I had to go to Bogota on business and needed to try and get a better shot for my cities project. I had almost no free time, so accepted a kind offer to shoot from the El Nogal Club, which might have a good view of the city. Unfortunatly, terrace is on the wrong side and I didn’t get a great shot….

El Nogal has an interesting history, being the subject of a terrorist bombing in 2003. If I had time I would have gone for a shot of the building, providing I didn’t get hasseled by security . Alas, time and tides, etc., so that’s all I got on this trip. Bogota is a difficult city to shoot. It’s tough to find a good vantage that identifies the city with a discrete character. Maybe next time. If anyone has suggestions for a definitive shot that captures the cities identity, please let me know!

More to come…..

Vienna has all sorts of hidden views. A beautiful spring day precludes walking through the underground tunnels of the metro system, and reveals the interesting.

This edifice of ornate design, for a cafe and metro station, almost a confection in it’s presence.

More to come….

Wandering around central Vienna, you sort of stumble upon classic architecture and views. I was walking with a friend to get coffee, and walked past this ally with St. Peters at the end.

This was shot with the Fuji x10 and demonstrates nice telephoto compression. Capable little camera.

More to come…..

    I had a plan. The plan was to go to the Belvedere palace in Vienna and get a shot of it at dusk. Should be fairly straightforward. I wanted a head on shot of upper Belvedere, with reflection in the lake, with the lights on at dusk. Simple.

Initially all went well. I took the metro to a station close by and hiked into the gardens. I noticed on the gate a sign that said the gardens close at 6:30 pm. That was going to be tricky, as the sunset around 6 and being in the north, I knew I would struggle to get the light balance right by then. I resolved to shoot until 6:25, then leave. This part went well. I got a nice shot that I was pleased with, that will enlarge nicely.

There is a bit of foot traffic, some joggers and the like, and I here a garbled announcement over a crappy PA system that I assume meant the place was locking up. I keep shooting until 6:25, then grab my kit and start heading for the gate. I get there and the bloody thing is locked already! I know I’m not late, but there is no way I can get over the gate or the 20′ tall walls. Time to look for a second exit. The palace gardens are big! I wandered around, trying each gate for about 1/2 an hour. I saw some people in the distance, but they ran off when I approached them and hid behind locked staff doors!

Now I’m pissed off and struggling to keep my usually good nature. I finally found a caretaker hanging out of a basement window in the palace having a smoke. He tells me where to go to get out. You go to the west gate. There are 3 iron gates – a big one in the middle and two smaller ones to the left and right. got to the one on the left and you’ll see and intercom. Push it. They watch you through the CCTV cameras and the buzzer sounds and the gate swings open. Finally!

I’m sure the security guards were wetting themselves at my antics. Or not. The Austrians don’t seem to have much of a sense of humour.

More to come…..

So next stop is Singapore. I’ve got a couple of days here, but I’m on business which is limiting what I can achieve. Some research via the usual channels leads me to the spot I want to explore and shoot at dusk. Grab a taxi and head down to the Helix bridge. This is down by Marina Bay and I can’t think of anything that typifies a vibrant Asian city better than Singapore. There is an art festival going on, with installations scattered around the Marina. You can see one in this image…on the Art and Science museum. This is the flower shaped building in the left center of the image and you can see a pattern of butterflies that is being projected onto it. This projection cycled through various images, just very cool.

So I have the Helix bridge and the heart of Singapore. This is definitely a city I want to come back to and explore at leisure….

More to come……

The previous post was taken at dusk along the banks of the Swan river opposite the central business district of Perth. While I was wandering around looking for “the shot” I came to the Boatyard = a resurant wth a pier. I’m a sucker for a good pier, so it had to be imaged…..

This was crying out for a B&W treatment, for which I rely on Nik Silver Efex. I love this stuff….

More to come…

The following eveing I got a chance to visit the other side of the river running through Perth. Funny how all the cities I’ve been to in Australia have a river running through them. This was fun as I walked along the bank next to the jogging path. The heat of the day was ebbing and the joggers were out in force!

This ended up being a more difficult shot than aticipated. The issue was with the bright magenta building to the right of the frame. As it happens, it changes colour and lights up in different patterns! Because of the slow shutter speed, I had to take a bunch of frames to try and get something not white as the light changes were much faster than the shutter speed. I think this is a government building…..totally lacking in taste.

 More to come……

Next stop was Perth. The first night there I got down to the Bell Tower, A funky piece of modern architecture, that is a functioning bell tower!

This is almost a straight shot out of the camera and demonstrates just why I love my D700. Beautiful colour capture and rendition, fantastic noise control. All I needed to do was crop it and punch up the clarity.

More to come….

Next morning, being a Saturday, I started out lazy and reviewed the images from the previous night. I was ticked off because there was a nasty dust fleck in the middle of my sky, plus loads of small motes of dust! I’d cleaned the sensor thoroughly before the trip, using the Copper Hill Method. The sensor and my lenses were spotless, but in a few short days of shooting I was getting eaten alive by the dust bunnies! I usually pack a rocket blower and a sensor brush, but I’d forgotten both this time, Duh!

I really wanted to get the sensor cleaned. I called around Adelaide, but the only store that could do it was shut..in fact had just closed. I called Total Photographic Supplies and explained to Toby my predicament. He told me they’d just closed for the afternoon. Then he asked me where I was staying. He said, No Worries, I’ll see you in 15 minutes. He drove over with his cleaning kit, met me in the lobby and proceeded to work his magic. 30 minutes later, I have a lovely clean sensor, and a tip. Swab the lens mount! loads of black residue and particles from the lens cap hide there, just waiting to get blown onto the sensor!

So if you are ever in Adelaide, need gear or help, look up Total Photographic Supplies. They are top notch for service and I can fully recommend them.

So on to Glenelg! This is a small town (more like suburb) of Adelaide on the beach. I went with an old friend and wandered along the beach looking for a nice sunset shot. Of course, I did my usual thing of waiting long past sunset and got an interesting shot of the pier. Technically, there is a lot wrong with the shot, with lens flare and distortion of the light, but I really like this shot. The alternate is below it….

Now this is a different take on it. Someone stood still long enough to register, and the first lamp post is cropped out – so no flare. Completely different feel and message. So which do you prefer? Leave a comment with your preference and tell me why!

More to come……..

Now in Adelaide, South Australia. Interesting citycity. For me, very reminiscent of a provincial English town. It isn’t, but it does have that kind of feel in some respects. I’d done a bit of research and had some ideas about where I wanted to go, what I wanted to see.

The first stop was the State Library of South Australia. In particular, the Mortlock wing. I’d seen pictures of it on flickr and StuckOnEarth, and knew that if I had a chance I wanted to see it and shoot it. I wandered throught he city to the librarary and found the wing. Not Dissapointed!

I have two angles on this. One is the symetrical shot above, the second is below. This is one of those occasions where I’m torn as to which I prefer…..

From the library, I scouted down by the Torrance River, known as the “Mighty Torrent” by the locals – Aussie humour, you understand. I thought I know what I wanted, but there are construction cranes all over the place, and they light up with adverts at night! Not what I was looking for. So I walked back into town and camped out in Victoria Square. This had the distinct advantage of being right in front of my hotel, so easy walk to refreshments.

Victoria Square has a nice fountain, over lit unfortunately, and a nice view with the post office. This is a victorian building and I personally found it quite charming. So my Adelaide city shot was of these two predominate features.

Next stop…..Glenelg!