“Downtown” Tikal, Guatemala — standing on the platform of Temple II, looking east toward Temple I:
This is a 2-shot panorama using a wide-angle lens, so covers just short of a 180-degree field of view.
The main plaza
Tag Archives: Architecture
Looking out from Balcony House
Balcony House is one of the “marquis” attractions at Mesa Verde — you can only see it as part of a group, you have to get a timed ticket in advance, etc. But oh, is it ever worth the bother! Here’s the view looking out from just short of the “exit:”
Right in the middle of the frame you can *just* see the 30-foot-tall ladder you climb to get into the site.
This shot is actually a panorama stitched together from two portrait (vertical) frames; I tried to pull as much of the resulting “fisheye” distortion out as I could, but as you can see, there’s still a bit left.
Turtles all the way down
I haven’t antiqued any photos for months (if not years), so while I was playing around with black and white conversions I thought I should indulge myself and give a shot from Uxmal the full aging treatment:
This is the House of Turtles, so named because of the little turtle figurines decorating the top of the walls.
Gone to the Palace
I’ve been working through my Yucatan travel shots, and thought that while I was at it, should take advantage of the 15-day free trial period for “Silver Efex Pro 2.” Here’s a black and white treatment of the Palace at Kabah, on the “Puuc Route:”
I hadn’t thought of it at the time, but old ruins like this tend to look really good in black and white. Use the right colored filter settings, and you can bring out some drama in an otherwise bland sky, too!
Pyramid of the Magician
The “marquis” structure at the Maya ruins of Uxmal in México:
Sadly, you can no longer climb this pyramid’s steps — they were showing the toll of thousands of tourists’ feet over the years. At least visitors can still admire this beautiful structure from a not-too-great distance.
Time to climb back down
Two women start their descent of Structure I (as seen from Structure II) at the ancient Maya (no, not Mayan) ruins of Calakmul, México:
Structure I (a.k.a. Pyramid I) is the highest at Calakmul (by virtue of its being built on a small hill), but not the tallest. Its neighbor Structure II (a.k.a. Pyramid II) is the tallest at the site, and the largest (in bulk) too — standing about 50 meters / 160 feet tall (these numbers vary depending on the source you’re looking at). Structure I is just a few meters shorter than Structure II, meanwhile Structure II’s base is some 120 meters (390 feet) square.
Translation: they’re both really big…
Palenque’s Palace
Shot with a long lens from the Temple of the Cross, about 1/4 mile away:
You might think I framed this shot the way I did to heighten the contrast between the structure and its background — but actually, I was avoiding a line of tourists just off the bottom of the shot!
Eiffel squared
A really good reason to embarrass yourself publicly in Paris — to get a unique shot of a thoroughly-photographed landmark:
Come to think of it, I guess I didn’t make *too* many people laugh by laying on my back for this one. Makes me wish I could go back again soon…
Fallingwater panorama
I thought this looked best in black and white…
Brings out the geometry, don’t you think?
Have a very colorful New Year!
Another shot from this year’s Photographers’ Night trip downtown — a much broader view of the Denver City and County building in all its gaudy holiday colors:
I took this from across the street in Civic Center park (good news: easier to take in the view; bad news: no way to get the trees out of the shot). If you look closely, you can see the smeared lights of cars coasting by on Bannock street…