August 2013 – Juridicious

Blue water lilies

Blue water lilies at the New York Botanical Gardens.

At the seaside in Rhossili beach, Wales

Rhossili beach is possibly one of the best beaches in Britain. Rhossili lies in the Gower peninsula in Wales in an area designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty. The beach itself is about 3 miles long and is accessed by a steep descent from the Rhossili village at the top of the hill. As with most of Gower, this property is owned and operated by the National Trust.

A panoramic view of Rhossili beach from the path leading down

View of Rhossili beach from one of the many coves on the cliff face.

All pictures from an iPhone 4S. Post-processed in Adobe Lightroom.

At the seaside in Barry, Wales

Barry Island in South Wales is on the Bristol Channel. It is an extensive beach and has the second largest tidal range in the world (15 metres). These pictures are from a recent trip to the Welsh seaside. At low tide the beach extends for almost a kilometer from the promenade.

All photographs from my trusted iPhone!

Beach huts for Barry Island as ambitious plans for seaside redevelopment are unveiled (walesonline.co.uk)

Chowmahalla Palace, Hyderabad

The Chowmahalla Palace or literally “4 palace” was the residence of the Nizams of Hyderabad. This palace complex served a ceremonial role including coronations and state banquets. The palace is said to be modeled after the palace of the Shah of Iran. This particular palace was built in 1750.

The grand hall, adorned with crystal chandeliers

The long red carpet corridors above the grand hall

A Belgian crystal glass chandelier in the grand hall (Khilawat Mubarak)

A chandelier against a beautifully decorated door

Details of the ceiling in the grand hall of Chowmahalla Palace

As a first time visitor to Chowmahalla, I was impressed by the grandeur of this palace, immaculately maintained grounds and buildings, and tremendous opportunities for photography. Needless to say I shall be visiting there again on my next trip to Hyderabad.

Technical Details

All pictures from a Nikon D80 camera fitted with a Tamron 18-250mm f3.5/5.6 zoom lens. Photographs processed in Adobe Lightroom and NIK software suite. Larger versions of the photographs are available from my flickr page.

The Royal Verandah (juridicious.com)
Window Gazing (juridicious.com)
Doors to Perception (juridicious.com)

Birds eye view

A birds eye view of Rhossili beach and Rhossili village (top right) from the cliffs.

Panorama from an iPhone 4S, processed in snapseed. Click on the picture for a larger view.

Rhossili Beach, Wales

Rhossili beach in the Gower peninsula. Panorama using iPhone.

Spring, Summer – the Four Seasons

This is my full collection of the 4 gigantic sculptures that are presently on display at the New York Botanical Gardens. These sculptures are by Philip Haas and were inspired by the paintings of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, an Italian renaissance painter who famously used fruits, flowers and twigs in his depiction of human heads.

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Winter

The Four Seasons – Winter (juridicious.com)
Philip Haas: Four Seasons (collabcubed.com)
The Four Seasons – Autumn (juridicious.com)
Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall (jackholesrealm.wordpress.com)

Window gazing

Gazing out of a decorated window! At the Chowmahalla Palace, Hyderabad, India

Photographed with a Nikon D80 and processed in Silver Efex Pro.

The Royal Verandah

The term verandah has made its way to English via India and refers to an open roofed courtyard around a bungalow or terrace. According to Wikipedia, a verandah “commonly refers to balconies on cruise ships and some hotel properties. It is also described as an open pillared gallery, generally roofed, built around a central structure.”. The following verandah is from the Chowmahalla Palace in Hyderabad, India. Photographed as a single bracketed frame, this image was converted to black-and-white in Silver Efex Pro to add texture and tonal contrast.