Tag Archives: pier

The Colors of Copenhagen


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Thought I’d get out of the cold for a little bit and bask under blue skies and warm sunshine.

I had the pleasure of visiting this beautiful Danish capital a few months ago, and had written about this trip while on the road : Copenhagen Day 1 / Copenhagen Day 2. I also expressed my big disappointment about not being able to see the famous Den Lille Havfrue, better known as the Little Mermaid. She happened to be on tour in Shanghai for the 2010 Expo.

So I thought this would be a good time to post additional photos of this city as I did not post many right after my trip. Truth be told, I just got done processing these photos. Most of you know that I don’t often shoot during the day, and when I do, I don’t often pay much attention to it. It’s often left in the back-burner of my archives craving for some attention. Well, that attention is way overdue. I am surprised that I still have some of these gems hiding among my files and it’s a nice discovery – I kind of liked them! Not bad for day photos, I think.

Ah, the famous Nyhaven harbour, photographed and visited by many. These beautiful colorful buildings by the harbour actually look more vibrant in the daytime. But who says you can

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Twilight Hailstorm at the Docklands


Posted by Yen Baet

The weather was pretty crazy today. The day started with sunny and clear skies – really gorgeous day, and ended with an unexpected, although brief, hailstorm.

At sunset, as I stationed myself in East India pier looking across the Thames directly towards the O2 Dome, I noticed a reddish cloud moving from behind me and heading straight to the dome. I set up my tripod anticipating a colorful sunset. I took more than a dozen long-exposure shots of the dome using my ND Grads. Shortly right after sunset, while walking around scouting for a different location, hail poured from the skies out of nowhere. Luckily, there was a McDonald’s just down the street to take shelter from and at the same time, grab a bite to eat.

I must say, despite the untimely hail, the weather gods were still considerate because it cleared up for the remainder of blue hour.  Therefore, I was able to do the shots of East India station and part of Canary Wharf’s skyline from Blackwall Way. Perhaps not much of a thrilling view, but I’ll take a little of something over nothing at all.

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QUICK TRIVIA on the 02 DOME : In the James Bond film “The World is Not Enough,” the O2 was the structure that aided James Bond in reaching his hot air balloon destination. It was also shown in the background of a sequence in the 2006  movie “The Da Vinci Code.”

Two ND Grads stacked on top of each other plus a small aperture gave me a long-ish exposure - in this case, 5 seconds. The grads gave me this nice, rich color in the sky and smoothness in the water. F/22, ISO 100, 5 seconds.

I love it when buses come just at the right time, almost at my beck and call. This one came towards the end of my exposure, and saved an otherwise mundane scene. Part of Canary Wharf's skyline can seen in the distance. F/13, ISO 100, 20 seconds.

The East India DLR station. A nice full moon appeared through the clouds right after I had already packed up for the night. 'Would've been nice if I was able to include it in the picture. It will match those pretty "stars" that I've created using a small aperture. F/16, ISO 100, 25 seconds.


View of the Thames, Vertical


Posted by Yen Baet

Just wanted to post this vertical version of the same scene I had posted on Flickr. I’m still amazed how I was able to still take sharp photos considering how windy it was on the bridge that night. There’s some motion blur on the spinning wheel and the bobbing boat on the foreground, but the rest of the scene stayed sharp.

While shooting that night, I was talking to this other photographer who said he had vertigo and was having a tough time looking over the bridge and was paranoid about someone pushing him over anytime. It reminded me of the frightening experience I had  in Stockholm when some odd woman stood beside me while I was on the bridge in the dark by myself. I did not have such feelings while shooting from Waterloo Bridge because there were a lot of people around. I guess that’s one thing good about touristy London – there’s safety and comfort in numbers.

LONDON EYE TRIVIA: The London Eye is a 443-ft tall Ferris wheel on the banks of the River Thames. It is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe, and the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, visited by over 3.5 million people annually. When erected in 1999, it was the tallest Ferris wheel in the world, until surpassed first by the 520-ft Star of Nanchang in 2006, and then the 541-ft Singapore Flyer in 2008. It is still described by its operators as "the world's tallest cantilevered observation wheel" as the wheel is supported by an A-frame on one side only, unlike the Nanchang and Singapore wheels.