by David Clarke | Sep 28, 2012 | All, Italy, Places
If you are ever in Florence, you have to visit Giotto’s Campanile, the bell tower that stands next to the Duomo, and climb to the top. Go early and beat the crowds – the narrow staircase is a two-way street and it gets busy.
This shot is taken from one level below the top, the highest level from which you can look down the inside of the building. The tower itself is stunning. It stands 84.7 metres high (277.9 feet), although after you’ve staggered up the 414 steps that take you all the way to the top, it seems higher. Every step is worth it – the view over the city from the top is fabulous. And it’s been standing there in all it’s magnificence since 1359, the year it was completed. Check it out on Wikipedia for more stats and information.
Canon 40D with Canon EFS 10-22mm lens at 10mm. ISO200 1/8 at f10
by David Clarke | Sep 26, 2012 | All, Hong Kong, Wildlife
‘Don’t you know? There’s no such thing as a Gruffalo.” So Julia Donaldson’s wonderful story goes, but it isn’t true. Here’s proof that the Gruffalo really exists. It’s alive, well and living disguised as a rather scruffy tree in Big Wave Bay Village, Hong Kong. Normally somewhat obscured by the surrounding countryside, I rumbled it on a misty morning when the background vegetation on the hills was less visible. I took just one shot – I wasn’t prepared to hang around having heard about its terrible teeth and terrible claws…
Canon 40D with Canon EFS 10-22mm lens at 22mm. ISO800 1/400 at f6.3
by David Clarke | Sep 23, 2012 | All, Places, USA
At several hundred metres across, Jenkins Pond, near Falmouth on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, is more of a lake than a pond. Whatever the name, it’s a blissfully peaceful stretch of water that’s fun for kayaking and swimming. And at sunset, for fishing…
Canon 40D with Canon 70-200mm f4 IS lens at 70mm. ISO200 1/100 at f9
by David Clarke | Sep 19, 2012 | All, Places, USA
Visiting the 9/11 Memorial is a profoundly moving experience. Opened last year on the 10th anniversary of the attacks, it comprises two huge pools located on the footprints of the original Twin Towers. Water falls thirty feet into the pools and from there into a central void. The names of all who perished are inscribed on the outside walls of the pools.
When the site is complete, there will be over 400 swamp white oak trees and one other that is in the cluster of trees to the right of centre in a the photo. It is the single tree remaining from the original World Trade Center plaza that was found reduced to an eight-foot-tall stump by workers clearing the site. Removed, nurtured and now relocated on the site, it has become known as the ‘Survivor Tree’.
Canon 40D with Canon EFS 10-22mm lens at 10mm. ISO100 1/80 at f8
by David Clarke | Sep 16, 2012 | All, Places, USA
The 60-storey John Hancock Tower, known locally as The Hancock, is Boston and New England’s tallest building at 790 feet (241m). Its minimalist lines are in stark contrast to Trinity Church that stands next to it and which is shown reflected here.
Canon 40D with Canon EFS 10-22mm lens at 10mm. ISO400 f11 at 1/250
