I have posted a number of images from the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia. I shot a ton of photos that day and as I sift through them, I rediscover those unusual cells that show a little bit of prison life. This is one of those images. I am not sure if this image is an accurate portrayal of one of the original cells, but it almost looks like an inviting place for a convict to sit and either write or read (at least compared to the other barren cells).
Reflections of the Netherlands
Our visit to Zaanse Schans, an open air conservation area and museum just outside of Amsterdam, was intended as a visit to see the six working windmills that are situated there along the banks of the Zaan River. After parking after our drive from Amsterdam, we walked to the entrance and discovered this scene of some of the houses and their reflections. We found out that Zaanse Schans is actually a small village complete with wonderful little houses, small museums, shops and restaurants. It was a beautiful time to spend the morning taking in the Netherlands countryside.
Cologne Waterfront
The Rhine River flows from Lake Toma in eastern Switzerland and flows through Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France and the Netherlands before flowing into the North Sea at Rotterdam. Along the way, there are beautiful towns and cities that dot this beautiful route. Some are small towns while others are large cities. What is so great about a river cruise is that the boats often pull up to the side of the river so that passengers can just hop off and be in the city. One of my favorite stops in Germany was Cologne. After the ship docked, I hopped off and was only a few steps from this scene on Cologne's waterfront. While the weather wasn't at its best, the town was quite inviting as we sampled the local brews and cuisine.
Headed Inland
Sailing along the Alaskan coast is an amazing experience. The scenery is wonderful with majestic mountain ranges seemingly guarding any intrusion inland. Wildlife is plentiful from humpback whales that can be seen swimming parallel alongside our ship as well as seals and otters that surface everywhere. Above our heads, bald eagles are searching for fish in all of their magnificence. As we headed toward the Alexander Archipelago via the Icy Straits, our destination was through Glacier Bay to its inland jewel, Glacier Bay National Park . As I stood on deck in the cold morning, I couldn't help but stare in wonder at the beautiful scene in front of me. As I composed each image, I wished that instead of only spending the day in this beautiful part of Alaska's coast, we could set anchor and spend a week.
Empty Benches
A quick post and run today. This image was taken during last year's trip to shoot Niagara Falls. After shooting the falls at sunrise, I headed out to St Catharines and Lake Ontario to see what I could find. I stumbled on this marina that had a long jetty along with two lighthouses. The marina was surprisingly deserted and I really liked these benches that extended out toward the lake with one of the lighthouses in the background.
The Bird Cage
Disney is one of the most popular and successful companies in the world. There are probably a myriad of reasons why that is so. Many of their resort hotels, as well as Epcot, are beautiful renditions of other places around the world. How do they seem to pull it off? To me, it is in the details. It seems that Disney has created or recreated places and things that, upon examination, are so detailed that they make you believe that you have been transported somewhere else and are seeing the real thing. This is everywhere you look at Disney. Take this bird cage that is in the middle of the atrium in Fort Wilderness Lodge. This is no ordinary bird cage. If you look at the image closely, the amount of detail is incredible. Sure, they could have put an ordinary cage there but that would not elicit a "Wow" form its visitors.
Canal View
Every time I visit Europe, I am always surprised how prevalent canals are in many of its cities. This is very unlike the majority of cities here in the United States. The canals give each city a unique feel and character. This is particularly true of Amsterdam which is know as the "Venice of the North". Amsterdam has over 60 miles of canals, 90 islands and approximately 1,500 bridges. While this obvious comparison to Venice is only natural, I found that the architecture of each city differentiated itself from the other. There were times, however, when I turned a corner and wouldn't have known whether I was in Amsterdam or Venice. This image of an Amsterdam canal is such an example. Maybe it is the architecture, the light or something else, but this scene screamed Venice to me.
Ancient Drainage
The first stop on our recent river cruise was to Kinderdijk, Netherlands. Kinderdijk is located in a polder at the the meeting of the Lek and Noord rivers. After docking, we headed to the Mill Network at Kinderdijk-Elshout. This attraction is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and consists of 19 windmills that were built around 1740. The reason these windmills were built was to reclaim the land from the water thus creating the polder. Before visiting the Netherlands, I hadn't realized that 27% of its land mass is below sea level and how much land has been reclaimed from the sea. It seems amazing to me that about 250 years ago, someone came up with the idea of building these windmills to reclaim land. This is an image of one of the windmills at the the Mill Network. The river is to the right of this windmill and I was standing in front of another windmill. I really liked this composition as it shows some of the reclaimed land.
Sandy and Lighthouse Reflections
Hurricane Sandy devastated the East Coast unlike ever before. Particularly hard hit was the Jersey Shore. I grew up in South Jersey and remember spending over 15 years vacationing in Beach Haven on Long Beach Island. I haven't been back to Beach Haven since I was a teenager but still have fond memories. My wife and I still have large families in New Jersey. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law own second houses in Wildwood and Cape May respectively. I was happy to hear that they had minimal damage to their houses. I was actually visiting New Jersey the weekend Hurricane Sandy was headed there. I went down to visit my Mom and catch an Eagles game with my brother-in-law. Needless to say, I never made the game as I hightailed it out of there back to Connecticut after helping him put up a tarp to block some of the rain (the tarp actually survived the wind).
I hope that the Jersey Shore recovers quickly and becomes even better than before. I haven't shot there in a couple of years so I am posting a re-edited image. This image is of the Cape May Light reflecting brightly after a big storm the night before. At least for me, it is symbolic that the Jersey Shore will shine again soon.
The Backside
A little change of pace for today's image. I don't shoot flowers very often but when you visit a sunflower farm, flowers are the main subject. There are so many excellent flower photographers out there that it is hard to get a different perspective. Although I know this composition is not original, I kind of like showing the backside of this particular sunflower with it's carpals (okay, I had to look this up) and receptacle.
Blustering Wind
Fort Pickering Light, also known as Winter Island Light, is pictured in this image on a very windy day near Salem, Massachusetts. The lighthouse is located just offshore Winter Island which is now connected to the mainland. Winter Island was the site of Fort Pickering which is now abandoned. The 28 foot light was built of iron lined with brick in 1871 to serve as a guide into Salem harbor. The original lighthouse keeper was a Civil War veteran who watched the light from 1871 - 1919, only being absent for 5 days during that period. It was later taken over by the Coast Guard who abandoned the light in 1969.
Waterton Overlook
I have previously posted images of the smallest and least famous national park in Alberta, Waterton Lakes National Park. It's location in southern Alberta, makes it a forgotten park when compared to Canada's national parks to north (Banff & Jasper) and the famous U.S. Glacier National Park that abuts Waterton. While Waterton is famous for it's lakes, It would be a mistake not to mention the mountains that are prevalent throughout the park. We stayed at a quaint lodge in Waterton Townsite and really enjoyed it's location on Upper Waterton Lake and the majestic mountains that surround the town. I had to get a shot of the town and this location provided the perfect viewpoint. Also pictured is Emerald Bay just to the foreground to the town.
Strasbourg View
Whenever we embark on a cruise, there are always a number of ports that we probably wouldn't have visited on our own. Oftentimes, we become quite taken with a location and wonder why it wasn't on our "must visit" list. Our recent Rhine River cruise provided such a place, Strasbourg, France. We docked on the Rhine in Kehl, Germany and after a quick bus ride over the bridge, we were in Strasbourg. Strasbourg is the capital of the Alsace region of France. It's beautiful historical center was named as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. From it's historical buildings such as the Strasbourg Cathedral to our new favorite food, tartes flambées (a wafer thin pizza made with onion-cream sauce) to it's beautiful canals (shown in this image), it is easy to understand why Strasbourg is a destination not to be missed.
After the Rain
Some of my favorite times to shoot are right after it rains. That is because the standing water often results in some wonderful reflections. I love shooting reflections and I think that this is true of most photographers. This image was taken after an overnight rain in Newport, Rhode Island. As I drove past this small park, I noticed the standing water leading to the gazebo. I immediately parked the car, hopped out and shot a few frames. This image seemed the best of the lot. I think my wife has gotten whiplash from me slamming the brakes to get a shot.
Fallen
Here in New England, the peak foliage has passed and all that is left are dying leaves. This is a quick shot of a bench in Norfolk, Connecticut with some of the fallen.
Alps Overlook
In previous blog posts, I described the trip we took to Mount Pilatus that towers over Lucerne, Switzerland. The mountain got its name from a legend that states that Pontius Pilate was buried there. After taking a cruise on Lake Lucerne and riding the steepest cog railroad in the world, you reach the observation deck just below the summit of the mountain. After spending time at the summit, the trip continued with a 48 person gondola ride (which can be seen just leaving the mountain) down the other side of the mountain. About halfway down, you switch to a 4 person gondola to waiting buses on the ground. The observation deck, pictured in this image, gives a 360 degree view of the surrounding area. To the south, the world famous Alps can be seen in the distance. Almost straight down, a small portion of Lake Lucerne is visible. A little to the west (not shown in the image) is the city of Lucerne. Just to the right (also not in the image) is a Swiss Army base. Male citizens are required to serve in the army annually until the age of 34.
Tranquility
Today we return to one of my favorite drives on Earth, the Icefields Parkway in Alberta, Canada. The 140 mile road links two of the most beautiful national parks in Canada: Banff National Park and Jasper National Park. The road runs parallel to the Continental Divide. The natural attractions along the route include glaciers, waterfalls, icefields, canyons and too many lakes and mountains to count. Many of these attractions are a short walk or drive off of the parkway. This image is of Herbert Lake, just north of Lake Louise. It is literally 20 feet from the road. There is no better time to shoot the lake than at sunrise. The lake is usually abandoned that early in the morning and the peace and tranquility lends itself to become one with nature.
Panoramic Sendona
When booking a trip, a little luck comes into play especially when you are booking a hotel. Often when you go online to check out the place, there are great images of the facilities and the surrounding area. I've stayed in some places that look good and when I get there, I am disappointed that the property is nothing like the pictures and the reviews. There are other times they surprise you in a good way. Such was our stay in Sedona. The Orchards Inn was located in Old Town and the entrance was hard to find as it is tucked behind stores and restaurants. It looked okay from the outside but not what I was hoping for. We checked into the hotel and moved our luggage to the room. The room was nice, maybe a little better than average. And then I opened the sliding doors and walked out onto the balcony. I stopped in my tracks and stared at the wonderful view that I had. I quickly ran back into the room and grabbed my camera and tripod and rushed back onto the balcony. I shot off a few photos and realized that I wasn't getting what I wanted, so I decided to shoot a panorama to see if I could capture what I felt and saw. I don't usually shoot panoramas, not sure why, but after this experience, I need to shoot more of them. Anyway, this is the result. This 21 image panorama captured the scene as I hoped it would with the great evening light giving the famous Red Rocks their great glow.
Erosion
To finish this week's posts, we leave Europe and travel across the pond to Arizona and the Grand Canyon. There are many theories of how the Grand Canyon was formed, but the most prevailing one is erosion. The present day canyon is the result of nearly two billion years being exposed to water, ice and wind. Many geologists believe that the Colorado River established its course through the canyon at least 17 million years ago cut channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. I tried to keep this geological feat in mind when I composed this image of the Colorado River on the eastern end of the park. It is hard to believe that it could have formed such a dramatic landscape but I guess a lot can happen over 17 million years.
Magnificence
The influence of the Catholic Church can be found throughout Europe. It seems that every city had a wonderful cathedral and there was tremendous competition to build one that was considered better that the neighboring towns. While this kind of competition was probably not in line with the tenants of the Catholic religion, it resulted in some amazing structures that are still around today. One such church is the Basilica di San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy. The Basilica dates from the mid-6th century and contains what are probably the finest Byzantine mosaics in the western world. Construction of San Vitale Basilica was initiated by Ecclesius, Bishop of Ravenna, shortly after a trip to Byzantium with Pope John in 525. The outside of the Basilica is very understated and contrasts dramatically with the magnificence of the inside. Upon entering the Basilica, you are exposed to some of the most beautiful murals made of Byzantine mosaics that you will ever encounter. The inside was very dark and since tripods were not allowed, I pushed the ISO as high as I could and used pillars to lean on and steady myself. While not as sharp as I would have liked, I think the image came out pretty well, all things considered.