Silk Exchange, Valencia – Medieval Hub of Power and Wealth
It was a simple reminder for the traders to be good christian and trade with honesty, so they remain prosperous. - Silk Exchange, Valencia - Medieval Hub of Power and Wealth - Travelure ©
Belvedere Palace, Vienna – World’s 7th Oldest Museum
Besides being the repository of outstanding works of art, the Belvedere Palace itself is a masterpiece of Baroque architecture. - Belvedere Palace, Vienna - World’s 7th Oldest Museum - Travelure ©
Opava – A Czech Town with its own Solar System
Just in front of the town hall, a round stone ball lies in the centre of a fountain. This 230-cm ball represents the sun. - Opava - A Czech Town with its own Solar System - Travelure ©
Radun Chateau – A Not-So-Royal Residence
The shore offers places where you look at one of the most romantic castles and see its reflection in the water. - Radun Chateau - A Not-So-Royal Residence - Travelure ©
Melnik Chateau – A Castle, or Bohemia’s First Winery?
The chateau sits at the confluence of two rivers - Elbe (Labe) and the Vltava. A road between the chateau and the church leads you there. - Melnik Chateau - A Castle, or Bohemia’s First Winery? - Travelure ©
Karlstejn Castle – Czechia’s Erstwhile Tower Of London
The highest level is the Big Tower, 60-metre tall, with its central area housing the Chapel of the Holy Cross. - Karlstejn Castle - Czechia’s Erstwhile Tower Of London - Travelure ©
Cesky Sternberk – Family Seat for 21 Generations
In fact, that is but a small part of a 545-rendition-collection depicting various 17th-century wars. This is the largest personal collection of engravings anywhere in the world! - Cesky Sternberk - Family Seat for 21 Generations - Travelure ©
Krivoklat Castle – A Royal Residence and A Feared Prison
The Gothic structure is obvious all around - in its corridors, rooms, and even the arches joining the sections of the castle. - Krivoklat Castle - A Royal Residence and A Feared Prison - Travelure ©
Palace and Park of Fontainebleau, France
Its steep sloping roofs, the turret-like chimneys, dimensional alcoves, symmetrical arches, rectangular windows, and circular ventilators provide a pleasing look to an otherwise routine facade. - Palace and Park of Fontainebleau, France - Travelure ©
Chateau Vaux le Vicomte, Maincy, France
Fouquet entertained the king in his lavish palace in 1661. While it impressed the king, just three weeks later Fouquet was arrested on the charges of treason. - Chateau Vaux le Vicomte, Maincy, France - Travelure ©
Pompeii – A Prehistoric Frozen Moment
It was a hot summer day, the temperature hovering around 35°C. When a fellow traveller complained of the heat, our guide was quick to point out the residents of Pompeii faced 20 times the heat on a fateful day in 1st century CE. - Pompeii - A Prehistoric Frozen Moment - Travelure ©
Florence – The Birthplace of Renaissance
Florence has more. A lot more. Keep walking around this historic district, and at every turn, you will make an eye-popping discovery. Even walking the same route will throw up newer surprises you would have missed during your first or even second walk. - Florence - The Birthplace of Renaissance - Travelure ©
The Vatican – A Country Within a City
The Vatican is also a world leader in per capita wine consumption. And then there is the ‘Popes per square kilometre’ statistic that works out to over 2 since the area of the state is less than half a square kilometre. - The Vatican - A Country Within a City - Travelure ©
Rome Was Not Built in a Day
Roman history dates back to 753 BCE, but, according to archeological evidence, humans have lived in the city for the last 14,000 years. So much so the 1st-century BCE Roman poet Tibullus called it an eternal city. - Rome Was Not Built in a Day - Travelure ©
Adding the third dimension
‘You can see a photographer’s mastery over his craft in a single shot. Ask him to shoot a white egg against a white wall!’. - Adding the third dimension - Travelure ©
Let us stitch a panorama
I started shooting from one end of the edifice and twisted my upper body and continued capturing the frames. It gave me shots that had an overlapping view of the spread-out step-well - Let us stitch a panorama - Travelure ©
Capturing Architecture without Distortion Part-2
If you tilt the camera up or down, a vertical distortion occurs. And, if you tilt the camera to the left or right, the shot will have a horizontal distortion. - Capturing Architecture without Distortion Part-2 - Travelure ©
Shooting Architecture without Distortion Part-1
The only way to shoot any structure distortion-free is to keep the camera parallel to the ground. For that, you need a vantage that brings you up midway to the height of the building. But the ground realities do not always allow us to keep the camera parallel. - Shooting Architecture without Distortion Part-1 - Travelure ©
Photojournalistic Technique in Travel Photography
...the biggest challenge to embrace this technique in travel photography is our own sense of aesthetics. - Photojournalistic Technique in Travel Photography - Travelure ©
How to Shoot Auroras
Though they may turn out green in photographs, in reality, most low-intensity aurora activity is grey - almost like swathes of fog moving fast across the night skies. - How to Shoot Auroras - Travelure ©
The Beauty of the Blue Hour
...this Dynamic Range of the human eye is from X to 1,048,576X (20-stops). It means we are able to see the darkest and the brightest part of the scene vividly, while the camera struggles to do justice to this wide range of reflected light in a frame. - The Beauty of the Blue Hour - Travelure ©
Cutting the Clutter for a Balanced Frame
Crowds clutter a frame. Not always, but often. When we shoot, our challenge is to keep the crowds out of the frame or ensure we balance the frame despite the crowds. With aesthetic sensibility and presence of mind, you can manage a good frame at most times. - Cutting the Clutter for a Balanced Frame - Travelure ©
Black & White vs. Colour – How to Choose
We like our shots and feel they will look good in Black & White. But not every shot may stand out after conversion. The challenge is ascertaining which shot will look good in Black & White! And thereby choosing the right ones to convert. - Black & White vs. Colour - How to Choose - Travelure ©
How to shoot back-lit stained glass
More often than not, the darkness within a church will force you to pump up the ISO on a wide-open aperture for capturing the details inside. And the back-lit stained glass will threaten over-exposure. This requires a precarious exposure balance. - How to shoot back-lit stained glass - Travelure ©