The world through a lens
I visited Berlin before Christmas in 2011, 2012 and here in 2014. On this occasion we got tickets to visit the dome at the top of the Reichstag (Federal Parliament). Our slot was in the late afternoon / early evening and without a tripod, I had to make do with handheld high ISO shots and a very steady hand!
All within easy walking distance of each other, the Reichstag (parliament), the Brandenburg Gate – both fully restored after substantial damage during the Second World War and the Holocaust memorial, built some way to the south of the Brandenburg Gate, are popular tourist spots in Berlin. Further away, at the Alexanderplatz is the Weltzeituhr (World Time Clock), showing the time in major cities around the world.
One cold February evening, a friend and I were standing around with tripods photographing some of the more famous London landmarks around the Tower Bridge area. Here are the results. These were taken with a Canon EOS5 and Fuji slide film (from memory, most probably Sensia).
Sometimes you go somewhere where there should be a thousand good things to shoot and end up taking a bunch of mediocre shots and then occasionally a brief moment of inspiration produces something that stands apart from all the others.
Somewhere I wanted to visit was the Opera Garnier, the “real” Paris opera house to see the inspiration for Gaston Leroux’s ‘Phantom of the Opera’. I wondered if the sets for the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical (both stage and cinematic version) came anywhere close to the interior of the place itself. There is a long gallery along the fron of the building which is magnificently decorated but unfortunately light levels precluded a shake-free shot, even at high ISO and I had no tripod. This however was taken in the stairwell.
Prague is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and in general lacks modern high rise buildings (with the notable exception of the television tower). By night it is especially picturesque and romantic.
My first visit to Prague was in March 2008, where these photos were taken with a Canon EOS350D.
A few HDR shots taken about a year ago in the area near my home new when my EOS7D was new.
