Travel

Lisbon at Night

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Does this bridge look familiar? It certainly did to me the first time I saw the Ponte 25 de Abril… it appears to be strikingly similar to the world famous Golden Gate Bridge!

Well, as it turns out these two bridges have things in common: they are red in colour and belong to the category of the suspension bridges.

However, even though a taxi driver told me a tale of the same architect who constructed both bridges, the truth is Lisbon’s Ponte 25 de Abril has been built by the American Bridge Company – the same company that built the other massive bridge connecting the Bay Area: the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge.

That doesn’t make the Ponte 25 de Abril less imposing. As  the longest suspension bridge in Europe this is quite an enormous construction, connecting Lisbon with Almada on the other side of the Tagus River.

Lisbon Sunset Fantástico!

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Balmy temperatures, stunning architecture and grand views – that all is Lisbon. What Lisbon is also: sore calf muscles!

The one who wants to enjoy the rich beauty of Portugal’s capital has to be prepared to go the extra mile… or two for that matter…. up some brutally steep hills. The reward is even greater, though, for those who make the effort.

My legs were hurting, that’s for sure. Yet, while not inspired photography wise during my few days, (Lisbon offers enough subjects to photograph – I was simply not in “the zone” and had other things on my mind) it still felt great to climb around the city and get surprised about what’s next to be explored beyond the next wall of steep stairs.

The richest of rewards to reap is – of course – a delightful sunset; the golden sunlight glowing above the rooftops of Lisbon’s historical city, illuminating the monumental Lisbon castle

This photo – one of the few I took during the week – was taken atop of the Miradouro da Graça – quite clearly the prime viewpoint of Lisbon. A grand view offering the full scale of the hilly Portuguese capital.

Using the Telezoom Tamron 70-200mm turned out a perfect option opposed to a wide angle. A handful of vertical frames shot at 70mm stitched together in post worked best for me.

Panoramic Fuerteventura

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The stunning panorama of Fuerteventura as seen from the Mirador Morro Velosa – six vertical frames each at 70mm taken and stitched together in post to create this kilometer long view across several barranco’s.

It’s actually not that long ago, that I owned a computer with a hard drive of the size of the original file of this image. It brought the old laptop I had with me on the trip to Fuerteventura down to its knees processing it.

Sydney Rainbow

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Battered by storm and rain for days, Sydney still manages to produce breathtaking beauty: a massive double rainbow stretches all the way from Harbour Bridge across the entire city centre.

Photographs like this, but even more so these moments witnessing it in flesh are the reward for being out there regardless of the weather. If you wanna see it you got to make the effort. You won’t get this on your couch in front of the TV.

In these days here in Sydney, where it has rarely stopped to rain and I got soaked multiple times since I arrived, it would have been easy to kick back, relax and enjoy coffee and cake in the one of the really nice coffee shops the city has to offer aplenty.

But there is more to life, isn’t it? So I get out there and soak up the beauty of this place, the visual riches that keep giving and giving particular for photography.

Though, I have to admit, that particular day when this shot was taken – Thursday – a couple of hours before I was slightly depleted. I sat in the train on the way to the city, and the rain was hammering against the windows again… or still? You know, when this is all you see and hear for days it can be a bit depressing. Particularly if you fly around the globe to see this particular city!

But you know what? The easy option would have been not to get out. To stay snuggled up home, and let the rain pass. The easy option would have not rewarded me with the breathtaking view of a double rainbow over the Harbour Bridge.

Lesson of the story? Get out shoot enjoy life and keeping shooting!

Hiking in the Adelaide Hills

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Day 3 in “Down Under” – still Adelaide, though slowly but steadily my time here draws to a close. It was an early start, the sun stood sky high, you got to make the most of that. The plan was to hike in the Adelaide Hills.

Eventually I ended up in the Cleland Conservation Park, roughly 20km outside of the city – a IUCN protected area – so quite an important piece of nature. Several excellently marked trails lead through the 11.25 square kilometre big park.

While I have seen more spectacular mountains (though these are called ‘hills’ anyway) it was nonetheless a great day out in the nature the whole day and well worth a long hike to be eventually rewarded with a stunning view of the city itself – as the image above shows.

Conditions were not ideal to shoot I have to admit. I didn’t have time to wait for the sunset so the sun was still quite high shining harshly into the valley where the city lies. The view was not totally clear and my Nikon D7100 had clearly issues to capture a balanced scene.

So I tried to bracket my shots and see what could be done in post combining the files. I’m happy enough with the output. The image was taken with the new Tamron 70-200mm G2 lens.

On my way back, already near the end of my trail, I suddenly heard some strange noises coming from the bushes near me…. and there they were, two kangaroos! Just finding themselves a spot to rest.

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Adelaide Oval Panorama

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Got to be open for surprises. This was not on the agenda for today – day two in Adelaide – but if you get the chance… the gates were open so I walked through right into the magnificent Adelaide Oval this afternoon.

Why? I don’t know. I only walked past the Oval because it was on the way to the St. Peter’s Cathedral and I thought maybe I get a nice shot from the outside from across the bridge.

Turned out some company was holding a conference inside the ground on the second level hence nobody cared for the little fella that I was strolling around like a kid in a candy shop.

I took the full advantage, the complete tour all the way round and got a lovely panorama I would have not dared to dream to ever get a couple of days ago.

This stadium is a thing of a beauty. Breathtaking architecture – let’s hope atmosphere holds up…. gonna find out on Thursday when Port Adelaide Football Club plays in front of a 53.500 capacity crowd!

………

Shot taken: ISO 100, f/11, five horizontal frames, bracketed exposure – Nikon D7100, Simga 17-50mm

Sky on Fire

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ISO 100, 8s, 17mm, f/11 – Nikon D7100, Sigma 17-50mm

First day in Australia – Adelaide in the south, to be specific. The first port of call for my three weeks long trip through “Aussieland”. A dream its been for a long time. Finally the chance to make it real. Although – and I didn’t quite know what it would mean when I booked the rather lowly priced flight tickets – it’s winter in “Down Under”.

Winter in Australia? Can’t be that bad, can it? Well, turns out it isn’t but then it kind of is – Says I didn’t have unrealistic expectations like roasting on the beach and surfing the waves in the ocean. Just one thing: no rain – PLEASE!

Dublin’s farewell gift on Saturday was a wet storm that soaked you only from sprinting as fast as you can the five meters from the taxi to the entrance of terminal two – desperate stuff!

24 hours later I come to realise the weather-god (Neptune is it, right?) and I we never make friends in this life – he sent the wet storm round the globe all the way down to Adelaide. Thanks mate!

First day in South Australia. 13 degrees, the Air BnB freezing, heaters are overvalued in a city where it’s nearly always hot. Those three or four weeks were it isn’t? Tough luck.

Now, while this type of weather isn’t good for the tan, it certainly is good for producing a stunning sky. That’s exactly what I was hoping for when I went down to Seacliff Beach in the afternoon.

Boy oh boy it didn’t disappoint! The constant play between sun and rain created the most amazing sky. There were those thick layers of dark, rain filled clouds that tried to drown the sun and its warm rays – an epic fight!

To capture the emotions and create maximum drama of the scene my idea was to get some long exposures. The first image at the top is my favourite from today. A final piece of sea grass clinging on to dear life, lying still, all his friends already washed away, while rain and sun fight it out in the background. A fitting tribute to the day it was!

In the end the rain won and the sea captured the beach. The tide is merciless.

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ISO 100, 4s, 17mm, f/11 – Nikon D7100, Sigma 17-50mm

Skellig Michael

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Great Skellig, the larger brother of the Skellig islands, stand tall and proud eleven kilometres off the west coast of Ireland. The islands peal rises to over 230 m above sea level and is recognised a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

A sixth-century Christian monastery sits at 160 m above sea level on a ledge close to the top of the lower peak- back in the day it used to be known as the end of the world. It certainly feels like that if you happen to find yourself there coated by layers of fog…

In Focus

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Shanghai, December 2016

Power Nap Anyone?

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TOKYO – a strange place. A modern place. A busy place. Guess it can be a little bit overwhelming at times. Well, it was certainly for me, that’s for sure.

A busy place, with busy people and busy lives – little wonder that people can be overwhelmed… overwhelmed by tiredness that is!