Chesterton Windmill
Photo of the Day
Here’s another one of my experiments in using a single flash to light a scene in dozens of separate photos later combined. This one is of the Chesterton Windmill which stands by itself in a field not too far from Stratford-upon-Avon.
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Stanage Edge Millstones
Photo of the Day
These abandoned millstones sit at the base of Stanage Edge in Derbyshire near the village of Hathersage. Stanage Edge makes for a good walk with nice views of moors on one side and hills on the other, but these millstones are what captivated me.
Millstone manufacturing was a burgeoning industry in the Peak District in the 19th century and these stones are most likely a leftover from one of the factories in the area, long since shut down.
For me, there was something wonderfully mysterious about them. There was no evidence of any other structure around them – just the stones – so you naturally ask the question of how they got there.
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Hong Kong Island Skyline Panorama
Photo of the Day
Here’s one of the many place in Asia I hope to revisit someday. This shot of the skyscrapers on Hong Kong Island is a few years old, so, with how quickly things change there, I imagine the view is a little bit different today. I’ll have to go back and compare…
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Ely Cathedral Window
Photo of the Day
This west-facing window on the Lady Chapel of Ely Cathedral caught the light of the descending sun in an extraordinary way. The whole window seemed to be set ablaze for a few moments as the sun neared the horizon. I’ve tried to capture just how bright the light looked, but I’m not sure a photograph can show just how brilliant it was.
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Calgary Skyline Panorama
Photo of the Day
Here’s another HDR panorama, this time from my hometown of Calgary. On a recent visit, I made a point of getting a few shots of the skyline. Since moving to Manchester, I hadn’t shot Calgary’s skyline and my catalogue of images was in need of a bit of updating. That Encana building changes the view in a big way.
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Evening in Diocletian’s Palace
Photo of the Day
A couple of men enjoy a warm September evening in the narrow alleys of Diocletian’s Palace in Split Croatia.
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Motsuji Gardens Panorama
Photo of the Day
This is one of the few panoramic images I shot while living in Japan. It’s the gardens surrounding the Motsuji Temple in Hiraizumi, a historic town just north of Ichinoseki which was my home while in Japan.
A bike ride to Hiraizumi made for a great day out with places like Motsuji and the nearby Chusonji as destinations. I miss Motsuji’s tranquil gardens surrounding the lake and I wish I could just hop on a bike and jaunt over there for an afternoon again.
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Dades Gorge in Morocco
Photo of the Day
Looking down onto this winding course full of hairpin turns, I can almost see Jeremy Clarkson and friends getting giddy at the prospect of charging some high-powered supercar down through these roads in the Dades Gorge in Morocco.
This shot ended up being more difficult to take than it should have been. The battery that powers my little remote-trigger camera attachment failed and without it, I couldn’t do an exposure of longer than 30 seconds without keeping my finger on the shutter. Fortunately, my hand was steady enough for five minutes that everything in the photo was sharp. It was a pleasant surprise considering I don’t consider myself to have the steadiest hand in the business.
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Latin Bridge in Sarajevo
Photo of the Day
The infamous Latin Bridge in Sarajevo was the scene of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the event that served as a catalyst for World War I.
That violent history isn’t evident on the bridge anymore. It’s only the buildings around it that still have scars from more recent conflicts, but even those are slowly being wiped away in preparation for a brighter future for Bosnia.
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Castle Drogo Panorama
Photo of the Day
On travels in the south of England, Drogo Castle’s fortified exterior and fascinating interior (no photos allowed, unfortunately) made for an enticing stop.
This image is of the front entrance to the castle. It was a bit of a tricky shot to put together as it’s a panoramic HDR shot. I shot five bracketed exposures for each segment of the panorama, put together the HDR images then stitched the panorama. It’s all rather time consuming, but the results can be worthwhile.
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Trinity Lane in Cambridge
Photo of the Day
On a recent trip to Cambridge, the late-afternoon light was providing a brilliant backlight to the pedestrians passing through Trinity Lane. It would have been a nice enough shot without anyone in the scene, but I was sure that if I could wait for the right person to pass, the image would have a lot more interest to it.
Fortunately for me, before the light shifted and faded, the right person did indeed come along and the photo below is the result.
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Tatton Park Japanese Garden Panorama
Photo of the Day
Nope, it’s not Japan. Not even in Asia. This panoramic photo comes to us from the tranquil Japanese garden nestled within the greenery of Tatton Park. Visiting it made me pine for some more travels in Japan.
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Deserted Mancunian Way
Photo of the Day
Manchester’s city centre is surrounded by the Mancunian Way, a sometimes-raised motorway that consistently hums with a steady flow of traffic. It’s rare to find an hour of the day when there isn’t at least an automotive trickle passing along the road.
The photo below might then make you wonder what I was thinking by wandering out into the middle of one of the city’s busiest streets. Well, it wasn’t busy that morning – once or twice a year, road crews block off all traffic and perform maintenance. On just such a morning, I was able to wander along the now-clear street to do a bit of cityscape photography.
Despite knowing that I was essentially alone on the strip of road, my body remained tensed at being in a place it normally shouldn’t be. I feel like this shot was worth a bit of unease…
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Ta Prohm Panorama
Photo of the Day
Why oh why didn’t I take more panoramic shots when I was in Asia? I had not yet developed a fondness for stitching together images and, when looking at this image, I kick myself for that because I love how this turned out.
This is one of the few panoramic shots I took during my travels in the far east and it is now motivation for me to plan a trip in that direction again.
This is Ta Prohm, a temple near Angkor Wat in Cambodia. The trees that almost seem to melt down through the ruins give it an amazing Indiana Jones atmosphere that’s only topped by the more isolated Beng Mealea.
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Stonehenge Panorama
Photo of the Day
A fiery sunset creates a silhouette of Stonehenge.
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St. Michael’s Mount Sunset Panorama
Photo of the Day
The fairy tale island of St. Michael’s Mount is awash with colour on a gorgeous evening in Cornwall.
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Sarajevo Panorama
Photo of the Day
I was pleasantly surprised by Sarajevo. I entered the city from the South and initially, I had trepidations about it. It seemed to sprawl forever and all I could see were the bullet-marked faces of uncharacteristic Soviet buildings. It looked a bit grim, really.
The Old Town changed my mind completely though. Mosques neighbour synagogues which neighbour churches and a cluster of pedestrian only roads form a medina that wouldn’t be entirely out of place in Morocco (if Sarajevo were more hectic). Combine that with the city’s sad but fascinating history and it became an enticing destination.
My brief stay in Sarajevo was ended with this view of the old town as night descended on Bosnia-Herzegovina’s capital.
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Riga Panorama
Photo of the Day
Taken from a popular vantage point in Riga, Latvia atop St. Peter’s Church, this shot was blessed by a beautiful day and good light that gave shape to the fantastic city below.
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Prague Old Town Square Panorama
Photo of the Day
The view from atop Prague’s Old Town Hall is one of the best spots to see the city’s spires piercing the sky with the Tyn Church dominating the skyline at the centre.
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Lyme Park Panorama
Photo of the Day
Tranquil Lyme Park seems to be a favourite of just about every British girl who grew up watching the Pride and Prejudice miniseries on the BBC. The thought of Mr. Darcy emerging from this pond after a swim still causes dramatic swoons years after it was filmed here.
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Fez Panorama at Dawn
Photo of the Day
The evening before I took this photo, I was in this same spot enjoying the calm perspective on the madness of Fez below. It’s a city that seems to be composed almost entirely of alleys and every corner, while magical, is usually inhabited by someone trying to make some tourist dollars. I was happy to have briefly escaped the onslaught of touts, guides, hawkers and salesmen and have a moment of peace.
There I was, observing a dun sunset and preparing myself to rise to this same spot for what would probably be a more interesting sunrise than that grey evening when a man approached me and started chatting to me about what a lovely view it was. I agreed and relished the chance to converse with someone who wasn’t aiming to sell me anything. No sooner did I have this thought when he pulled a sack seemingly from thin air and started showing me his wares.
I couldn’t believe it. I was one of the only people up here! How could this be a profitable location to set up shop? I politely declined his offers and got back to my camera, constantly hoping for more interesting light to break through and bathe the city. Fortunately he wasn’t too pushy and eventually started back down the hill towards the city.
As darkness fell, I was cautioned away from the area by local police who informed me this wasn’t the safest place to be hanging around at night. Thanking them for their concern, I made my own way down the hill only to return early the next morning to catch the sunrise you see below. I do have some shots from the evening which I might post later, but for now, I was partial to this sunrise.
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Dubrovnik City Walls Panorama
Photo of the Day
Back to Croatia we go with this image of Dubrovnik’s impressive city walls at dusk. I came across this vantage point in the midst of getting a bit lost one day on the way up the hill and made a mental note to come back for this shot.
I think of all the medieval cities I’ve visited, I might have to rank Dubrovnik’s walls as the most impressive. They’re remarkably intact and being able to still completely circumambulate the city on top of the parapets while constantly being treated to brilliant views and vistas makes them unforgettable.
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Conwy Panorama
Photo of the Day
Picturesque Conwy castle steadfastly watches over the boats bobbing in the water below. This beautiful town in Wales is dominated by the medieval fortress at its heart which has the effect of making the town look rather good from just about any angle.
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Chefchaouen, Morocco Panorama
Photo of the Day
The blue-tinted old-town of Chefchaouen actually looks a bit green in this panorama shot at dusk in Morocco. The new town glows orange while the medina is set apart by the green-tinted fluorescent lights obscuring the sky-blue walls of every building.
This panorama captures some of the peace ready to be found in one of Morocco’s less hectic cities.
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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
