Berlin Wall, 2011

Berlin – Reichstagskuppel

I visited Berlin before Christmas in 2011, 2012 and here in 2014.  On this occasion we got tickets to visit the dome at the top of the Reichstag (Federal Parliament).  Our slot was in the late afternoon / early evening and without a tripod, I had to make do with handheld high ISO shots and a very steady hand!

Berlin 2012 – Night shots and Holocaust memorial

All within easy walking distance of each other, the Reichstag (parliament), the Brandenburg Gate – both fully restored after substantial damage during the Second World War and the Holocaust memorial, built some way to the south of the Brandenburg Gate, are popular tourist spots in Berlin.  Further away, at the Alexanderplatz is the Weltzeituhr (World Time Clock), showing the time in major cities around the world.

Bellinzona 2011

Bellinzona is the main city in the Swiss Canton of Ticino.  I first stopped here in April 2011.  A couple of “lucky” shots:

Autumn colours, Baden region, 2015

It often stays warm and dry well into the Autumn in Switzerland and there are some lovely colours to be seen in the trees.  The river is the Aare, where it is met by the Reuss, near to Lauffohr.  Other shots are taken in the vineyard in Ennetbaden.

A postcard from Fribourg, 2011

A couple of shots from the Swiss city of Fribourg, taken in 2011.  In one, I have used a combination of tone mapping, high pass sharpen and heavy saturation to give the impression of a 1960s postcard.  The steps in the black and white shot reminded me of some of M. C. Escher’s artworks.

London in black & white

Architect Sir Giles Glibert Scott was responsible for the iconic red phone booths of the early 20th century and the Art Deco “Cathedral of Power”, Battersea Power station, the last part of which closed in 1983.  This example of the phone booth has been left on the north bank of the Thames near Pimlico, with the power station the other side of the river.  Although derelict and having changed owners several times as their development plans came to nothing, the coal cranes that would have unloaded the fuel from ships travelling up the Thames still stand.  February 2009.

Coal cranes outside Battersea Power Station