Light and shadows in the museum, Berlin
Sunlight reflecting off the marble floor of the Neue Nationalgalerie in the Kulturforum, Berlin. Image © fotoVoyager 2009.
Although this glass walled atrium is ‘only’ the lobby of Berlin’s gallery of modern art it’s easily the most impressive space in the complex, if not in the whole of the Kulturforum, cultural epicentre of Germany’s renewed capital city. Mies van der Rohe created a dramatic yet simple layer that’s full of still light perfectly setting the scene for the world class collection underneath. They keep the glass nice and clean too – the window cleaners do a typically German high quality job.
I really like Berlin, but it took me a couple of days to realise what it was that made it feel a bit different from other European capitals. There’s just not that many people around. Without exception, Euro capitals are bustling, noisy, crowded places; try taking more that three steps in a straight line down Oxford Street or the Avenue des Champs-Élysées without getting bumped into. Sure, you see crowds occasionally, it’s not a ghost town. I was there during the European Cup and it was decidedly punchy on the U-Bahn and riotously exuberant around Zoo Station after Germany beat Turkey in the semi-finals. But there’s a strange tranquility to this city when you’re used to bumper to bumper traffic and teeming masses of humanity. Take this image, looking over the Sony Centre in Potsdamer Platz, the modern business district beside the Tiergarten:
This aerial panorama was shot at 2 o’clock in the afternoon (not the ideal time for a great shot, I’ll admit, but if I’m working, I’m working, if you know what I mean). That’s a three lane highway right in the centre of a capital city – with no cars on it! Where is everybody? Gives you a good idea of the scale of the leafy oasis that is the Tiergarten too, the peaceful green lungs of the city.
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Top image: 1/125, f5, ISO200 20mm 6658 × 3000 pixels.
Bottom image: 1/125, f16, ISO200 50mm 9999 x 4206 pixels.
Please don’t steal these images, it’s how I make my living.
Up, up and away in my beautiful balloon
Brightly colored hot air balloon envelope over patchwork quilt rural landscape. Image © fotoVoyager 2008.
Okay, so it’s not my balloon. These things don’t pack down small or launch on a whim. But they do make the most fantastic platform to take aerial photographs from. Once you get used to leaning right over the edge of the basket with only a bit of woven willow between you and the ground far below it’s an amazingly tranquil experience. The first time I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to have such a peaceful evening to fly, then I realised it was because we were travelling at the exact same speed as the wind, so there’s not even the slightest breeze. And because you need good clear conditions, when you do eventually get off the ground you’re guaranteed a great view. Coupled with the slow speed, open air basket and ability to travel much lower and quieter than powered vehicles, hot air balloon flights can produce fantastic images. It’s just a pity you can’t steer them.
This colorful balloon was flying me over the pretty Cotswold villages and patchwork quilt of farmland and rolling hills as low, late afternoon sunlight cast long shadows on the picturesque landscape. This dramatic vertical panorama was made from 5 or 6 original images composited together to make a view of about 160°. There were a couple more to add to the top but I was too close to avoid parallax errors.
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1/125 second, f9, ISO200 20mm
4047 x 12974 pixels. Please don’t steal this image, it’s how I make my living.