In the center of Amsterdam

This part of Amsterdam is very busy. The photo was taken right from the street that almost everyone take to get to the main train stations. And if you were ever in Netherland, you would know that they use trains a lot. Always I was there, the street was crazy full. But you can’t really tell from this photo :)

I took quite a few photos in this area over the years, but I never liked any. Even this one is a bit boring, with the clear blue sky. But I never really had luck with sunset in Amsterdam anyway. But of course, I will try again next time.

This is a two shot panorama, each shot from two exposures. Blended and combined in Photoshop.

And here are few details:

Evening walk under the John Frost bridge

I really like to take photos of the John Frost bridge in Arnhem. And not only because I like photos of bridges in general. It’s just so colorful at night, with a perfect reflection. And you can even get under it.

I took this photo few years back. I was on a ship docked nearby and I had some time so I went to take few photos during the sunset. It was a bit of a strange walk. A short while after I took this photo, the two cars you can see in the distance, started drag racing. Not sure if that was the best location to do that, but luckily, as it was early in the year, there were very few ships there, and no one around. Still, not the smartest thing to do.

This is a blend from three exposures. I think it’s quite obvious that this was taken with a fish-eye lens. No, this is not a panorama, but I ended cropping it into a more wider aspect ratio. The sky was just boring and I had too much of the foreground, both taking away from the main part of the image, the bridge. Blended and edited in Photoshop.

Pink color at the horizon

The lighthouse at the Neusidlersee in Poddersdorf, Austria is a great place for sunset shots. The sun set’s right behind the lighthouse most of the year, and that can make for some stunning shots. But not always. Sometimes you get only a bit of color at the horizon, with nothing in the sky. Same happened the day I took this photo. But to get as much of the pink color into it, I decided to go with a panorama. Like that, the pink area was expanded, while having less of the empty blue sky.

This is a two shot panorama, each shot from three exposures, blended, combined and finished in Photoshop.

The street towards Les Invalides in Paris

When you are taking photos from a high up place, you can either try to capture as much as you can, or focus on one single part of the scenery. To tell the truth, the wide shots are simpler. The reason is mostly wind. When you are shooting wide, a small movement of the camera will have almost no effect on the photo. When you zoom in, a small movement will completely ruin the photo. It’s the same when you are shooting handheld. The wider you go, the better chance your photo will be sharp.

This photo was taken from the top of the Tour Montparnasse in Paris. This is the only skyscraper in the center of Paris. If you ever been there, you would know, that it can get quite windy there. Since the floor is not really stable (it bends when people walk around), you can’t really use a tripod. Instead I used a clamp and attached the camera to the outside glass wall. It’s a very thick glass there. But like this, the camera was mostly outside, so right in the wind.

Here I used the 200mm lens and zoomed in a lot to get only Les Invalides in the photo. I did multiple shots, hoping that one of them will be sharp enough. And one was. This is a blend of two exposures, blended and edited in Photoshop.

Bench with a view

There are places where you can sit down, enjoy the view and just relax. This is one of them. This bench is along the path you have to take to get to the 5 fingers platform high above Hallstatt in Austria. I have been to this spot already two times in the last few years. And I want to go back. Both times it was a bit hazy when I was there. I would love a nice clear day to get the best view but had no luck with it. A sunset would be also nice, but since the cable cars going up there don’t run in the evening, that will be a bit harder to accomplish.

This is a blend of three exposures, done in Photoshop.