The Eye And The Clock

If my stay in London was a little longer than two hours, perhaps the title of this post would have been a more all-encompassing "London, England."  But alas, it was not.  I was there long enough to get some pictures of the London Eye, Big Ben, and a single one of Parliament...the title reflects this.

I would have loved the chance to see and do more, but our limited time and that well known London rain really got in the way.  So as soon as we were out of the airport, it was straight to Big Ben.  On our way to it we could see the London Eye in the distance...

These days it goes by the EDF Energy London Eye.

Clock Towers always make me think of owls.  Big Ben is no different.  I suppose I should say the clock tower that houses Big Ben is no different...Big Ben is the bell.

We passed Parliament.  My 90mm homemade tilt-shift lens doesn't do too well with large structures when they are fairly close.  You have to be selective with what you want in the frame.

And then we got up close and personal with the London Eye.  I love that single red car. 

Hopefully I'll return to London sooner or later.  I'd like to tilt-shift more than just the main attractions.

Paris, France

My wife and I recently spent a couple of weeks backpacking across much of Western Europe.  One of my recent posts, the one on Bardonecchia, was from that backpacking trip.  This post will also be from that trip.  In fact, many of my posts will be from that trip.  Many places were visited and many photos were taken.  This is just one city from that trek across much of Western Europe...Paris.

The main thing I was excited to see when we first set foot in that lively French city was the Eiffel Tower.  My wife, on the other hand, wasn't nearly as interested.  For myself, I felt that it was a good chunk of what I knew of Paris.  My wife, again, on the other hand, knew a decent amount about the city and knew that there were tons of other wonderful things to see.  When we finally made our way to it, we were both awestruck.  It really was an impressive piece of architecture, symbolism, and art.  I spent a good amount of time photographing it and with the exception of one other area right by the tower, the entirety of my Paris tilt-shifting took place on it.

A little bit of France Romance

a towering wide-angle perspective

a tilt-shifted series of pieces of the tower

a tilt-shifted silhouette shot

the classic miniature effect one can get from the tilt-shift lenses (also the background on this site)

And last of the Eiffel Tower shots...a photo of the tower framed by the pillars of the Peace Memorial.

The Peace Memorial is the only other thing I shot with my tilt-shift lens.  Here it is.  The memorial is made up of 32 of these columns covered with the word for "peace" in 32 different languages.

We went to the Louvre on our first evening in Paris.  It itself is a beautiful thing, but of course the things that can be found within are just as beautiful, if not more so...

Can't go wrong with a sphinx...

Can't miss the "Venus de Milo" ...

...and best of all, a painting of Bill Murray as Steve Zissou from The Life Aquatic (middle, back).  I guess that's Wes Anderson in the front? 

No trip to The Louvre is complete without checking out the Mona Lisa.  We visited her and got to feel extremely privileged to see such a famous and incredible painting, but trying to get a decent photo of her with the insane crowds pushing in on all sides was impossible.  So I resolved myself to actually look at the thing in front of me for once...as opposed to just seeing it through a viewfinder.

Next on the list was Notre Dame.

...it's difficult to decide which is more impressive, the inside or the outside.

We then roamed around the city, stopping whenever we happened upon something interesting.  Shakespeare and Co. was on our list of things to see.  There was no way we were going to miss it.  Again, the crowds that can be found at any famous location tried to thwart our entry and attempts at browsing.  They did not succeed.

The Bouquinistes and their bookstalls along the Seine were much less crowded, making browsing much easier.  These have been functioning since the 16th century, giving the Seine the reputation as "the only river in the world that runs between two bookshelves."

Look closely.  This guy doesn't think one cigarette is enough.

Not too far from the homeless man and his extra cigarette is the "love bridge/lock bridge/love padlocks."  Here couples will inscribe their initials on a lock, fasten the lock to the bridge, and toss the key in the Seine.  Random people make a fortune by purchasing wholesale lots of locks for next to nothing and then standing next to the bridge with them...selling each for 5 euro.

Close to the bridge you can find some nice romantic graffiti.  A scene from "Pierrot Le Fou" has been immortalized in black paint on a wall...so long as no one goes at it with some white paint.

 I like the negative space on this one.

And last but not least...

We weren't the only ones coming to Paris for some good old fashioned sight-seeing.

...and that is the Eiffel Tower tilt-shifted.  Plus some regular photos of Paris.

Bardonecchia, Italy And The Surrounding Alps

Bardonecchia is an Italian town surrounded by the Alps.  If it wasn't for the 2006 Winter Olympics, it's unlikely that many people outside of the snowboarding and skiing community would know that this beautiful place exists.  If it wasn't for the fantastic mountains surrounding the town, I can't imagine that the Olympics would have been held there in 2006.

A recent trip to the town and a hike up the mountains yielded a few good pictures.  The trip gave me a great opportunity to tilt-shift another part of the world. 

This is Bardonecchia, a cute little town at the base of a mountain...Tilt-Shifted

a closer version of the town

a couple tilt-shifted shots of the surrounding Alps

...the last photo reminds me of a backdrop for The Sound Of Music

a hike straight up one of the mountains resulted in this shot

another shot of the mountains...this one isn't tilt-shifted

another photograph that wasn't taken with my homemade tilt-shift lens.  That particular lens doesn't lend itself well to panoramas.  

...and the last photograph - a tilt-shifted shot of the Alps from a plane

And that, my friends, is Bardonecchia, Italy and the surrounding Alps.  I know there wasn't a lot of variety in the photography of this post, but fear not, the next post should more than make up for it.

Not Just Belfast - Titanic Belfast

Though I've had this site up for almost two weeks, all I have to show for it is a single post that (only kind of) explains my hopes and intentions.  That's mostly because I am still trying to figure out the best plan of attack.  At this point in time, I must figure out how I'll layout the posts, what sorts of shots I'll allow myself to use (just tilt-shift or regular as well) and if I will also have video.  I figure most of this will be things I will figure out as I go.  I also have to decide on how I am breaking down the posts... my plan is to post different cities from the same country individually.  That means more information per location.  That's the plan, at least - for now. 

And now, for this post, I'm going to totally disregard that plan.  Today's post is on a very specific part of a city which will be featured in many more posts to come: Belfast, Northern Ireland, where I'm currently living.   When travelling, one can only get a basic understanding and a limited photographic approach to the places they are travelling to.  Living somewhere lets you get below the surface and break a city down into a few good tilt-shifted posts.

2012 is the centenary of the maiden voyage of the Titanic and the fateful collision that resulted in its sinking.  The Titanic was built in Belfast, a city known for its shipbuilding.  The Titanic sank on April 15th, 1912 and so, one week ago today a new memorial was revealed on the grounds of Belfast's City Hall.  A plaque with the names of everyone that perished, in alphabetical order so as to not discriminate by race, creed, age or wealth, was unveiled alongside a memorial garden filled with numerous types of flowers.  The flowers, in their diversity, reflect the diversity of those who met their end 100 years ago.  

"In Memory of those who died on the 15th April, 1912."

This memorial lists all of the names of the victims...the first memorial to do so.

This statue can also be found on the grounds of City Hall.  Called the Titanic Memorial Statue or Sculpture, it was unveiled in 1920.

"In the diversity in the fragrance and colour of the flowers of the memorial garden, may there be an acknowledgement of the diversity of humankind."

In that this year marks the centenary, Belfast also decided to open "Titanic Belfast"...a museum, of sorts.  The exhibitions are also referred to as the Titanic Experience, for it is a multi-media and multi-gallery adventure that takes you from the bottom of the building to the top (at one point you must clamber into an ancient looking elevator; at another point you take "an electric dark ride that uses special effects, animations and full-scale reconstructions to recreate the reality of shipbuilding in the early 1900s").  But this "experience" is so much more than just rides on things that resemble early 1900s equipment.  You get to see the detailed plans of the ship, the daily life of those who built it, back stories of the passengers (old and young, rich and poor), the specific messages radioed from the Titanic to other ships, and the other ships' messages back, and so much more.  I was extremely lucky to be living here when it first opened, and to get to visit it while the centenary memorials were taking place.

 Titanic Belfast

This is the first photo on this post, that isn't a tilt-shift photo.  I have decided to use photography that isn't tilt-shifted so long as I have some tilt-shifted shots from whatever country, city, state, territory or whatever it is I am writing about.

Back to the tilt-shifted photography.  Even the building resembles the Titanic.  The parts that jut out are supposed to be reminiscent of the hull and bow area.

This statue is called "Titanica."  It is located in front of the Titanic Belfast complex.

Here is a perfect example of the multi-media approach.  This video is of one of the exhibits, an attempt to create the illusion of a glass bottomed boat.  There are monitors in the floor (you can see me walking on them) through which they play a video of an underwater view of the Titanic wreck site.

The area where the Titanic was built is now home to two of Belfast's icons.  Dominating the horizon from many different points of view in Belfast are two massive yellow shipbuilding cranes, Samson and Goliath.  They were not around when the Titanic was built, but they stand as a reminder to an industry that once boomed in Belfast.  Also, they continue to be used on current ship repairs.

Upclose

From a distance

From the Gasworks on the River Lagan (you can see both of them in this shot)

...And that is the past and present Titanic Belfast

A Travel and Photography Blog...Tilt-Shifted

About a year ago I started messing around with a DIY approach to photography.  My first successful attempt at this newfound world of camera/lens/lighting hacks was that of creating a tilt-shift lens for my DSLR.  This type of lens allows for more control over what is and isn't in focus by manipulating the plane of focus.  Used heavily in architectural photography, more and more we are now seeing tilt shift photography make its way into other fields.  This is probably because they can be made and used by anyone willing to spend a few dollars (seriously, a few...like $20) willing to get a little dirty (probably just get a little bit of glue on their fingers) and willing to do some heavy lifting (the necessary lenses tend to be a tad heavier than, say, a nifty-fifty (but hey, for $10-15 no one's complaining)).

Right.  So I was willing to do all that.  And I did.  I won't give you my exact instructions now, though, for two reasons.  One, you can find better instructions here (I based mine VERY loosely off of the plungercam classic) and two, I am starting to search for the necessary parts for my next tilt-shift lens and figure I will be able to give better instructions and advice concerning its construction (what with it being my second attempt).

Soon after creating my tilt-shift lens, I got the crazy idea that I should get in on one of those 365 photo projects (you take a picture everyday for a full year).  I did that (really, I did) and was able to use my homemade lens to help me on those days that I didn't have any good ideas for a photo.  Since then, though, I've really started to understand what the lens is capable of...a ton more than just a way to fill in my creatively lacking days.  And more importantly, I've learned that I have just enough extra space in my camera bag for it.

When my wife and I found out that we would be moving to Northern Ireland, specifically Belfast, much time went into planning out what would occupy every square inch of every potential duffel bag, suit case, and backpack.  When we got to the final stages of packing, I was awfully close to filling those few remaining square inches in my backpack with some extra socks, but was lucky enough to bump into that less than well constructed and rarely used lens just to see that it fit perfectly in that tiny cavity.  In it went.

Half of my 365 day photo project happened in Pennsylvania (and surrounding states).  Half took place in Northern Ireland (and surrounding countries).  I finished it just a little over a month ago and since then have been trying to figure out what exactly I should do with that site.  I considered killing it. I considered using it for random photo series/projects that I come up with.  While backpacking across western Europe (luckily with my trusty tilt-shift lens in hand) I came up with my next project.  The plan was to shoot some tilted and shifted shots in every country I travel to (and when back in the states potentially every state I travel to).  I would then be able to do a travel and photography blog that sets me apart from the thousands...dare I say millions...that already exist.  Though I now know that by concept at least it wont set me apart from the (couple) hundred or so other tilt shift travel blogs.  Being set apart from them will have to be done by the places I travel to and the way I use my lens.

When I came up with the idea, I figured I'd just use my already established blog.  That seemed to be a reasonable idea.  But then I realized I had the perfect excuse to start a fresh blog, to have a blog entirely devoted to my travels and my photography...specifically, my tilt-shift photography.

And so, I present my new blog...TILT-SHIFT THE WORLD

Look forward to posts dedicated to specific countries, states, cities and territories.

(I'll have my first real post up within a week...but shall leave you with a taste of what's to come)...

...any idea where this beautiful building can be found?  ...anyone?