what a Dancing room !

Nice picture, very bright !

Always perfection djn !

The sharpness was the first thing I was going to mention. I love all the detail and great sharpness. Well done.

Dave,
It is certainly different. Why did you choose to tone it this way? I don't know, b/c I have not seen the original, but I think the place is so barroque that it is hard to distinguish at that tone, maybe a bit of color coming through?

Good handheld.

Is it just me or is the picture unlevel. The whole image looks to falling away to the right. An optical illusion I suspect

I like the randomness of the people, it contrasts with the grand formality of the place. Nice tone and detail as well. I bet with more time there is some good pictures to be made in this venue.

VelviaPix: my wife preferred the colour version, but I wasn't happy with the colour balance, particularly in terms of some red lighting around the stage area. When I reshoot this I'll take a tripod, custom white-balance it first, and generally think a bit more about the post-processing before taking the shot.

John: yep, you're right. I had two versions of this, one I'd straightened, one I didn't. I'll fix it shortly.

Very nicely done handheld, i never realised that the ballroom was so grand, it looks like an amazing place.

Also, depending on the weather, me and Ioannis are heading to blackpool tomorrow so if your not busy and fancy meeting up again, give us a shout.

I don't think I'd worry about the position of the dancers in all honesty Dave as - for me - they're merely a periphereal detail in a shot that is all about the grandeur of the location...which you've hit bang on the head. I can well appreciate the challenge in exposing this correctly and I have to say you've done a superb job.

D'you know what I really like though?...the chairs. It's a great shot imo..technically and aesthetically..I mean, come on!! Look at the detail in the stage backdrop! :-)

Hmm...picking up on John's point, it is a bit unlevel isn't it. The columns by the stage would suggest so anyway.

Hey..but APART from that.... ;-)

WOW! stunning shot.

This is beautiful, especially the detail. I really like the lines created by the baclony seats.

I would love to know what it feels like to dance in such a place!

definitally a break from the norm.

And to be honest when I saw this I didn't think it was one of yours (I open up all my photoblog links in tabs and navigate via tab screenshots).

Anway Its a good image, plenty of action, shadows, contrast and detail.
Looks like an enjoyable image to post process did you consider attacking it with manual dodge, burning and sharpening at all???

A closed space, handheld, f/4 and 1/15 of a second shutter speed? You must have the less shaky hands in the world. The sharpness is unbelievable. The tone that you choose, transport this photo to another era. This looks like a vintage photo.

A jewel encrusted cave! Superb

I love the old-timey feel of this one. It just wouldn't be the same without the couples dancing out there.

love the tones in this one....and of course the grandeur of the ballroom is beautiful. Different for you but a pleasant surprise!
Phil

Thanks everyone :-)

SteveO: can't make it tomorrow, but let me know when you're next around. I am going out at some ponit, just don't know when yet.

John/Mark: I've levelled it off a bit. It still looks a bit skewed, but it's better.

JD: this was selectively processed, rather messily in this case. The end result isn't too bad though.

nuno: I had the back of my head pressed against a pillar, and the camera pressed against my face. If you brace your body against something it makes it much easier to handhold at these speeds.

Bloody impressive ballroom!

Hi Dave - I like this - reminds me of Moulin Rouge in terms of grandeur - but what I'm really interested in is your comment about re-shooting it. When you say you would think longer about how you would postprocess it, what exactly would your considerations be? I ask as I'm not sure that my thoughts about how I post process the image play much of a part in how I shoot it. I shoot something, thinking that this might look good in B&W, or that might look good with a touch of cross-processing, or some colour saturation etc... But it doesn't affect HOW I shoot as such. All tips welcomed!

The building detail is stunning. I don't care much for the chairs in the foreground, but I suppose you risk chopping too much off the dancers then...

owen: one thing I might do is shoot at least two images of the same scene, one shot at around 400 ISO (the same as this one) to get a reasonable shutter speed for the people on the dance floor, and another at 100 ISO. I'd then combine these in photoshop on the basis that there will be less noise in the ISO 100 shot. The noise isn't too bad in this shot, but I did have to run it through noise ninja which always, to a greater or lesser extent, compromises the fine detail in an image. Also, I'd probably set a custom white-balance before I started as I just couldn't get it right in this shot. I did try, but everything white in the shot is at least partially lit by coloured spotlights. This made colour correcting this one quite difficult (and I gave up trying in the end and went for a toned image instead). What I might also do is exposure bracket rather than correct later. In this shot the ceiling and balconies were a bit dark. Rather than lighten them in photoshop it might be better to shoot a lighter version and combine elements of it later.

I guess the bottom-line with this sort of shot is that the detail is very important, and anything that can mitigate against its loss is probably worth pursuing. Oh, just realised, I've have to buy a 1Ds mkII to really do this shot justice. I'll just nip off and tell my wife the good news ;-) Seriously though, because there's nothing you can actually do about the lighting in this sort of shot (unless you have a whole ton of pro' kit) it becomes an interesting challenge to work out the best way of photographing the scene to portray it at its best.

Impressive place and lovely tones. With the tilt, it must be some big cruise ship!

The people to me look unimpressive. As a visual diary shot, yes, fine. You were here and made beauty out of beauty. But there is no moment. No reason for this 1/15th rather than the next.

If you straightened the tilt it would go in the dance club's brochure, but art? No.

(Oh, and I fully understand the visual diary bit, but as a viewer I can respond better to the individual shot than to the lifestyle. Just as written diaries lose their interest when the writer gets to the 'had tomatoes for lunch' stage, visual diaries lose their interest when all they say is 'this is where I went today'. As you can guess, I'm not much of a diary reader. Go on 'documenting the process'. I think it is very illuminating when you talk about your own work and your feelings towards it).

seriocomic: I did take a few shots without the chairs in the shot, but the sense of scale wasn't as impressive. To be honest, I need a slightly wider lens (or a full frame sensor) as I was backed up as far as I could go. A bit more space would have been good.

cj: I already straightened it ;-) As for "art? no": I quite agree, it's a technically decent shot of the room and all the 1/15s I took that day are much of a muchness; that's what I was saying about needing to reshoot this one at some point.

Very interesting subject. I often want to go back to a location and re-shoot an image. It just never seems to work out as well as the first time. I get a technically better shot but often lose the moment that I liked so much.

Did you hand hold the camera? The dancers must have been moving very slowly.

I LOVE this shot more than any photo I have seen online in a while. I could look at it for days. Thanks for this weekend treat.

It reminds me a lot of my fav photo of the Coliseum I took in Rome. The building itself looked great, but all these modern vehicles were circling it. After developing it several ways I started to love the mix of old and new in the photo and that's what I like about the people in your shot. It's like 2 worlds collide into one fantastic story.

I'd love to see the full size version. I'm sure the detail is even more impressive.

The tone works well; it reminds me of an old movie that one of the dancers may remember.

How you could have achieved such clairty with 1/15 shutter is beyond me! But i really love the couple in the lower lefthand corner who is just about to enter the dance floor. And oh the delicate details in the dance hall that you have captured so well!

one word:
wow

Beautiful...I love it. It seems so huge and grand. The people are random, but still they add modernism to the antiquiity of the ballroom. I love it. And I think it is much better in this tone than anything you could have done in colour.

Holy shit! Grand is what I say this to be. Very grand indeed. You can't help but be in awe of the size and design. Well done.

What a lovely shot---I particularly like the tone. I've been striving for something similar, but, have failed miserably.

I'm sure it's a wonderful structure to behold in person--but--this is the next best thing.

Hi Dave, really very nice photo. And the sepia tone is very good too... :-) Gratulation!

All that is missing from this shot is Bruce Forsyth and a couple of celebs.

Seriously - The shot has grown on me and I returned to it because at first I wasn't sure that it was one of your better efforts.

Now that its straightened it looks instantly better visually. I think the reason why I like it is because the ballroom probably holds very long term memories for the people that are dancing and I bet there is a tinge of sadness as well.

There seems to be a lack of youthfulness in the literal sense yet I bet they feel young and fresh.

So now, after putting my deep and meaningful thoughts into it I'm exhausted and a Starbucks is looming.

It's gone from a 4 up to an 8 ;-) MB

David, After your post processing the exposure and composition looks spot on to me.

Dave, sure you have a steady hand. Splendid photo everything in

detail, fantastic ballroom, a work of yesteryears.....

I personally don't bother about where the people are standing, I am

looking at the beauty of the interior.

Forgive if I don't express myself properly, you see, I am originally

Italian self-taught the English language.

Wow, this shot is delicious! I love the B&W and feel it really couldn't go any other way as these types of rooms are "too" colourful sometimes. I'm particularly struck by the timelessness of this photo. Yet again, great shot!

oh my God!!!! i literally gasped 'WOW' as this picture opened on my page........ PERFECTION. you are amazing dave! i really cant think of any more to say, just WOW.

monochrome works on this brilliant subject.. composition marred by falling off to the right and the seats backs are distracting..

this is a very glorious shot. i think it's okay if people on the dance floor are not in an orderly lines!

this is one grand ballroom!! it just looks amazing and so many details to look at. amazing what you can capture! :)

My initial reaction was "vulgar Rococo is the opium of the people" but then (like others above have picked up on) I realised that the image is definitely more "Recherchez les Temps Perdu". I've been there and the place is a crypt-like in its resistance to acknowledging the passage of time. "Tea on the sands" may have long been replaced by vodka shots in gay bars, but for the ballroom, and it's inhabitants, the strains of Glenn Miller still resonate as their "moment in time". I like the way the casual, leisure-wear of the dancers is juxtaposed on garish, opulence. The conflict of styles doesn't matter to them. It's accepted as their much-loved, little Versailles for a few days a year and they feel at home. (Weirdly though, even though the fashions may have changed from seamed stockings or Brylcreem, their posture positions them perfectly in the era of their youth).

And I love the rows of empty chairs in the foreground. It's moving. It immediately struck me as a gallery of spectral spectators....the "Tommys" and "Bettys' of yesteryear ......observing....and possibly smiling a little wistfully at their surviving peers. This aspect (literally) underlines the "title" for me....

(I absolutely love it)

Thanks everyone. As I mentioned, I'll probably shoot this scene again, at which point I'll probably take on board a lot of the comments you've made on this one. One thing though, I do think the shot is better with the line of seats at the bottom than not. The shots I took that didn't include them didn't work nearly so well, at least not in my opinion.

sorry this is short and sweet...but OMG WOW!!!!

I love the detail of the room! I love the sepia tone and how everything, with the dancers and the lights, looks alive. An ornate place like this could have a tendency to look creepy but you've captured it really well.

very cool composition.. and great handholding skill.. right on exposure for me..

Wow, what an amazing room. It's well worth paying to get into the Tower after all.

Thanks a lot for the tips woth exposure. I have found this problem before.

magnificent... ironic! formal space (architecture) with the casual dancers. delicate ornaments. i like it very much.

i love everything about this shot - even the random dancers. i probably wouldn't like it as much had it been in color. nice b & w.

wow

Wow this image truely took my breath away, normally I lurk in the shadows but WOW!

i love evry pic , detail of the room , the shot , really it great ,this 1 cause to make love this art