architecture – Juridicious

Audley End House, Saffron Walden

Audley End house is a magnificent example of a 17th century stately home near Saffron Walden in Essex. The property was also once a royal palace in the time of Charles II (1668) who purchased the property for £5 in order to be able to attend races at Newmarket. Audley End is now managed by English Heritage but all paintings and period decorations are from the original time and form part of a private collection.

HDR composed of three bracketed shots at -2, 0 and +2 exposures and processed in Photomatix Pro. Please click on the photo for a larger version.

Moving up in life!

_DSC4308_09_10 — Steps on the River Walk, San Antonio. Please click on the photo for a larger version on Flickr.

HDR of a set of steps leading from the River Walk to the city above. San Antonio, Texas. Photos taken at -2, 0 and +2 stops, then merged and processed in Photomatix Pro.

The forgotten treasure!

In any other city but Agra, home to the famous Taj Mahal, this architectural beauty would be classed as one of the wondrous feat of art and architecture. A pity then, that this beautiful marble building often gets overlooked by visitors to the Taj and Agra fort. And a blessing for providing plenty of opportunities for quiet photography!

Itmad-ud-Daulah, Agra, India. Click on the photo for a larger version on Flickr

The Itmad-Ud-Daulah was commissioned by Noor Jehan, wife of the mughal emperor Jehangir and built between 1621 and 1628. This building is considered to be the precursor of the Taj Mahal and utilises similar design element, albeit on a smaller scale. The relatives of Noor Jehan (including her father) are interred in this mausoleum. Like in the Taj Mahal, the buildings and grounds are built to exquisite symmetry, disrupted only by the positions of the cenotaphs of Noor Jehan’s parents (similarly followed in the Taj Mahal, built almost 30 years later). The building is made of white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones.

The Taj Mahal – Recovered after 9 years!

I recently re-processed a picture of the Taj Mahal that I photographed in 2004. The original photograph was taken as dusk and fog and pollution added to the haziness of the photo. Re-processing the picture has brought out the details, what do you think?

Taj Mahal, Agra — After re-processing! Click on the photo for a larger version on Flickr.

The original photo (before processing) is below.

Taj in the Mist — Before reprocessing! The haze overwhelmed the Taj!

There is something to be said for the merits of going back and looking over old photos and trying to improve them using modern post-processing techniques.

The reality dysfunction

Spot the reality!! With due apologies to Peter F. Hamilton for his fantastic book of the same name as the title of this post..

_DSC3780_1_2 — Can you spot the difference between the real and the painted? Check out a larger picture on Flickr by clicking on the photograph. In Belgrade, Serbia

The suffering of conflict..

A touching statue by Käthe Kollwitz’s of ‘Mother with her Dead Son’. This sculpture is situated in a stark bare room right under the open oculus, and so is exposed to the rain, snow and cold of the Berlin climate, symbolising the suffering of civilians during World War II. At the New Watchouse (Neue Wache). Unter der Linden, Berlin.

Mother and her dead son.. — Mother and her dead son.

In 2014, there are stories of conflict and suffering all around the world, and I can’t think of a better message to post on as the first blog post for this year!

Star Gazing!

The Jantar-Mantar is a cluster of 18th century astronomical instruments that formed an observatory for observing the celestial skies in Delhi. These were built by the Maharajah of Jaipur Jai Singh II. Today these buildings sit as an ochre and green oasis in the centre of New Delhi.

The photo below is that of the Ram Yantra, a cylindrical building that is used to measure the movement of stars.

19877566_d200aa1f6d_o — Inside the Ram Yantra – a star observatory at the 18th century Jantar Mantar complex in New Delhi. Click on photograph for a larger version on Flickr.

Jantar Mantar of Delhi by Mzondi Lungu (mzondilungutravelidea.wordpress.com)
Jantar Mantar Complex (elinindia.wordpress.com)

Bridge on the NY state route 59

A bridge on New York state route 59 out of Suffern, NY over the Norfolk Southern railway. The bridge itself is no more than a 100 feet across but the geometric patterns of the metal structure distributes weight beautifully.

_DSC2960_tonemapped — Road bridge on NY state route 59. Click on picture for a larger version

Processed in Silver Efex Pro. Photographed with a Nikon D7000 camera.

George Washington Bridge, New York

The George Washington Bridge is a major link between New Jersey and New York. This double-decked suspension bridge was constructed between 1927 and 1931. Over 102 million vehicles use the bridge in a year, making it the busiest bridges in the world. The photo below is that of one of the two pillars that support the 1450m long bridge.

_DSC2887-Edit-2 — George Washington Bridge. Click on the picture for a larger version

I took this picture from the roof of a moving car, and my friend obligingly slowed down to a crawl so I could try to get the best possible shot. Thankfully, it was not rush hour and traffic was sparse but slow-moving.

Red Landings, Liverpool

The old warehouses at the Liverpool docks. The old loading bays are painted a bright red.. Just the opportunity for a photograph. Selectively desaturated to keep the reds only.

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