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| We were only in Amsterdam for a few hours, but I like this shot for including Amsterdam essentials: bikes and canals. I also like the overall composition and the colorful flowers |
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| Gamla Stan "Old Town". The end of the day light, reflections, muted colors and steeples make this my favorite |
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| The Cathedral spires soaring above the trees framed by the foreground trees makes this my favorite |
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| Didn't take many in Helsinki, but this harsh angle looking up to the dome make the neo classical architecture stand out and make the structure look dominating. |
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| Too many to choose from in Saint Petersburg. This one wins because it captures the dominating power of the church (and intertwined state) and the over-the-top use of baroque style, color and gold leaf . |
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| Catherine Palace. Outrageous gold leaf and baroque detail with contrasting Delft blue ceramic stoves make this a winner Nothing says Romanov like gold leaf. |
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| Tallinn was a medieval masterpiece. I like this picture because is shows the random, low rooflines and the massive steeple towering over all. That the harbor shows with minimal modern intrusion adds to the illusion. |
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| Museum Island on the Spree River. Add in Soviet era TV tower and construction crane and you have all that makes modern Berlin what it is today. |
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| There is so much more to Copenhagen than the nearly cliche Nyhavn "New Harbor". But, it's just too picturesque to ignore. This one wins because of colors, reflections and picturesque boats. |
At Sea
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| Life on a cruise ship is so smooth and simple, sometimes you forget how much hard work goes into it. Here, the harbor pilot boat is attempting to pick up our Aalborg pilot. It took several attempts. The wave of water washing over the bow as the boat is perilously close to the ship shows how tough this job is. |
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| The Lutheran Church in Aalborg. This shot shows the features of a typical Danish church. The Viking style wood ceiling. The spare white walls. The organ in the loft. And, most strikingly, the ship model suspended from the ceiling. Not a fabulous composition, but all the features say "Danish church". |
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| The subject here is a historical figure. The MV Astoria was launched as the Stockholm 72 years ago. If that wasn't enough, the Stockholm struck and sank the Andrea Doria in 1956 off Long Island. Here she is in Stockholm framed by the very modern Viking Star of 2015 and a couple of oil field work boats. The story trumps the art, here. |
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| The sun popped out and created a rainbow ending in the fjord. Enough said. |
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| The old harbor was the life blood of Bergen for centuries and still is an important part of the city. Here it is with some fall color looking down from Floyen. Nothing terribly creative here. Just a pleasing shot that captures the nature of Bergen. |
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| On the top of Norway. Fall colors, a snow capped mountain, a lake and some red buildings make for a colorful composition. Shot from a moving train. |
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| More art than story, but these high speed trains airport trains running on 10 minute headways tell you something of Norwegian prowess and determination. It's the evening light, glowing headlights and left/right almost mirror like composition are why I like this one. |
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| Hard to take a bad picture of this historic bridge. The town of North Queensferry in the foreground was and important place before this bridge was built. Now just another small town outside Edinburgh. Soaring symmetry and historical peerspective are the reasons I like this one. |
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| The mish-mash of stone buildings and flues is Edinburgh. The late afternoon sun lights things up just right. |
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| One of the most impressive features of Gothic Cathedrals is the soaring height and airiness. This is the ceiling of the spire. It almost looks like a kaleidoscope. I think this shot captures what makes cathedrals so impressive. |
Dover
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| White chalk cliffs soaring over the channel with a green "roof". An iconic view of an iconic landscape. |
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| I like this shot for the sky, the lighting and geometry as much as anything else. I just like how it looks. Windsor Castle. St. George's Chapel on the left. Housing for retired knights of the order of St. George on the right. Main part of the castle behind that. Tourists milling about. This is Windsor Castle. |
