Dordrecht, the Netherlands

Dordrecht is a city in the Netherlands that originates from the 12th century. The city knew great riches in the Golden Age due to trade, and it shows. Fortunately many of the historic buildings have been well maintained in the old center, and it is a pleasure to walk around. Beautiful old streets, quaint cafes, patricians’ houses that have been precariously tilting for centuries. A famous landmark is one of the churches, the Great Church or Our Dear Lady Church, built around the 13th century. I decided to see if I could find several motives in that church which could be cropped in a square form. A useful exercise forcing creativity and experimentation, I should do this more!

“Church Detail I”
Dordrecht, the Netherlands
ISO 800, 90 mm, 1/4 s at f/8.0

“Church Detail II”
Dordrecht, the Netherlands
ISO 800, 84 mm, 1/25 s at f/5.0

“Church Detail III”
Dordrecht, the Netherlands
ISO 800, 55 mm, 0.3 s at f/5.0

And then of course I couldn’t withhold this image from you: this is as Dutch as it gets. A centuries old street with a waterway in front, a postmodern building in the high background, and a discarded bicycle in the water. Classic.

“Dutch Juxtaposition”
Dordrecht, the Netherlands
ISO 100, 55 mm, 1/25 s at f/5.0

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Published:
October 21, 2011 – 9:35 pm
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By Laura Alisic
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Venice Beach in the Rain

Beach photography in Southern California is often recording only good weather. This time I wanted to do something different: capture the mood of a rainstorm, and work with the colors of the sea as they change with the weather. This shoot was done on Venice Beach near and on the pier, mid-May between 5:30 and 6:30 am. The sea had this incredible hue of deep green-blue, right before sunrise.

“Pier at Dawn I”
Venice Beach, California
ISO 100, 23 mm, 30 s at f/22

“Pier at Dawn II”
Venice Beach, California
ISO 100, 25 mm, 80 s at f/22

I also wanted to experiment with a more abstract, minimalist, black and white approach to long-exposure shots of the sea water. It took some waiting for the sea weed to have the right orientation, as it was rocking back and forth in the waves hitting the beach.

“Sea Weed I”
Venice Beach, California
ISO 100, 20 mm, 42 s at f/22

“Sea Weed II”
Venice Beach, California
ISO 100, 23 mm, 37 s at f/22

It was raining fairly heavily at the beginning of the shoot, but the weather cleared a bit towards the end, changing the mood of the scene entirely. The pier was coming to life, the first fishermen of the day arriving just after sunrise.

“Pier at Dawn V”
Venice Beach, California
ISO 100, 18 mm, 1/30 s at f/6.3

“Venice Beach Fishermen I”
Venice Beach, California
ISO 100, 50 mm, 1/25 s at f/6.3

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Published:
October 16, 2011 – 9:33 pm
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By Laura Alisic
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6th Street Bridge

Downtown Los Angeles has many attractive features to photograph at night – and the 6th Street Bridge is a famous one. For various reasons: it has a view onto the high-rises of Downtown, it crosses the railroad tracks, and its structure is quite photogenic and bold. And as it turned out, the bridge has a slight curvature to it, which made shooting light trails very interesting. After playing around a bit with that, buses really were the best to use because they have some lights higher up, allowing for a more interesting play of curves.

“6th Street Bridge Series II”
Los Angeles, California
ISO 100, 18 mm, 6.0 s at f/10

“6th Street Bridge Series IV”
Los Angeles, California
ISO 100, 21 mm, 6.0 s at f/6.3

“6th Street Bridge Series VI”
Los Angeles, California
ISO 100, 24 mm, 6.0 s at f/6.3

Railway tracks always have something sinister in the dark. This was also the case here, where most of the yard was sitting in glooming darkness, with the only light reflecting off of the shiny rails themselves.

“Downtown Railway Tracks II”
Los Angeles, California
ISO 100, 55 mm, 3.2 s at f/4.0

This photo actually shows the 6th Street bridge itself, with an industrial sense of beauty and strength. I was having a hard time finding a composition that worked, because the confines of the bridge as well as the fairly heavy traffic limits the ability to move around such a large object.

“6th Street Bridge Curves I”
Los Angeles, California
ISO 100, 10 mm, 10 s at f/4.5

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Published:
April 28, 2011 – 9:28 pm
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By Laura Alisic
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Ruins of Past Glory

Ruins of past glory – still glorious. These magnificent remnants are usually located in the sweetest of green lawns; the contrast appears to enhance their exertion of power and strength. The photographs below are taken in various places in Ireland.

“Ruins of Trim”
Trim, Ireland
ISO 100, 10 mm, 1/125 s at f/5.6

An saillant detail is that this ruin in Trim was used in the filming of the movie ‘Braveheart’. When walking into a pub in Trim, I noticed a plaque showing a photograph of the state of the site during or after the movie. One giant mud pool… It must have cost the town tremendous energy to restore that incredibly perfect green lawn around it!

“Irish Cross II”
Ireland
ISO 100, 171 mm, 1/60 s at f/5.6

“Ruins of Fore I”
Fore, Ireland
ISO 100, 18 mm, 1/250 s at f/5.6

“Ruins of Fore II”
Fore, Ireland
ISO 100, 24 mm, 1/400 s at f/5.6

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Published:
March 29, 2011 – 9:43 pm
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By Laura Alisic
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Study of Fishing Rope – Black and White Version

A few posts earlier I showed a study of fishing rope in color. An interesting aspect of the material becomes more obvious in black and white: textures. Worn out by use and weather, rope has an amazing complexity of fibers, which is more pronounced when color is taken out of the equation.

“Fishing Rope Study I”
Ireland
ISO 100, 154 mm, 1/60 s at f/5.6

“Fishing Rope Study II”
Ireland
ISO 100, 171 mm, 1/80 s at f/5.6

“Fishing Rope Study IV”
Ireland
ISO 100, 116 mm, 1/30 s at f/5.6

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Published:
March 2, 2011 – 9:37 pm
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By Laura Alisic
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