dancefloorlandmine: Me hiding behind camera (CameraEOS)
dancefloorlandmine ([personal profile] dancefloorlandmine) wrote2009-06-05 02:13 pm
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[Photos] Back in the mists of time ...

And no, I mean before April's Whitby ... I'm talking last summer ...

In July last year there was an open day at Battersea Power Station, as part of the public consultation on the plans for redevelopment of the area. This meant that there was a large balsa and perspex model of the planned design, and almost everyone in London who owned a camera seemed to be on site, wielding everything from camera-phones to pro-grade medium format monsters, all taking advantage of the (mostly) sunny weather and the fact that we could get a view inside (bounded by 7ft fences, admittedly). I didn't see anything with bellows, though. It was back when I thought 500 shots in an afternoon was a lot, but I've finally gone through them, evicted the poorest shots, and put the rest up.

I also did some experimentation with exposure blending (take three photos with different exposures, so one's right, one's underexposed and one's overexposed, and throw software at them - the end result can sometimes give a better view of both the shadows and the highlights at the same time). The most important tip for this is to make sure you have a tripod with you. I didn't - which makes matching up the three images again slightly more trying. [sigh]

Anyway, without (much) further ado ...

Battersea Power Station Gallery


It's a doorway! How could I resist.










Exposure blending experiment


Another one














Model of proposed development (now out of date)


Battersea Park Station (photography not allowed)

At some point I'll be GIMPing in something porcine over at least one of those shots. [grin]

For those especially interested, some additional links:The sharp-eyed will notice that a) the change of plan involves getting rid of that big tower and b) the latest consultation is taking place today (Friday 5th Jun) and tomorrow (Saturday 6th Jun). I'm not sure whether there will be the same kind of open day, but there'll be an updated model in the exhibition centre. If I go along, I'll take some more photos.

EDIT: Due to inclement weather, I'll not be going to take photos, but the new design has now been unveiled.
ephemera: celtic knotwork style sitting fox (Default)

[personal profile] ephemera 2009-06-07 04:29 pm (UTC)(link)
the rain put us off, too - seeing how sharp yours are from last uear with that rich blue sky, I'm glad we did.

[identity profile] ravenevermore.livejournal.com 2009-06-05 02:00 pm (UTC)(link)
The floydian that I am, I have an auto-filter built into my brain that places the pig there every time i look at a picture of the building or pass it on the train.
babysimon: (Default)

[personal profile] babysimon 2009-06-05 02:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow, that's HDR that borders on the tasteful! Well done!

[identity profile] d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com 2009-06-05 02:38 pm (UTC)(link)
Ooh, ta!

Bracketed by two stops (although being handheld, the matching process was ... interesting). Then used the Exposure Blending plugin for GIMP, and, where necessary, tweaked the levels to spread them over the whole range.

I might have more of a play with the approach sometime, although I'll use a tripod next time.
babysimon: (Default)

[personal profile] babysimon 2009-06-05 02:41 pm (UTC)(link)
I should give that a go; I've always been put off by the way all the HDR pictures I've seen have looked like rather garish CGI...

[identity profile] d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com 2009-06-05 02:53 pm (UTC)(link)
A couple of my attempts did - the really bad ones didn't make it to the gallery. [grin]

I think it's something which can work pretty well, if given enough time, but it's also very dependent on the bracketing, and the other settings being applied during the blending.

I just decided to give it a punt while I was there, as the photos were either silhouettes or washed out. [grin]

I'm considering taking five shots of the same scene (-2, -1, 0, +1, +2 stops), and then having a play with the different options the plugin gives, so as to see what the good combinations are.
Edited 2009-06-05 14:54 (UTC)

[identity profile] palmersperry.livejournal.com 2009-06-05 02:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Cool set of pictures!

Interesting to note that whilst the Guardian is reporting on the idea that fitting a heat distribution system to such places as Drax could be a really good idea there used to be such a system at Battersea Power Station back in the 50s!

[identity profile] d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com 2009-06-05 02:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Heh. Battersea rocked. Especially the 'A' station, which had the marble and art deco. The 'B' station was more Blake's 7 ... [grin]

[identity profile] palmersperry.livejournal.com 2009-06-05 08:47 pm (UTC)(link)
More Blake's 7? You mean bits of wall that looked to be structural would wobble if you walked to close to them? :-)

[identity profile] d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com 2009-06-05 08:57 pm (UTC)(link)
That too. [grin]

There were dramatic stainless steel control panels and the like - possibly Dr Who rather than B7.

[identity profile] fracture242.livejournal.com 2009-06-05 03:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Very nice! I especially like samples 4, 8 & 9.

[identity profile] d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com 2009-06-05 03:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Cheers! It was unfortunately quite difficult to get close enough to get many of that kind of shot, as the fences were some way from the walls (probably due to the hazard from falling masonry/builders), but I was quite pleased with those. I do like images of decaying architecture.

[identity profile] karohemd.livejournal.com 2009-06-05 04:28 pm (UTC)(link)
I missed that open day or rather heard of it too late and couldn't change my plans. Good stuff.
I only took some pics outside it a few years ago:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/karohemd/272693959/in/set-72057594066494380/

[identity profile] d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com 2009-06-05 07:59 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm not sure whether tomorrow's consultation is going to be on the same scale as last time. I might pop along to see what the updated model is like, but only if the weather's good.

New Rocks and industrial landscape - how suitable! [grin]

[identity profile] karohemd.livejournal.com 2009-06-05 08:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Don't forget your camera, just in case. ;o)

Haha, yes. This was the time when I was still mostly working to stereotype...

[identity profile] d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com 2009-06-05 08:17 pm (UTC)(link)
Don't forget your camera, just in case. ;o)
That was part of the plan. [grin]

This was the time when I was still mostly working to stereotype...
I still am. [grin]