As Seen by TV

Wow, has it really been a couple months?? That’s no good, I’ll be working on that.
Been busy, been sick… let’s just say it’s been hectic.

Here are some quick shots I went out to capture last week when I saw the sky was going to be a good one… all these were taken no more than a 5min walk from my new apartment.  The pictured movie theater was opened several months ago, it’s a nice faux-art-deco structure actually.

Anyway, that’s all I have to say about that.

On my bike ride into Rotterdam city center to meet some friends I stopped off at Delfshaven (map) for a quick shoot.   I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve been here, but had never taken any pictures.  Which is partly to blame on the fact that this is less than a 10min bike ride from where I grew up.

Delfshaven (“Port of Delft“) was a harbor built in 1389 some 10km away from the town Delft as to surpass the high tax that merchants had to pay for mooring in the city of Rotterdam.  In 1886, Delfshaven became part of the city of Rotterdam, and was extremely lucky to have been left intact after the mass bombings (1150 x 50kg & 158 x 250kg) that levelled the entire city center of Rotterdam on May 14, 1940.  The Dutch surrendered to the Nazi forces shortly after only to endure 128 more known air raids by Allied forces, the second largest of which carried out by the US Air Force on March 31, 1943.  It is fair to say that Rotterdam was completely demolished by the fighting of World War II (more info here).  My great-grandfather, a captain himself, was moored in Rotterdam during one of these bombings, and was forced to flee back to our family in Antwerp, some 120km to the south, partly by bike, but mostly on foot.

Another, somewhat coldish night… hit up Lujiazhui, Pudong [again] with the dope wide angled lens.  Booyakasha.

Well, here they are.  Night #5 of Chinese New Year in Shanghai… once again putting my life in danger… and in the aftermath both camera & photography covered in ash.  All completely worth it.

Keep in mind it wasn’t foggy at all that night… those are all clouds from the firework explosions going on in every direction.  It’s mayhem at it’s finest and most beautiful. 

Enjoy.

CLICK HERE to see the post from last year: CNY – Year of the Tiger (2010)

Day 4 of Chinese New Year… went for a stroll around Xujiahui (actually, the first 3 are from around my office).  Fireworks in every direction, every night for almost 2 weeks long… Shanghai almost literally turns into a warzone.

The night of day 5 is when all hell breaks loose (besides New Years Eve of course)… and those pictures will be uploaded soon.  The images of  Chinese New Year day 5 from last year still holds the record for the highest traffic to my blog, ever… so, why not check out that post again HERE (warning: dope photography!).  This year’s to follow soon!

An epic evening of verpertinesque skies above Upper Quezon Hill, Baguio City!

There was also a lightning storm occurring out over the South China Sea, check it out in some of the images.

The first couple images were taken from the roof of the house I was staying in… a perfect spot to try out (only for the third time in my life) a nice proper long “star shot”. Image #1 is a 30sec exposure, while #2 is 2,737sec (+/- 45 minutes)! Unfortunately I didn’t quite get the image I wanted… it really has to be an absolutely clear night for it to work out properly.

The next several pictures are from the Lourdes Grotto, “100 stairs” turned out to be 242. Then finishing our religious tour with the Chinese Bell Church, located at the edge of Baguio City and La Trinidad, which practices a mix of Taoism, Buddhism, and Christianity.

The final several are from the top of Upper Quezon Hill, I actually had to DE-saturate some of those images. The [red] city lights reflecting on to the low clouds above, with still some blueness to the sky… quite a remarkable effect only possible at a specific time. Truly VESPERTINE!

Some night shots around Upper Quezon Hill, Baguio City.
The following day we rented a jeepney and accompanied the family for a day at the beach, heading from Baguio down Kennon Road through Rosario, a 1500m decent to the seaside, where we enjoyed the warm water and BBQ’d fresh fish on the beach…!