The Almshouses Of Bruges

Much like the rest of Bruges, walking amongst these Almshouses felt a bit like stepping back in time. The peaceful courtyard bordered by beautifully quaint homes provided a great spot for a moment of reflection.

It seems a bit ironic that a part of the city built to house the poor is now one of the biggest draws for tourists visiting romantic Bruges. Little did they know that their modest homes would become so popular.

There was some fantastic contrast between the tall trees that dominate this courtyard and pristine white houses surrounding them. The perfect opportunity for a black and white shot, in spite of the rain that plagued our time in Belgium!

Searching For Details In The Mont Blanc Massif

I’d been shooting with a wide angle lens all morning, but decided it was time to focus on the detail of the majestic mountains I could see in the distance. I sat down, switched to a long zoom lens and scanned the surrounding landscape for interesting features.

Something about this peak in the Mont Blanc massif caught my eye. I loved the leading line created by the mountain’s ridge. Following it from bottom to top I felt like I could imagine it climbing higher and higher as it was created, forged from the earth.

Mountains at high altitude often make great subjects for black and white photography. There’s so much contrast to play with between the snow-capped peaks, perfect blue sky and dark rock formations. I had great fun experimenting in Lightroom!

Daisy After The Storm

I don’t often go for black and white with my landscape shots, but it seemed like the perfect way to highlight this daisy standing tall in the long grass near La Chaîne du Bargy in the French Alps. After taking shelter from a stormy shower passing through the valley I ventured out toward the woodland before coming across this beautiful scene.

I noticed a few daisies dotted around so started searching for a decent composition with one in the foreground. Fortunately I found this spot, and I took a few handheld shots at different apertures to make sure I came away with something acceptable.

I was slightly disappointed that the weather turned on me. I’d started out on a longer hike to Lac Benit but decided not to continue after the thunder started rolling in. Better safe than sorry! But after the worst of the weather had passed the cloudy skies were so dreamy, I didn’t stay disappointed for too long.

Perched On The Edge Of The World

It’s hard to say which was my favourite town of the Cinque Terre. Occupying seemingly impossible spots on the Ligurian coast of Italy, they each took a place in my heart for years to come. This shot of Manarola was taken from a viewpoint in the preceding town, Corniglia. I thought that some of the vineyards in the Lavaux region alongside Lake Geneva were steep, but I think the vines on these cliffs could easily give them a run for their money!

Photo of the Week: Amsterdam

Amsterdam – it’s a strange place. On the one hand I absolutely enjoyed wandering its canals and quaint historic streets. But I was put off this Dutch city by its red light district. It was seedy, creepy and made me feel quite uncomfortable. Perhaps more so than I have ever felt in Europe. But I’m certainly glad that I’ve been there myself to make up my own mind.

Weekly Photo Challenge: From Lines to Patterns

This past weekend I was busy with my camera in and around the Westminster area of London. I really enjoyed my day out exploring the angles. There are so many iconic subjects in England’s great capital, from red telephone boxes to black taxis. In many ways it’s a photographer’s paradise. Fortunately the London Eye provided some great opportunities to get a perfect shot for this week’s photo challenge. I love the symmetry that these kinds of structures present, their simplicity is just beautiful.

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A Word A Week Challenge: Ornate

My shot for this week’s challenge was taken on a recent photo walk I went on around my neighbourhood in Geneva, Eaux-Vives. Wandering the streets I spotted this fabulously ornate door number on one of the apartment buildings. Ever since I revisited Yvoire and discovered a passion for shooting architecture and focussing on the smaller details, I’ve resolved to get out and explore as much as possible when I’m at home.

The original shot was much larger than the final result. The main reason being that I was at a slight angle to the door when I hit the shutter. The number 10 was originally in the middle of a much larger shot, and since the pattern around it was symmetrical it was pretty obvious. This forced me to crop the image, but actually I’m much happier with the final result. It reveals some intricate details that weren’t apparent in the larger shot.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: One Shot, Two Ways

For this challenge, capture two images — a horizontal and a vertical version — of the same scene or subject.

This is a great photo challenge because I often end up in situations where I can’t decide whether to shoot a scene in landscape or portrait. I think I’m just a little bit too indecisive, but if you’re only going to be somewhere once you have to make the most of the opportunity. These shots are taken from the summit of the Männlichen in the Bernese Alps, Switzerland. I blogged about the walk to the summit, and if you’ve read that post you’ll know that getting to the top felt like a great achievement which made the pictures even more special to me. I prefer the portrait orientation here, it gives a great sense of perspective of the path to the summit and really portrays the grandeur of the mountain range.

A Word A Week Challenge – Castel Sant’Angelo

Castel Sant’Angelo, a photo by Flights. Camera. Satisfaction. on Flickr.

I was looking at my photos of Castel Sant’Angelo and just happened to come across this word a week challenge that seems to be popular in the blogosphere. I think it’s a great idea and since I was planning to post this photo anyway I thought I’d combine the two.

Castel Sant’Angelo is a castle in Rome, originally built for the Roman Emperor Hadrian to use as a mausoleum for himself and his family. It has a fascinating history and was used for some time as a papal fortress. The Passetto di Borgo is an elevated tunnel linking the castle directly to the Vatican City, and was actually used by Pope Alexander VI to escape the attack of Charles VIII in 1494. What an incredible story!

Unfortunately I did not have time to venture inside the castle where you can now find a museum. But I did wander around the outside to get a good look at it from a number of angles. This was the best shot I got. Again I’m using black and white to bring out the architectural detail, and hide how boring the sky was while I was there!

Torre del Mangia, Siena

Siena – Torre del Mangia, a photo by Flights. Camera. Satisfaction. on Flickr.

Since my recent foray into black and white photography I’ve come to realise that I actually quite like it, especially for architecture shots. In most buildings there is not a great deal of colour, so even if they are architecturally interesting a photo can still end up looking bland. I’ve been experimenting quite a lot so here is my favourite so far. I was really pleased with the composition of this shot, it gives the impression of looking through a window up at the world. It was taken in Siena, Tuscany just before buying a ticket to go to the top of the Torre del Mangia.