The Liver Building – HDR

The Royal Liver building (pronounced Laiver) is an iconic landmark on Liverpool pier. The two liver birds (one in the picture below) watch over the city and are fabled to bring luck to the city. This building was the tallest structure in the United Kingdom till 1961 and is one of the first buildings in the world to be built with reinforced concrete.

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Click on image to see a larger version

 Converted to HDR from a single RAW image in Photomatix Pro.

Love locks Liverpool

Love locks are an increasingly common sight in Europe. I saw them in large quantities in Vilnius many years ago, and more recently in Liverpool a couple of days ago. While love locks may symbolize eternal and unbreakable love, I can’t but agree with municipal authorities that these represent a nuisance. Not only are they expensive to remove, they also litter up a place. Having said that, however, they do make an excellent subject for photography.

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These were a few of many hundred locks that have begun to appear on the chain link fences on Liverpool docks by the Mersey.

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.

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A panoramic view of Rhossili beach from the path leading down
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Rhossili beach at low tide.
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Remains of an old wreck
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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.

 

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.

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Khilawat Mubarak or Grand Hall
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The grand hall, adorned with crystal chandeliers
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The long red carpet corridors above the grand hall
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A Belgian crystal glass chandelier in the grand hall (Khilawat Mubarak)
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A chandelier against a beautifully decorated door
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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.

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A front view of the Khilawat Mubarak
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

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.

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Pillared and beautifully decorated verandah at the Chowmahalla Palace, Hyderabad, India

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