City of Arts and Sciences #5
Photo of the Day
Today’s photo of the day is a wider view of Valencia’s City of Arts and Sciences. El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe is on the left and L’Hemisfèric is on the right.
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City of Arts and Sciences #4
Photo of the Day
Today’s image from the City of Arts and Sciences is a detail of some of the curving and converging lines of L’Hemisfèric.
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City of Arts and Sciences #3
Photo of the Day
Today’s addition to the City of Arts and Sciences series is a shot of L’Hemisfèric, an IMAX cinema and planetarium.
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City of Arts and Sciences #2
Photo of the Day
This abstract pattern of lines comes from one of the arcades supporting El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe in the City of Arts ad Sciences.
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City of Arts and Sciences #1
Photo of the Day
Today, I begin a new series photo-of-the-day posts that run for the next little while. The images come from one of the more astonishing modern architectural sights I have witnessed: The City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, Spain.
These photos are actually from a few years ago and one of the buildings, l’Àgora, was under construction during my visit, so I guess that means I’ll have to go back and get more shots. What a shame that would be as I hardly had any fun at all wandering through this complex of magnificently designed buildings.
The site is designed by Santiago Calatrava and Félix Candela and looks like it should only exist somewhere in the distant future. The huge space is filled with unusual shapes and patterns, sweeping lines and giant, abstract forms. As a photographer, I felt like I was cheating – it seemed almost too east to take an interesting photo there.
This first image is of El Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, an opera hall, but it might as well be the fortress of a sci-fi super villain.
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Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail Courtyard
Photo of the Day
The approach to the Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail is through a series of peaceful courtyards and this one stands exactly opposite the mausoleum. Photography of the Mausoleum was prohibited and I wasn’t about to go acting disrespectful in the resting place in one of the city’s most revered figures.
This little fountain was a good second prize. It was quiet enough for me to set up a tripod and do a few shots where I was able to pop off flashes so that I could highlight the edges of the fountain and give it some separation from the background.
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Wildlife Photography via a Remote Control DSLR Car
Here’s a fun behind-the-scenes video of Will & Matt Burrard-Lucas’ four-wheeled, camera-carrying RC car. Their Beetlecam is a photo gadget that will get up-close-and-personal wildlife shots without endangering life and limb.
It’s a nifty little contraption and gets some unique results. There is, however, something to be said for being able to properly compose your shot. I think they need to set up the software to enable remote live view and then we might have a winner. I just hope they don’t scare the animals too much…
Singapore Esplanade Panorama
Photo of the Day
Here’s another of those rare instances where I took a panoramic shot on my travels in Southeast Asia and, yet again, it makes me wish I had done more.
This one is from Singapore, a city that has probably already changed quite a bit since I took this shot. This shot features the Esplanade (a.k.a. the Durian, the performing arts centre in Singapore) and the city’s financial centre.
If this shot wrapped any further to the left, I know it would be rather out of date by now since there has been a massive amount of construction on the other side of the bay.
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Manchester Exchange Square Panorama
Photo of the Day
Today’s image is from my current home city, Manchester and features Exchange Square and the Manchester Wheel in the evening.
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Millstone at Padley Gorge
Photo of the Day
The millstones randomly scattered around Northern England’s Peak District captivate me. These weathered stones all probably have some story attached to them and who knows if anyone remembers just how they got where they are.
This mysterious stone rests beneath a picturesque tree near the edge of Padley Gorge on the Longshaw Estates National Trust property.
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Brussels Modern Architecture
Photo of the Day
Brussels is better known for its medieval architecture than its modern (apart from the Atom, of course), but the Square Brussels Events Centre caught my eye on my brief stop there.
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Horseshoe Canyon Panorama
Photo of the Day
Today’s image is another from my home province of Alberta and also near Drumheller. This is Horseshoe Canyon. It’s stratified slopes make for interesting textures and the eroded canyon is a fun place for a walk in Dinosaur Country.
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Atlas Coal Mine Panorama
Photo of the Day
Scattered near the site of the Atlas Coal Mine near Drumheller, Alberta are all kinds of fun bits and bobs including these giant wheels. The entrance to the coal mine is visible on the right of this photo.
I’ve been on the grounds of the coal mine before (see my previous images here), but never done an underground visit. Next time I’m going that way, I should plan time for a stop.
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Kenrokuen Garden’s Kotoji Lantern
Photo of the Day
It’s been a while since I’ve posted a photo from Japan, so it’s time to rectify that situation.
Kanazawa’s Kenrokuen gardens make it onto one of Japan’s weird lists: “the three most beautiful landscape gardens.” I don’t know many other cultures that would feel the need to make that kind of ranking, but I consider that one of the endearing things about the Japanese.
In any case, yes, it’s a truly gorgeous place. I saw it while on a trip with my co-workers and I got a taste of the Japanese’s penchant for whirlwind visits. I had to be quick to get away from the pack and set up the tripod for a few moments.
This image is of The Kotoji Lantern which is said to look like the bridge on the Japanese traditional instrument, the koto. It’s an iconic view of the garden and a symbol of the city. I was fortunate to have some of Japan’s spectacularly-coloured autumn leaves in the background.
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Ruin above Dovestones
Photo of the Day
This shot is another from a little walk I recently did on the edges above Dovestones reservoir in Lancashire. As I crested the rise, this tiny, ruined house and the accompanying lovely view greeted me at the top.
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Visual Effects Montage for Game of Thrones
George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones is on my bookshelf and waiting for me to read it, so I haven’t yet watched any of the HBO series based on the fantasy series, but it looks like I’ll be in for a visual treat when I do get around to seeing it.
I’ve always been fascinated by special effects and this video is an impressive little montage of composite work for the show. I know this is only tangentially related to photography, but for any photographer that does any compositing, it might provide a little inspiration. I don’t do much of that myself, but I know my way around Photoshop enough to give it a try. Doing it with video, forget it – it might as well be magic.
Possible spoilers ahead, but I can’t say for sure! (edit: Thanks to Jon for letting me know it’s pretty spoiler free until about the 2:45 mark.)
Moroccan Camel
Photo of the Day
Camel riding isn’t for everyone and I think I might be one of those people. The ships of the desert don’t exactly have the smoothest ride in the world and I wouldn’t have minded a few bumps had my back not been acting up.
Besides, I was more interested in pulling out the camera and taking some photos of the belching beasts and I’m sure my four-legged friend was happy to free of this burden.
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Padley Gorge in Longshaw Estates
Photo of the Day
On the way back from our most recent trip to Lincoln, we stopped at Longshaw Estates, a beautiful National Trust property that provides extensive opportunities for walkers to have a good stroll.
I immediately headed for the confines of Padley Gorge and peaty water cascading over mossy stones while emerald branches swayed overhead. There I found a few photo ops including the scene below.
I’ll definitely have to go back and spend a longer time there and I’m guessing it’s a pretty fine place to be when autumn arrives.
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Lincoln Cathedral Panorama
Photo of the Day
In the past few months, I’ve been through Lincoln twice now and this is one of the many shots I’ve taken of its towering cathedral. I kept gravitating towards this particular view of the great building from a spot between the cathedral and the castle.
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The Hoodoos near Drumheller
Photo of the Day
One of my favourite day trips from Calgary when I was growing up was a visit to the Alberta Badlands. It’s dinosaur country after all – what kid isn’t going to get excited at the idea of hunting for T-Rex bones?
And of course, one of my favourite spots there is the hoodoos. This area shaped by eons of erosion always resembled an alien landscape and captured my imagination.
When I visited a couple months ago, I was a bit disappointed to find that construction had begun on a stairway and path leading around the hoodoos. I understand the need for protecting the fragile formations from the erosion that tourists can cause, it’s just sad to see that it’s necessary.
So, a shot like today’s photo of the day is a bit special in that it captures the hoodoos before the view changes.
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Above Dovestones Reservoir
Photo of the Day
Last Saturday evening, I took a walk along the edges high above the Dovestones Reservoir and got this shot as the sun nestled up against the horizon.
This is one of those shots that I probably made more complicated than it needed to be by composing it of multiple stitched images (to get a wider field of view) and multiple bracketed exposures (to get more tonal range out of the scene). After some post process tinkering, I’m pleased with the result, so here it is!
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Landscape Photographer of the Year Shortlisted
I received an email this morning telling me that four of my photos had been shortlisted for the Landscape Photographer of the Year competition. How nice of them!
Interestingly, the images selected are all outside the bounds of what you would call ‘traditional’ landscape photography. Three of them were created using the technique of lighting the subject in multiple shots then compositing the shots together. The fourth shot is of a rather unusual modern art installation. Given the contest’s previous winners, I wouldn’t have expected these images to be the ones that made it through, but I guess the judges might be looking for something a bit different this year.
I’ve had requests to see the images that made it to the next round of judging, and this blog post is here to grant that wish. Click the images to see larger versions.
Bruges from Above
Photo of the Day
Today’s photo of the day is the last one from Bruges for now. This time we’re high above the canals and looking down on the medieval-style city from the belfry of the town hall. The Church of Our Lady is on the left and St. Salvator’s Cathedral is on the right.
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The Canals of Bruges #12
Photo of the Day
Number 12 in my series of images of the canals of Bruges, Belgium.
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Darby Sawchuk is a Canadian-born photographer who currently resides in Manchester, England. He has travelled to over 40 countries and is always adding more to the list. He creates stock for multiple agencies and is available for assignments.
+44 0790 992 8932
