In the magnificent gardens of the Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna stands the Gloriette which is effectively a party palace but also a vantage point to look back over the gardens and the palace itself.
It really is a spectacular place. Here with this beautiful sky I think it looks glorious.
Birds like Rooks, Ravens and Crows are easily overlooked. They're mostly black with no obvious distinguishing features and from a distance they are fairly uninteresting and then when you consider their personal habits well, they're pretty gross. But, get up close, and they really are quite amazing.
Take the Hooded Crow in the first picture, I first saw one, or actually properly noticed one in a park in Gothenburg, it was being mobbed by a pair of Chaffinches after it had raided their nest and was devouring a chick. Like I said "gross"! But that's nature for you, it can be cruel. But look closely they are really beautiful and poised on Neptune's trident this one looks quite regal.
The second and third images are of a Carrion Crow, it was strutting around on a lawn and rather than cawing as you might expect it was coughing as though it had something stuck in its throat and it looked pleadingly at me. I had never realised before that they had feathers on their beak, it looks pretty cool doesn't it.
So next time you see one of these birds and think "it's just a crow" think again...
I wanted to try something different today and experimented with this image in Photoshop. I have to acknowledge the assistance of my youngest son who knows his way around Photoshop a little better than me although I take full credit for the original photograph and the idea behind this image.
When I stood in this archway I tried to imagine how it would look in the summer when the flowers were in full bloom but I also thought the bare structure looks really good. Then as I tilted my head to one side I pictured this image in my mind but I didn't know how I would produce the final piece. Thanks to a little assistance and tuition I am really happy with the finished result.
I love this lantern which graces the grounds of Schloss Schonbrunn the magnificent rococo palace, summer residence of the Habsburg rulers.
Everything here is on a grand scale, even the simple garden lanterns are works of art
I prefer the first image and was only going to post the one picture but although I think it looks great in black and white I think the warm colours of the building deserve to be seen too.
It was interesting to sit and watch this artist at work. From time to time passers-by would stop and peer over his shoulder from a distance to look at the picture he was creating. I wondered how many of his pictures he would sell and for his dedication on such a cold day I wished him well.
Like many others as I got up to walk away I paused behind him to watch him apply his brush to the canvas and for a few moments see his new picture take shape. He was painting Karlskirche and the trees around Karlsplatz, and he was clearly using a splash of artistic licence because while the trees in the square were bare of leaves the trees in the picture were vibrant and green.
Despite the sunshine the temperature was below freezing so it seemed like a good idea to pause for a hot drink and a chat with friends. This street vendor was doing a roaring trade outside of Karlskirche in Vienna.
I was lucky enough to spend a few days in Vienna, a really wonderful city steeped in history and culture. I enjoyed good food, good music and lots of delicious cake and of course I took every opportunity to capture sights around the city with my camera. I have lots of pictures to sort through and work on but I knew that I would post this as my first blog picture from the trip because it is probably my favourite shot from the weekend and it tells such a lovely story.
Although it was very cold it was a beautifully sunny morning, perfect for a stroll around the Volksgarten, near the Hofburg and Parliament buildings. I had been sitting on the other side of the park people watching when I heard the sound of buskers so I went to take a closer look, as I turned the corner I saw the little girl standing in awe and wonderment as she tried to make sense of the masked musicians. She was poised to put a coin in the tray but held back and moments after the shutter clicked she turned and ran back to her parents. I love this shot and the story it tells.
NB: I wouldn't normally take pictures of other people's children without asking but I was careful to avoid capturing the child's face so she is not identifiable. As for the buskers, I don't speak Deer or Horse so I couldn't ask them.
I stumbled across this picture of a tram in Vienna, I had forgotten the city had a really good tram system. It looks like this one has been around for a long time but what a clean transport solution it is. I read today that Liverpool might be getting an electric tram system. I can imagine it will cause a lot of disruption but could be a real boon for the city.
So I want to make it clear, this is not a political post.
I am going through some of the pictures I took on my last European road trip with my youngest son, sharing some that I didn't get round to posting at the time.
One of the things I had hoped for was the opportunity to do some street photography which is something I would like to develop in contrast to my normal focus of wildlife and nature.
These images were captured in Vienna, we had gone to look at the Hofburg Palace (the offices of the Federal President and other secretaries of state) and the nearby Volksgarten. As we approached it was immediately obvious that something out of the ordinary was taking place although at first it was not clear what it was. There was a lot of security and several TV news crews at work. A quick online search revealed that President Putin was making an official visit to meet with the Austrian President and then to attend the opening of a new Exhibition at the World Museum.
Outside the main entrance to the Hofburg Palace was a pro-Russian "demonstration" which was getting a lot of media attention and it was interesting to watch. It was fun watching the secret service guys too although I am not sure they liked me taking their photo, they walked past us a few times trying to work out if we were anything other than curious tourists.
Walking around the square we found a counter demonstration with a small group of people protesting the occupation of Georgia. They were getting more attention from the security services and they were being carefully managed in a spot where they were unlikely to be seen by the visiting Russian President, unlike his fans who would have been in clear sight.
As I said at the start, this is not a political post but the events did given me an opportunity to take some candid shots of people and the pictures tell a story. It was interesting to me however that although there were definitely two sides to this story the person at the centre of it would only ever see one side...
This is a street scene from Cesky Krumlov, a fantastic old town in southern Czech Republic.
It was a hot day and people were taking advantage of whatever shade was available.
My son and I had stopped off on our way from Prague to Vienna on the recommendation of a friend. I am so glad we did because although we were just passing through this gen of a place was one of the highlights of the trip.
I have shared something similar before from this underground station (Malostranke) in the centre of Prague.
I remember my first impression of this place was that it resembled something out of Doctor Who. I waited until the platform cleared so that I could get some shots. The lighting was really poor and so the resulting images were pretty grainy.
I have cropped this to remove the writing and the railway lines which were a distraction and I have made slight adjustments to remove some of the graininess
