LONDONRUBBISH is a photoblog by Mark Sheldon.
I live and work in London, so LONDONRUBBISH seemed an appropriate choice of title for a photoblog and I already owned the domain name so it made it easy.
I've been using a variety of digital compact cameras for the last seven years, but what started as a hobby became a little more serious when I purchased a DSLR and started a photoblog two years ago.
I try to post a new image, of a different subject, as often as I can and these will usually be captured in London. It's a wonderfully inspiring city for a photographer. The regularity of my posts does become difficult at times, but it forces me to get out with the camera, improve my photography and my post processing skills.
You can comment on my images and I really do want you to comment honestly. So if you don't like something and can tell me why, then please do. If you like something and have an idea as to what would make it better then let me know as well. I'm learning all time.
If you want to use any of my images, are interested in prints or want to ask me a question just .
LINKS
I visit a lot of other photoblogs and there's always something out there
that inspires me or makes me sit up and think.
If I had to pick my top five they would be...
They all consistently post great images that just make me want to get better. You can find many others at photoblogs.org
EQUIPMENT
As a relative new comer to photoblogging I realise how interesting a kit list can be, so here's mine:
- Canon 350D
- Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM
- Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
- Hoya HMC 77mm UV(N)
- Hoya 77mm PL-CIR
- Canon 580EX Speedlite plus Stofen Omni Bounce
- 718B Digi Mini 3W Tripod
- Lowepro Rover AW II
- Capture One Pro
- Adobe Photoshop CS
- Photomatix
- Noise Ninja
- A slightly modified version of PixelPost 1.4.3
- A very modified template by Visual Experience
POST PROCESSING
I shoot with my camera in RAW mode using the AdobeRGB colour profile. So I post-process every image you see here. The steps I take are generally the same, only differing when I'm after a specific toned look or an HDR.
Firstly I adjust the white balance (colour temperature) and exposure in Capture One Pro, then apply
minor sharpening before saving to an 8 or 16 bit TIFF.
In Photoshop CS2 I straighten, crop and remove any minor distracting elements.
I then undertake non-destructive editing by applying adjustment layers for levels,
curves and selective colouring until I get the result I'm after.
Finally, I save the image at full size as a PSD. Then I sharpen again, size
for my photoblog, assign the sRGB colour profile and save as a JPEG. That's it, but if there's a particular
image you're interested in, just
and I'll go into more detail.
