Berlin is just an incredible city!! So many vibrant things to see and do, and such wonderment everywhere that I simply have to return one day and see it again!! I was there for just a few days, but I managed to see much of its cultural, aesthetic and historical beauty, and presented here is a mere snapshot of the things I saw. From palaces to gardens, from views atop the TV tower and Siegesaulle, to all the many splendid churches, Berlin is a fascinating and energising city. I took in the East Side Gallery of the Berlin Wall, visited the Brandenburg Gate where President Reagan famously told Mr Gorbachev in 1987 to "tear down this wall!", saw the many wonderful garden styles in Garten De Welt, and sampled Berlin's cult dish, currywurst. I also, and naturally, visited both of Berlin's world class zoos, Tierpark Zoo in the east, and Haupstadt Zoo in the west; the former being the largest landscaped zoo in Europe and the latter having the largest collection of species of any zoo on Earth - over 17,000! Next to the Haupstadt Zoo is the Aquarium, which was also wonderful. The Festival Of Lights had just started towards the end of my visit, and some magnificent light displays and colours were on show around the buildings and streets. Berlin is a massive city, especially after the wall came down and East and West unified, but it has such an excellent public transport system that getting anywhere is very easy. Everything just works!! There is so much more to see and do, including all the palaces in the Potsdam area to the west. I managed to see just one -the Charlottenburg Palace and its magnificent gardens. I will have to return!I took many photos of many more things, so this is just a tiny selected snapshot. Enjoy!
How would we explain it? What would we say to future generations? How would we defend ourselves? That we had the knowledge and the means to do something about it but did not? That we allowed one of the most majestic creatures ever to have graced this planet to become extinct in the wild?Recent estimates put the number of tigers in India at under 1400 and declining. The largest cat on Earth, the Siberian or Amur Tiger numbers less than 400 in the wild. These are only estimates, which means there are large margins of error. The government in India is not known internationally for its honesty in these matters, and would conceivably inflate the figures. It is something of a shameful indictment on us that there are more privately owned tigers in the United States alone than there are in the wild in the rest of the world. I am not ordinarily given to the blame game, but in this case knowing the cause of the decline is important.Poaching. Particularly by the Chinese for use in medicine. I completely fail to see the logic of the Chinese who seem to be utterly indifferent about wiping out entire species on this planet in order to make soup, or some other ridiculous concoction for what they claim to be medicinal. Tigers, rhino, elephants and sharks are all on their radar. Let’s also not forget the role of the British historically, who, during the time of their Empire, made a sport out of killing hundreds of thousands of tigers in India. Destruction of habitat has also led to a loss of several tiger species already, including the Javan and Bali tigers, and of course, the burgeoning human population in India is encroaching on the habitats of tigers there.Hunting an animal to extinction is just utterly stupid, even for economic reasons. Not only is a magnificent organism removed from the wild forever, but also entire ecosystems can collapse due to disruptions in the food chain. A forest in India, for example, can be judged to be healthy if a tiger is present in it. The loss of a tiger to its native environment may not be apparent straight away but will become evident after many years. Unfortunately, most of the governments on Earth, and especially in India, have never been especially far-sighted.The problem of such small numbers remaining in the wild is that there needs to be enough genetic diversity within a population in order for a species to survive. With such few numbers, there is less diversity in the gene pool to maintain a healthy population that is resistant to disease and genetic defects. An effort to reintroduce pumas in Florida, for example, had so few numbers to start with that a lot of inbreeding took place and subsequently many of the resulting generations exhibited genetic defects.My point is that it may already be too late to preserve this (and many other endangered) species. And even if we stopped all hunting and habitat destruction now, we would still have to wait for many, many generations over many decades for the species to gain enough diversity to recover and be self-sufficient in the wild. I certainly would not be alive to see that happen, and I am still young!So, you can understand my anger and frustration that not enough is being done to prevent the extermination of an enchanting animal that has no vanity or concept of its own elegance, but one that still enthrals everyone that sees it.I have yet to see a tiger in the wild, and I dare say that time is running out if I ever intend to do so. All the photos you see here were taken of tigers in captivity. I have always been more enamoured with the photogenic appeal of the tiger rather than its place in its environment, and so where I have photographed them has never really bothered me. But I would gladly give up the opportunity to photograph them at all if I knew that they had a secure and abundant future in their native environment.Well, there's my rant. Now enjoy the photos!
Last stop on our cruise through Norway was the town of Stavanger. A largish town, with a fishing fleet and famous petroleum museum, the latter of which we didn't have time to see. Instead we took a boat trip through the beautiful Lysefjord, famous for its rock formations carved by glaciers. We ventured past the rock of Preikestolen and found a magnificent waterfall, and then stopped somewhere for waffles and cream where we were greeted by a Viking.We just had enough time upon returning to have a quick look inside Stavanger Cathedral.Norway proved to be a stunning trip with much spectacular scenery, and yet there is clearly so much more of this amazing country to see. I hope to go back one day and see even more.
Next stop through the Fjords was the small town of Flam, which is famous for having one of the highest railways in the world, and the stunning Naeroyfjord, itself a Unesco World Heritage site. We took a lovely leisurely boat trip through the fjord, before being driven to the Stalheim Hotel which overlooks the beautiful Naeroy Valley. The road descending from the hotel is the steepest in the world, with 13 hairpin turns, and is flanked by two lovely waterfalls.After returning to Flam, we hiked up the mountain behind the town to reach the mighty Berkefossen Waterfall. The hike was such a hard slog, and I lost weight sweating fluid, but the sight of the waterfall was definitely worth the effort, as was the view of Flam from the top.The scenery was just amazing, and I have only presented a snapshot here.
Third stop on our foray into the fjords was Alesund, a larger town spread out over many small islands. Having arrived at sunrise, we took another small boat through Horundfjord, and then returned to the town, where we ascended the 418 steps to the summit of Mount Aksla to see the view of the town below. An epic sight!We then strolled through the town, especially the marina which had no end of fantastic reflections in the water. The colourful buildings throughout the town date back to the turn of the last century, and are famous for their Art Nouveau architecture.As we left, yet again we were blessed with more spectacular rainbows.
Olden was the second stop on our trip through the Norwegian fjords. Arriving at Olden we were met by wonderfully eerie mists lying low over the town. We took a small boat along Lake Olden, arriving at a small restaurant to enjoy waffles and cream! We then were taken by coach to see the Kjenndalen Glacier, a magnificent sight. Next to the glacier was a waterfall, and dotted around the landscape were more waterfalls and streams no doubt fed by the glacier. We returned via a stunning lake which reminded me of Emerald Lake in the Yukon in Alaska. In the afternoon, we took a brief tour around another lake. As we left, a stunning double rainbow formed, the second one we saw in as many days. I used a mixture of Nikkors 18-200mm, 35mm F/2, and 50mm F/1.8, as well as the Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8. For some shots I bracketed three exposures as the contrast was a little harsh for the camera. These were later blended in Photomatix.
I recently returned from a cruise around the Norwegian Fjords.Our first port of call was Bergen, a large town notable for its fishing industry. The famous fish market was alas closed by the time of day we arrived, but we still managed to take the funicular to ascend Mount Floyen and take in the spectacular views of the town.After we descended, we had a little time to walk around the famous Brygge Harbour with its colourful facades. As we were leaving, and due to the weather fluxing between sunshine and rain, we were gifted with a double rainbow, followed by a beautiful sunset.A very short but enjoyable excursion.
My friend Jena and I spent a day in Marwell Zoo in Hampshire last weekend. An excellent wildlife park, surprisingly big with large enclosures for most of the animals. The exhibits were very well set up for viewing with lots of glass and no prohibitive fencing. The snow leopards were a big draw because of the new cubs, although during our time there, the mother was asleep and the cubs were hidden away. All in all, a good and exhausting day, but we both managed some neat shots. I wil post Jena's photos in a separate blog entry soon.As nice as the zoo is, we were careful to frame our shots so that there was as little evidence of enclosure as possible.I used mainly the Nikkor 70-200mm VRII +/- 1.7xTC, the Nikkor 50mm F/1.8G AF-S and the Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8 for shots of and around Marwell House.
This is a tribute to my old Nikon D40, now 5 year old technology, which in digital terms might as well be 25 years! But I didn't want to use my more expensive gear at the Notting Hill Carnival the other day, so I took the humble D40 instead and I was most impressed by the images it produced. But then I thought ‘why wouldn’t I be impressed?’ Most consumers are conditioned into thinking that only the newest and latest gear can deliver the best shots, and anything old is obsolete. But just because something is old doesn’t meant it’s not useful. And while newer cameras may have more bells and whistles, or even better ergonomics, the little Nikon D40 proved that it can still hold it’s own in that all important image quality department. Its 6MP CCD (today cameras are packing 16-24MP on the same sensor size) delivered excellent RAW files which (coupled to a sharp prime lens) had plenty of detail, even at high ISOs. With ‘only’ 6MP, those pixels are obviously going to be larger and physically take in more light, so the camera performs pretty well at higher ISOs, even for an old sensor. Other factors come into it, of course, especially with today’s higher megapixel sensors and thus smaller pixels, such as image processing algorithms. Modern DSLRs, even APS-C sized sensors, can now reach very high ISO levels with excellent results. One thing that clearly helps is shooting RAW. Any noise is finer and thus easier to remove more evenly. Colour is also better retained than in a JPEG. Anyway, below are some examples and crops from photos I took in a restaurant after the carnival, so you can judge for yourself. Not a scientific study, of course (I have a life to enjoy – can’t be stuck indoors shooting test charts!) but they illustrate my point. All the images were shot hand-held with the Nikkor 50mm F/1.8G AF-S, at F/1.8, and the RAW files were converted using Adobe RAW converter in Adobe CS5.
One of those thing you have to do once and never again. I braved the heaving masses of wild herds and managed to eke out a few shots from this year's carnival, an absolute zoo. Wading through the swamp of beer cans, deafening music and burning jerk chicken took my friend Zuzana and myself hours. The carnival itself was replete with the usual kaleidoscope of colours and music, and most people seemed to be having a good time, gyrating themselves practically into the Earth's core.Mindful of being mugged, stabbed or shot, or all of the aforementioned, I took just my humble old Nikon D40 DSLR and Nikkors 18-200mm and 50mm F/1.8.All images were shot RAW and converted to JPEGs. I must say, despite the D40's age (2006) and limitations (burst speed, no aperture dial, awkward menus), it's a decent little machine and the 6MP CCD sensor gave me some rich RAW files to play with.
My friend Jena kindly suggested a night shoot around the Canary Wharf Estate yesterday evening, so myself and my colleague Kevin, also a photographer, joined her. We soldiered through our shots in spite of the intermittent rain, although the the wet concrete did allow for possibilities of reflections, and water droplets are always an interesting detail.Dusk blue happens irrespective of clear or overcast skies, and we were fortunate to have some partially cleared skies for a short time at least.Canary Wharf does present some interesting composition due to the towering architecture and lights. Despite the odd security guard asking us what we were doing, all three of us had an enjoyable night and captured some interesting shots. The marina especially, presented many great reflections, and Jena managed to find some great spots to shoot from.Most of these were captured with the Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8, and a few with the Nikkors 35mm F/2 AF-D and 50mm F/1.8 AF-S.
Sadly no X-Fighters in London this year as there were in previous years. So I have uploaded some of the shots I took at last year's event at Battersea Park.All images were shot with the Nikkor 70-200mm VRII, , ISO 800-1600, with the VR switched off. The image of the power station is an HDR composite shot with the Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8.Enjoy!
After attending a small photography exhibition at the Tate Modern yesterday, my friend Jena and I decided to go shooting around St Paul's Cathedral and The Millennium Bridge. These areas have been photographed many times so it really challenged me to come up with something creative and yet still in my postcard style. It was a bright sunny day, so the blue skies were nice to polarise, but the lighting could also be harsh.These are all my shots. I will add Jena's in due course.I used 3 lenses: The Nikkor 35mm F/2 AF-D, the Nikkor 50mm F/1.8G AF-S, and the Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8.
I have written this blog as an homage to my Nikkor 50mm F/1.4 AF-D. It has served me well on a number of occasions, but I just don't use it enough and thus I have decided that I will sell it and hope that it finds a more worthy home.On the occasions that I have used it, it has obtained some really pleasing images for me, and is beautifully sharp. I sometimes take it with me on my travels and whenever I chose to use it has not let me down. I use it on a DX sensor, making the actual field of view more like 75mm, but it has still been an easy lens to compose and shoot with. I have shot everything from action to landscapes, portraits and wildlife with it, and it has returned excellent images in each subject. The fast aperture allows a fast shutter speed at a lower ISO in low light, and this flexibility is sometimes invaluable, especially at night or indoors.But I simply do not use it enough now to warrant keeping it. So I will hope to find a better home for it :)
Spent a very hot and humid afternoon with my friend Jena shooting in Richmond Park. I have shot there many times before, but Jena hadn't really had an opportunity to get close to the wildlife there before. She managed to get some very good shots of the deer, nicely isolated against their backgrounds, or even framed by antlers! She also brought her macro lens, which she put to good effect capturing butterflies and spiders. The deer in Richmond Park are wild, and people are not really supposed to get too close to them. It is a sort of unwritten etiquette as I understand it. But alas there are always tourists or people who simply do not understand or respect nature enough to set aside their own gratification and leave well alone. Having said that, one could argue that I was complicit in taking the photos of them!Because of the raging heat and humidity, we (or at least I!) became very tired very quickly and we thus went to find something to eat! But I am pleased that Jena managed to get such excellent shots. Well done! Her photos are clearly labelled with her watermark.I used just my Nikkor 70-200mm F/2.8 VRII with/without a 1.7x teleconverter.
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