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
by David Clarke | Sep 8, 2012 | All, Kenya, Places
If you like remote, this place is remote! Silali is a volcano situated in the northern Kenya rift valley, which means it’s somewhat off the beaten track!
With a summit elevation of 1578m (5013 ft) above sea level, it has a spectacular summit caldera of 8 × 5 km. with summit walls, as shown in this shot, of up to 300m high. The summit is 600-800 m above the surrounding rift valley floor. Silali was formed some 63000 years ago and had its main eruptions around 7050 – 5050 BC, although there is still geothermal activity there with some eruptions possibly having happened in the last few hundred years.
This shot was taken from a Cessna 4-seater on a trip north-west from Nanyuki down into the rift valley to check out Silali. Although we didn’t fly high enough to get an overall view, we did fly up the outside walls, down into the crater and up the other side; a truly amazing flight.
Much of the above information was gleaned from the site volcano live and there is more interesting stuff at theGlobal Volcanism Program
Canon EOS 1DMkII with Canon 28-70L f2.8 lens at 55m. ISO200 1/5000 at f2.8
by David Clarke | Sep 4, 2012 | All, Hong Kong, Places
Everyone has seen twilight shots of Hong Kong harbour from the Peak: the millions of twinkling lights in that busy harbour never fail to fascinate. This image is a little different, combining as it does the harbour with a piece of colonial history in the foreground – the Barker Road Peak Tram stop, the final stop on the funicular tramway before reaching the Peak Tower. For those with a keen eye to Hong Kong’s ever-changing panorama, this image was taken in June 2002.
Canon EOS D60 with a Canon 17-35L f2.8 lens at 35mm. ISO400 1/15 at f2.8
