by David Clarke | Sep 26, 2012 | All, Hong Kong, Wildlife
‘Don’t you know? There’s no such thing as a Gruffalo.” So Julia Donaldson’s wonderful story goes, but it isn’t true. Here’s proof that the Gruffalo really exists. It’s alive, well and living disguised as a rather scruffy tree in Big Wave Bay Village, Hong Kong. Normally somewhat obscured by the surrounding countryside, I rumbled it on a misty morning when the background vegetation on the hills was less visible. I took just one shot – I wasn’t prepared to hang around having heard about its terrible teeth and terrible claws…
Canon 40D with Canon EFS 10-22mm lens at 22mm. ISO800 1/400 at f6.3
by David Clarke | Sep 23, 2012 | All, Places, USA
At several hundred metres across, Jenkins Pond, near Falmouth on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, is more of a lake than a pond. Whatever the name, it’s a blissfully peaceful stretch of water that’s fun for kayaking and swimming. And at sunset, for fishing…
Canon 40D with Canon 70-200mm f4 IS lens at 70mm. ISO200 1/100 at f9
by David Clarke | Sep 19, 2012 | All, Places, USA
Visiting the 9/11 Memorial is a profoundly moving experience. Opened last year on the 10th anniversary of the attacks, it comprises two huge pools located on the footprints of the original Twin Towers. Water falls thirty feet into the pools and from there into a central void. The names of all who perished are inscribed on the outside walls of the pools.
When the site is complete, there will be over 400 swamp white oak trees and one other that is in the cluster of trees to the right of centre in a the photo. It is the single tree remaining from the original World Trade Center plaza that was found reduced to an eight-foot-tall stump by workers clearing the site. Removed, nurtured and now relocated on the site, it has become known as the ‘Survivor Tree’.
Canon 40D with Canon EFS 10-22mm lens at 10mm. ISO100 1/80 at f8
by David Clarke | Sep 16, 2012 | All, Places, USA
The 60-storey John Hancock Tower, known locally as The Hancock, is Boston and New England’s tallest building at 790 feet (241m). Its minimalist lines are in stark contrast to Trinity Church that stands next to it and which is shown reflected here.
Canon 40D with Canon EFS 10-22mm lens at 10mm. ISO400 f11 at 1/250
by David Clarke | Sep 14, 2012 | All, Places, USA
Looking south from the 86th floor of the Empire State building, with the new Freedom Tower rising from Ground Zero and a storm drifting through Newark across the Hudson River. If you look carefully, you can see the Statue of Liberty at the left end of the upper of the two islands in the distance.
Canon 40D with Canon EFS 10-22mm lens at 10mm ISO200 f5 1/1500
by David Clarke | Sep 12, 2012 | All, Places
The Skellig Rocks are two large Devonian Sandstone islands that rise out of the Atlantic Ocean some 12 km south east of Valencia Island on the Ring of Kerry, South West Ireland. The larger of the two (to the right), Skellig Michael, rises 230 metres above sea level. Perched on a promontory near the top are ruins of a monastery dating back to the 6th century which was inhabited by monks for over 200 years. It’s hard to even imagine the conditions there in those days, especially when you factor in the cold, the wind, the rain and the isolation, although the latter is presumably what they were after. Both islands are home to huge colonies of seabirds including some 27,000 pairs of gannets on Small Skellig.
On our trip to Ireland, we had every intention of visiting Skellig Michael (Small Skellig is closed to the public) but the weather got the better of us. This shot was the view from Valencia Island on the afternoon we arrived, with the mist bearing down on the coast, a mist that remained for the rest of our stay and which precluded us even seeing the islands again. Needless to say, the mist, together with rough seas, meant all trips were cancelled. Another time, perhaps.
Canon 40D with Canon 70-200 f4L IS at 121mm; ISO200 f8 1/1000
