. Posted by tony on 4/23/2006 10:57:43 AM
Hi J, thank you, and thanks for stopping by.

51. Posted by Daddy S. on 4/26/2006 12:17:44 AM
A master pic. Toni

52. Posted by tony on 4/27/2006 11:55:23 AM
Thanks very much Daddy S.