The Tate Modern (Lr)

[pzglicz]

For a long time I've wanted to photograph The Tate Modern gallery for its industrial looks. When I had a chance, the effect was OK, but somewhat dull due to the haze.

So I've decided to convert it to monochrome and bring the looks back to the photo. The whole process was done in Lightroom 2.5.
Key steps:
- cropping + adding a graduated to dim the sky a bit,
- boosting recovery, fill light to 50%, a little blacks,
- boosting contrast, decreasing saturation,
- some playing with the tone curve,
- most of the work was done in the HSL/Color section (saturation to zero, boosting reds&yellows).

See how you like it:

Original, as it came off the camera:


Finished:

[Quo Fan]

I like what you did, but you might want to think about removing the cranes in the background. My eye was instantly drawn to them.

[LeeR]

Paul Strand was a compatriot of Ansel Adams and Edward Weston and he loved to find bold dramatic skies. He would often lay around doing very little until he saw an approaching storm, then he would rush out to get as many photos as possible while the sun was shining but the clouds were forming in the background. Eventually, Adams and others came to call these "Strand clouds."

The first thing I noticed about your composition was the rather dramatic sky. I could wish that there had been a bit more light on the building itself, but the sky is working in your favor. The second thing was the feeling that this is rather phallic in nature. That may be appropriate since so much modern art has been influenced by Freud and his followers and their ability to find sexual inuendo in the simplest of gestures.

Changing this to B&W is an improvement, but a minor one. I would keep working on this if I were you. I have frequently done this; I'll choose a building or other icon and photograph it again and again until I feel I have captured a quintessential 'Lee' shot, then I lose all interest in shooting it again. Funny thing, in a way.

[hey joni]

Hi

The cranses def need to go, they are a distraction.

B and W is def better, mainly because you have controlled the contrast in a more detailed/dynamic way and made the sky darker.

I would have personally been inclined to have shot closer but I don't know if this was physically possible and if you had a wide angle lens or not ( Isee you have 18-55mm in your sig but that doesn't neccesarily mean you used it!)

i can't see the large version at work but things to consider are:

selective levels adjustments on the sky or dodge and burn to darken further in a selective way.

Use highlight/shadows in photoshop (or similar) to bring out more detail on the building.

selective sharpening of the building using: select building - copy to new layer- layer type: overlay- filter-other-high pass at about 10% and then blend to suit.

these might not be neccesary or to your taste but they are an option you may consider (if you don't have photoshop, there are alternative processes using other programs)

Hope this helps. Nice shot btw!

[LeeR]

Paul Strand was a compatriot of Ansel Adams and Edward Weston and he loved to find bold dramatic skies. He would often lay around doing very little until he saw an approaching storm, then he would rush out to get as many photos as possible while the sun was shining but the clouds were forming in the background. Eventually, Adams and others came to call these "Strand clouds."

The first thing I noticed about your composition was the rather dramatic sky. I could wish that there had been a bit more light on the building itself, but the sky is working in your favor. The second thing was the feeling that this is rather phallic in nature. That may be appropriate since so much modern art has been influenced by Freud and his followers and their ability to find sexual inuendo in the simplest of gestures.

Changing this to B&W is an improvement, but a minor one. I would keep working on this if I were you. I have frequently done this; I'll choose a building or other icon and photograph it again and again until I feel I have captured a quintessential 'Lee' shot, then I lose all interest in shooting it again. Funny thing, in a way.

[pzglicz]

The 18-55 (Canon kit lens) is the only one I have at the moment - this was shot at 18mm. The premises were too crowded to get a good close perspective, but fortunately the bridge was not!

@hey joni: Many thanks for the tips, I'll definitely try them on this picture.

@LeeR: it was a power station before, this might explain the shape However, it does look like a work of art in its new role

I've also removed the cranes in later processing, they annoyed me too.

I'll post here after applying some improvement ideas

[sedetweiler]

I love the end product of your efforts. I don't know that I would change a thing. I didn't find the cranes to be much of a bother considering all of the other leading lines in the image. I guess if you are looking to perfect it, you can easily remove them but I think it is fine as it sits. Nice work.

[pzglicz]

Further editing IMHO improves the picture. The cranes are gone, and - most importantly - I have finally managed to put a warm tone back to the picture (which I originally saw on my screen, but not on the web)

This is it:

[photog1107]

Wow! Dramatic improvement in my view... just goes to show that a photo that at first glance may appear ho hum can be transformed with all the tools available now. I really like the final shot and feel the leading lines make it a dramatic composition.