Sam Styles Photography

Leith Hill Tower by torchlight

2009-11-11T04:23:00.000-08:00

A light painted Leith Hill Tower on what was a damp cloudy evening when I left home but turned out to be quite picturesque once I got up the hill.

If you like this, please vote on my photo by visiting the National Trust website and clicking the vote button here: https://myphoto.nationaltrust.org.uk/entries/show/9594

Here's another...

http://www.sjsphotos.co.uk

Sunset over Molesey

2009-10-12T14:40:00.000-07:00

Some photos of a cool sunset over Molesey this evening and also some where I got carried away taking photos of the streams of vehicle lights on the road.

http://www.sjsphotos.co.uk

Denbies Vineyard

2009-10-06T11:33:00.000-07:00

A few images taken at the weekend at Denbies vineyard, near Dorking.

http://www.sjsphotos.co.uk

Just Mono

2009-09-15T01:49:00.000-07:00

New guest gallery added featuring work from members of the PhotoPortal.

Umbrellas and the Light on the Stairs.

http://www.sjsphotos.co.uk

Q&A with Enterprise Nation

2009-09-15T01:40:00.000-07:00

"Sam Styles considers photography as a hobby. But as he wins Awards and growing acclaim for his work, will this hobby ultimately transform in to a business. Sam talks about his portfolio and how he captured the shot that secured a top prize."

Click here to read more...

http://www.enterprisenation.com/detail/QA_with_Sam_Styles/2994/1.aspx

http://www.sjsphotos.co.uk

First steps

2009-09-08T01:46:00.000-07:00

Bet you go ahhhhhh :)

http://www.sjsphotos.co.uk

The King's Beasts

2009-09-02T02:03:00.001-07:00

A selection of images recording the relatively new additions to one of the Palace's courtyards. These painted beasts form part of a traditional Tudor garden created to mark the 500th year since Henry VIII ascended to the throne.

http://samstylesphotography.blogspot.com

http://www.sjsphotos.co.uk

Under the Arches

2009-08-13T05:31:00.001-07:00

http://www.sjsphotos.co.uk

Historic Graffiti

2009-07-24T04:22:00.000-07:00

Graffiti. Love it or hate it, it's physical proof that makes the saying 'if these walls could speak' more of a fact than a statement because the walls literally do speak. They speak of the people who, with a little bit of time on their hands, decided to leave their mark while considering who would be looking at their name years into the future.

Or was "Bowie '81" actually carved a week last Tuesday by a bored kid with an off piste compass and a damn good taste in music?

The above example probably was. But unfortunately, as Banksy and his many impostors probably know too well, this fact alone assigns graffiti into the category of interesting but unofficial.

Beneath the vandalism lies a human story about who we are, when we lived and where we visited. From the medieval ornate lettering in a sandstone block at the Tower of London to the name, date and hand print in the freshly laid concrete of a driveway. We want to be remembered and we want to remember.

http://www.sjsphotos.co.uk

Towers of London

2009-07-24T03:18:00.000-07:00

Early sunrise behind Tower Bridge after a cool August night in 2006, the city still sleeping and due for another hot sunny day. With the silence of the surrounding city the sun shone through Tower Bridge silhouetting the towers of Canary Wharf setting the scene against the most original tower of all, the Tower of London.

http://www.sjsphotos.co.uk

Southbank Skyline

2009-07-17T07:18:00.000-07:00

http://www.sjsphotos.co.uk

The Great Gatehouse Ceiling

2009-07-17T06:30:00.000-07:00

The vaulted ceiling in the Great Gatehouse at Hampton Court is one of the less complex ceilings of this type but it still provided the age old challenge of how to capture a 3D curved surface and represent it in 2D form.
By using 5 images of the different parts of the vaulting and photo rectification software it was possible to piece together a high resolution seamless image without too much distortion.

http://www.sjsphotos.co.uk

Painted Beasts at Hampton Court Palace

2009-07-17T06:03:00.001-07:00

Using research by Patrick Baty of Papers and Paints it was possible to build up the following image. This shows how the existing stone carved beasts on the moat bridge at Hampton Court Palace would look if they were painted in what is thought to be their original colour scheme.

More information on Patrick's research here: http://papers-paints.blogspot.com/2009/03/kings-beasts.html

Moat Bridge as existing

Moat Bridge with painted beasts

http://www.sjsphotos.co.uk

Multiple Exposure Abstracts

2009-07-17T03:59:00.000-07:00

Where you are sometimes limited using a single exposure, overlaying multiple exposures opens up a range of creative possibilities in composition and colour. So occasionally I'll come across something that I think will suit this format, which is a favourite of mine. For me, overlaying similar photographs in this way encapsulates everything about the subject in one image and I especially like the colours you can create in this way.


Flags at Glastonbury Festival	Palms at Wisley	Lighthouse lenses

http://samstylesphotography.blogspot.com

International Garden Photographer of the Year

2009-06-24T08:22:00.000-07:00

A Photograph of Hampton Court succeeds in coming second place in the Garden Views category of the International Garden Photographer of the Year.

Needless to say, I was mightily chuffed :)

Competition link here: http://www.igpoty.com/competition02/winners_GardenViews_Fin6.asp?parent=winners

http://samstylesphotography.blogspot.com

Hampton Court Palace meets Glastonbury

2009-04-30T08:44:00.001-07:00

Well, Rick Wakeman to be exact. He will be performing his album The Six Wives of Henry VIII for the first time in its entirety on the 1st and 2nd May and this is the stage that's been put up for the show. Rock on.

http://samstylesphotography.blogspot.com

Kensington Palace - 360 Degree Interior Panoramas

2009-04-29T02:22:00.000-07:00

The finished set of 360 degree fisheye style panoramas of selected interiors at Kensington Palace. Technically known as an equirectangular projections, these were made from about 36 separate images stitched together and rendered into a spherical image.
There are many problems associated with recording wall paintings and interiors one of which is the difficulty arising from trying to capture curved surfaces and represent them accurately in a 2D image. Similar to trying to draw a map of the world without distortion at the poles. We're hoping that by using panoramic projections we don't just get one image which captures the curved surface in one, which would hugely assist the conservation process, but a useful by product is having the ability to produce interactive 360 degree images too.

The Cupola Room	The Duchess of Kent's Dressing Room
The Privy Chamber	The Presence Chamber
The Queen's Dining Room	The Queen's Closet

http://samstylesphotography.blogspot.com

Kensington Palace Interiors

2009-04-09T01:25:00.001-07:00

The final set of partial panoramics featuring some select interiors at Kensington Palace.

The Cupola Room	The King's Stairs
The King's Stairs	Queen Victoria's Bedroom
Queen Mary's Bedchamber	The Privy Chamber

The Queen's Stairs

Using a specially designed (home made) panoramic head, approx 15 photos were taken for each image and then merged together using panoramic software. It was exciting to use this technique for the first time in some very visually interesting and detailed rooms. Lots of early mornings and carting all the gear around but it was worth it!

http://samstylesphotography.blogspot.com

A sea of blue at Kew

2009-03-26T16:21:00.000-07:00

This was a must take photo, the blue of the flowers matched the sky exactly.

http://samstylesphotography.blogspot.com

Kew Palace & Queen Charlottes Cottage

2009-03-25T10:28:00.000-07:00

Kew gardens are fantastic on a sunny day and this happened to be one of them. Here are a couple of photos of the Palace building itself and Queen Charlottes Cottage which is tucked away in 300 year old woodland at the bottom of the gardens.

http://www.samstylesphotography.blogspot.com

The Banqueting House, Whitehall

2009-03-25T10:08:00.000-07:00

A photographic visit to the last surviving part of the Palace of Westminster. Upon walking into the main hall visitors discover the impressive Rubens ceiling painted in 1635 which is a dizzying 17 meters above floor level.

http://www.samstylesphotography.blogspot.com

Interior Panoramas - Kensington Palace

2009-02-22T05:01:00.000-08:00

I completed the first couple of test panoramic images on Friday. After a quick walk around the rooms requiring photography I decided to attack the smallest (and thus more tricky) room first - the Queens Closet.

Luckily my lens and the mount worked well and I managed to get the whole height of the walls in the final image - stitched from 48 separate exposures and then manipulated into this circular arrangement. I'm looking forward to revisiting and seeing how this works on the larger rooms. Watch this space as I may try and put the interactive panoramic image up here somehow.

The second room I photographed was the Kings Stairs. This worked really well, with only 9 exposures this time for an image that captured 90 degrees horizontally. However, on the next visit I'll be retaking this to get it perfect along with photographing a number of other rooms to be presented in a similar way.

http://samstylesphotography.blogspot.com

The Tower of London in Mono (+1 colour)

2009-02-20T08:58:00.000-08:00

It's half term and the place is packed with tourists - which is all good because there is loads going on for families over the week which made it a good time to visit the Tower yesterday for some photography.

Not all mono, I have to admit. There's a colour photo thrown in because I liked it :)

http://samstylesphotography.blogspot.co.uk

Greenery

2009-02-13T04:23:00.000-08:00

One from a recent visit the RHS Gardens at Wisley where they had released exotic butterflies into their greenhouse. This meant there were hordes of visitors to work around and in the end I got carried away taking photos of the plants and took a number of photos of the palm fronds in the greenhouse for this multiple exposure image.

The full set of multiple exposure images can be found here.

http://samstylesphotography.blogspot.com

Kensington Palace

2009-02-08T15:03:00.000-08:00

After the joys of the tube when a Chelsea game happens to be on, the Circle line not working and unfortunately not making the Banqueting House this time round, my camera got its first proper shot of the day at Kensington Palace. It was a fairly quiet day with the remains of Monday's half melted snowmen littering Hyde Park. But my job today was inside... all the blinds pulled down against the sunshine and a great deal of trying to make as much use of the available light as possible.

http://samstylesphotography.blogspot.com