From the Reject Pile

With a whopping sixteen options to pick from in my last post, it probably seems that I showed no restraint in selecting photos as options for my Been There entry. Alas, I edited the photos below with the June competition in mind, but decided that they either did not fit the theme as well as some of the others, or that they had some defect which would make them less competitive. Still, there are several that I am quite pleased with, so I thought I would show them here.

It was quite dreary and grey during my trip to Dresden, so I'm afraid a lot of the pictures looked a bit washed out. My trip to Florence was over this past Christmas, and the cool weather meant a lot of misty mornings, leading to some hazy photos. Likewise with Heidelberg. While I think this creates a bit of an eery ambiance, they aren't the sharpest photos as a result, and I worried that they wouldn't be competitive. In a similar vein, I usually don't travel with a tripod (too cumbersome), so when I insist on taking night photos, like I did in Paris, I end up with some ok shots that could have been dramatically improved with a little less camera wobble. I also enjoy the sweep panorama function on my new camera, but sometimes the lens distortion is a little too intense, as in some of the panoramas below (Florence in particular).

Dresden, Germany

Dresden, Germany

Florence, Italy

Florence, Italy

Florence, Italy

Florence, Italy

Florence, Italy

Florence, Italy

Florence, Italy

Florence, Italy

Heidelberg, Germany

Heidelberg, Germany

Heidelberg, Germany

Heidelberg, Germany

Heidelberg, Germany

Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul, Turkey

Venice, Italy

Venice, Italy

Vienna, Austria

Paris, France

L'essence de Paris? L'essenza di Venezia?

The time has come to pick my next entry for The Guardian's Been There competition, and I'm having a hard time picking an entry based on this month's theme. The description for June is as follows:

June 2013: cities

NYC, London, Tokyo, modern behmoths. Or perhaps a more ancient one? Can you capture the essence of the urban metropolis?

So, the question is, what's the best way to interpret the theme? And how do you represent a city in a photograph while also avoiding cliches? One possible way I've thought to interpret the "cities" theme is to try to capture multiple cities (i.e. capitalizing on their use of the the plural form of the word) in one shot. The only photo I have which really fits the bill is this one, taken in 2012 in Bruges, Brussels:

Option #1 (Bruges from the Belfry)

While I like the city names in the foreground and the red roofs of the city in the background, I feel that having so much of the photo comprised of grey concrete is a little dull.

Another possibility is to try to capture as much of the city as possible--a cityscape from a good vantage point. I have a few I think might be good possibilities:

Option #2 (Prague from the Bridge Tower above the Charles Bridge)

Option #3 (Florence from the Duomo)

  

Option #4 (Florence's Duomo from Palazzo Vecchio)

 

 Option #4 (Venetian canal in the morning)

 Option #5 (Sunset over Venice)

Option #6 (Ponte Vecchio in Florence)

I'm not sure whether panoramas are acceptable for the contest or not, but if so, perhaps these might also be possibilities:

Option # 7 (Florence from Piazzale Michelangelo)

Option # 8 (Venice from a Vaporetto)

Finally, drawing on the challenge in the last line of the description--to capture the essence of a city--I could enter a photo which I think best encapsulates the experience of traveling in the city. While I think this has the most potential, it also holds the greatest possibility for either a) a cliche or b) a misinterpretation of my meaning. Possible entries for this interpretation are below:

 Option #9 (Venice from a Vaporetto)

Option #10 (A Gondola on the canal from the Guggenheim)

Option # 11 (Anchorage from the Coastal Trail)

While would arguably fit well in the cityscape category, I like this one as a "capturing the essence" photo because, while Anchorage itself is not particularly picturesque, the charm of the city lies in the wild, untouched landscape that can be found even within the city limits. The natural surroundings make it a beautiful and colorful city even on a grey, dreary day.

Option # 12 (Berlin's Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe )

This is my favorite photo of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin. I once heard an interview with an author of a German history book in which the author said that Germany has a very actively apologetic history--there are numerous monuments and memorials which acknowledge the atrocities of World War II. I didn't find that to be the case in places like Cologne, Heidelberg, or Dresden (though obviously the bombing of Dresden plays prominently in the city landscape when you consider the reconstruction), but certainly I could see the author's point in Berlin. Much of the landscape of the city has been shaped by World War II and the division of the city after the war, and I found the memorial to be a haunting reminder of the city's past. You quickly lose your companions in the maze of uneven, cockeyed pillars, which remind the viewer of massive grey tombs. The site, very near to Hitler's Bunker, is an unavoidable reminder of the city's past, which I think shapes so much of the character of the city today.

 Option # 13 (Jardin des Tuleries, Paris)

I took this on a beautiful spring evening walking through les Jardins des Tuleries in Paris; it was one of first warm, sunny days where everyone just sits outside and enjoys the beautiful weather. The park was full of Parisians taking in the sunset over the water.

Option #14 (Street performer outside of La Basilique du Sacré Coeur de Montmartre)

Option #15 (Paris at night from the Eiffel Tower)

I like this one because it reminds me of the City of Lights, but I didn't have a tripod, so it's not without its flaws.

Option #16 (Crossing a bridge in Istanbul)

Istanbul is a city of mosques, and a blend of old architecture and a bustling, modern metropolis. I like this shot because it shows local people enjoying fishing in the heart of the city, while also capturing the clear blue sea and the sun-soaked mosques in the background.

I'd love to get your thoughts! Is there a photo which you think best fits the theme, or which appeals to you for some other reason? Is there one you think is trite or badly composed? Constructive criticism is always appreciated :)

Long Time Gone

For those of you still out there who have been wondering, I haven't become Amish or signed on for a one-way ticket to Mars. I'm afraid I have a far less interesting explanation for my hiatus from the wonderful world of blogging. I simply haven't had much time to devote to photography lately. At any rate, thanks to those who are still following! I'm just settling in from my big move from Alaska to England, so hopefully my posts will be a little less sporadic.

I'm afraid my time for editing has been minimal, but I did manage to get a few submissions into the Guardian newspaper's monthly Been There travel photo competition, and placed among the finalists for the month of March with a photo of Northwestern Glacier in Alaska. Beyond that, I'm still just trying to make it through the mountain of photos from my trips this last year! Below are a few photos from Berlin, but stay tuned for more from Heidelberg, Dresden, Bruges, Paris, Cologne, Vienna, Istanbul, Florence, Venice, Seward, and Anchorage...

One fun Lightroom tool I've been fiddling with lately is the sliding Clarity bar, which is under Presence on the Develop tab. Cranking it all the way to 100 creates a stark contrast which sharply defines the lines in the photo, while pushing it down to the opposite extreme (-100) creates a soft, fuzzy glow, much like a close-up filter. I don't usually use the extreme setting for most tools, but every once in awhile, approaching the extreme setting can create interesting results. I have a few examples below--do you have a preference? The first photo in the High and Low Clarity groups is the same--just with a different treatment.



High Clarity (+85 to +100)

Berliner Dom

Anchorage, Alaska

Exit Glacier, Alaska

Anchorage, Alaska

Anchorage, Alaska

Low Clarity (-85 to -100)

Berliner Dom

Berliner Dom

Seward, Alaska

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Berliner Dom