Köln (Cologne) is the largest city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Köln survived the largest bombardment of any city in Europe by the Royal Air Force In World War Two. It was nearly destroyed in the process but has been thoughtfully reconstructed. This waterfront church is a example of the reconstructed city.
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Köln Waterfront Church
Last year i published a post on the famous Glockenspiel in München Bavaria. Although it was a nice scenic picture of Town Hall where the Rathaus-Glockenspiel is located it occurred to me that you really couldn’t see the detail of this famous landmark. I recently found this closeup which provides a much better view of what the Rathaus-Glockenspiel is all about and why each day hundreds gather to see and hear the performance.
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Rathaus-Glockenspiel Detail
We wandered in to a small dark Church in Munich. It was very dark, small and not real impressive. We went through the small Church museum and the place was also small and relatively unimpressive. Then we went upstairs and discovered another another hall of worship and wow, it was flooded with light, stain glass windows and one of the most beautiful ceilings I have ever seen.
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Magnificent Ceiling
The Charles Bridge is an historic bridge that crosses the Vltava river in Prague. Construction began in 1357 and for a long time it was the only way to cross the river in Prague. The bridge was the most important connection between Prague Castle and the city’s Old Town. The bridge is lined with sculptures and always filled with vendors, street musicians and tourists from all over the world.
The bridge was closed to vehicular traffic in the 1970’s and had to undergo significant repairs. It was decided to make it only pedestrian traffic and has become a famous tourist location. You stroll on the bridge, but it is not a good place for excercize although you see some attempting to jog.
The balustrade of the bridge is lined with 30 baroque sculptures created between 1683 and 1714.The Holy Crucifix and Calvary is one of the most famous and as you can see difficult to photograph on a crowded bridge. I do believe the young lady’s face adds more to the composition than would the top of the cross. Although at the very top are the Hebrew words “Kadosh Kadosh Kadosh” which is part of an ancient and important Jewish prayer.
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The Holy Crucifix and Calvary on the Charles Bridge
Since today is Valentines Day, I thought it appropriate to share an image from my work in progress “Just a Kiss”. This comes form Monet’s beautiful garden in Giverny near Vernon France. Happy Valentines Day to everyone, remember to love the one your with.
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Giverny Kiss
I wish we had more time when we were in Heidelberg. I feel we only scratched the depth of the city and want to go back there in the Summer since it was cold,rainy and grey the whole time we were there. I did have time to stop to take this picture of the this unusual sculpture with the Heidelberg castle in the background.
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Heidelberg Sculpture
We toured Köln with Claudia, a truly awful guide. Most of the guides we had on our Viking River Tour were exceptional but not Claudia. She was so awful we eventually turned off our headsets and strolled behind her. We got tired of hearing her psycho babble about World War 2 and how awful the Americans were. Köln was the most bombed city in Germany and the destruction was truly awful but we wanted to learn about the culture of the city, not a faux history lesson on the war. Once she pointed to a picture of Eisenhower and refereed to him as General MacArthur, her knowledge was not only prejudicial but inaccurate.
However she did point out one thing we might not have noticed on our own. This is the beautiful terrace garden and sculpture along the back of the Cologne Cathedral. Pretty on a gray rainy day but probably wonderful in the Spring and Summer.
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Cathedral Garden Köln
Over the years I have developed my technique for photographing people without looking through the viewfinder. In the 1970’s I first became aware of The Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Although it really has nothing to do with the observer effect it does help to mathematically corroborate that principle. Simply stated the act of observing something changes that thing. I knew when I pointed my camera at people their behavior would change.
I thought to not have people react to me I had to photograph them in a stealth mode. First I employed telephoto lenses but since going digital I have began shooing without looking through the viewfinder. Wasting bits and pixels is a lot different than wasting film. I set the camera to a wide angle and select automatic focus and exposure. I get a lot of crap but then I also get shots like this one which make it all worthwhile. Next a mirror-less camera because people do react to the shutter noise if they are close enough.
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People of Prague #10
Over the years I have developed my technique for photographing people without looking through the viewfinder. In the 1970’s I first became aware of The Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Although it really has nothing to do with the observer effect it does help to mathematically corroborate that principle. Simply stated the act of observing something changes that thing. I knew when I pointed my camera at people their behavior would change.
I thought to not have people react to me I had to photograph them in a stealth mode. First I employed telephoto lenses but since going digital I have began shooing without looking through the viewfinder. Wasting bits and pixels is a lot different than wasting film. I set the camera to a wide angle and select automatic focus and exposure. I get a lot of crap but then I also get shots like this one which make it all worthwhile. Next a mirror-less camera because people do react to the shutter noise if they are close enough.
To see other images and buy apparel or prints, please visit my commercial gallery.
People of Prague #9
Wine was really important in the 15th Century. Fresh water supply was not always available and this was especially true if a castle was under siege. Each castle we visited had a large wine cellar. At Marksburg Castle it was on the ground floor near the stable. While these barrels are huge they aret not as large as the one in Heidelberg Castle which is thought to be the largest wine barrel in the world and almost impossible to photograph.
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The Barrel Room at Marksburg Castle
Imagery Photography 