Boston

The most historical city in the USA. And one of the most beautiful.

From the gallery: Professional images of Boston

San Gimignano

I have never seen so many towers in one place and I think there is no other city like this.
The towers were built during the Renaissance period by the wealthy families to show their power and unlike in other cities where such towers were brought down due to wars and urban renewals in San Gimignano the 14 towers are very well conserved. It is said that before there were around 70 towers! I can’t imagine how the city at that time looked like. With 14 towers it already looks like some kind of a medieval megapolis full with old skyscrapers.

The town itself is very cute and it’s nice to walk within it’s walls and around watching beautiful landscapes of Tuscany. We met a local guy and he told us that it looks even more beautiful in fall where everything around is colored in different bright colors. Yes, this place is definitely worth visiting for a second time.

 

From the gallery: beautiful cities in Tuscany

 

London

Just realized that I miss London. It is the first place where I started to take pictures. But I still didn’t come back after I gained some proficiency.

This is my first photo taken with long exposure. I didn’t know about tripods at that time, the camera was placed on a railing and later I corrected the horizon in Photoshop:

And this is one of the first photos that I posted in Internet. Several people liked it and I started to make some photo friends:

And here I suddenly came back to London just for one night on a transit from somewhere to somewhere. That night I slept may be a couple of hours and before sunrise hurried up to the city center to take some photos before departure:

I would really love to come back. For several nights. And days. To take my time and capture the beauty of this wonderful city in pictures.

From the gallery: London cityscapes

Vienna by night

It is so romantic to wake up while it is still dark outside and decide to go together to the hill above the city and watch the sun slowly rising…

But that morning there was no sunrise due to clouds. We arrived a little early and I managed to capture a wonderful view of Vienna at dusk. The curve of Danube river was beautifully illuminated with city lights.

There are a lot of opportunities for night photography in Vienna. There are so many beautiful buildings: Hofburg, City Hall, Austrian Parliament… And these buildings look most impressively at night when the sky is dark and illumination is on.

Hofburg and Historical museum

City hall

Austrian Parliament building

From the gallery: beautiful photos of Vienna, Austria

The lovely town of Salzburg

I love coming to this cute town. In every season it looks so beautiful as in a fairy tale. I enjoy walking on it’s nice little streets, crossing the bridge, going along the river, hiking up the hill to admire a cool panorama of the city and waiting until it will get dark and the lights will start to turn on and Salzburg will look even more beautiful.

From the gallery: professional images of Salzburg, Austria

Winter in Innsbruck

Innsbruck is a unique city. It is quite big and it is situated in a tight valley between high mountains. I think there is no other big city like that: so close to such high mountains…

While we were driving from Rosenheim nature was performing different miracles with light for us. There was a blanket of fog hanging between the mountains and from time to time sun was beautifully passing it’s rays through it.  So nice. I was so happy being there and with a such a wonderful company.

Right after we arrived in Innsbruck we went to the Nordkette train to enjoy some beautiful views of Innsbruck in the snow. First the train took us to Hungerburg – the highest part of the city where every citizen has a perfect view of Innbruck from their window.  Then we changed to a cable car and arrived to Seegrube – a paradise for skiing and snowboarding with a nice area for relaxation and bronzing, restaurant with a tasty wheat beer and a fantastic view of the Alps accompanying that all. And the last stop was Hafelekar – from there Innbruck was seen like from the airplane: a clear curve of the river Inn and mountain tops all around.

The light day was coming to an end very quickly and soon it started to get dark. We went down to our cozy hotel to get ready to our tomorrow’s snow shoe trip. That was a very new wonderful experience for me. My childhood dream came true: I always wanted to run in the snowdrifts but my parents never allowed me saying that I will get my feet wet and catch a cold. So now I could have full fun in the snowdrifts running up and down and making splashes from the snow. The special clothes protected my feet from getting wet. It was such a wonderful time in the mountains of Innsbruck! I really want to come back. In spring, summer, fall and then in winter again…

From the gallery: beautiful images of Innsbruck

Several warm days in Florida

It was a wonderful business to trip to a beautiful place – Ponte Vedra Beach in Florida. My balcony overlooked the ocean and each morning going through my work emails I was enjoying the sunrise and the sound of waves hitting the shore.

The most beautiful houses in Florida are located on Pente Vedra Beach. I’ve found that out when I rode a bike through the surroundings. It was very neat around: palm-trees, flowers, ponds, tiny bridges… and huge sandy beaches on which from time to time I met a man walking with a dog or a  cute couple.

Ocean was inspiring me. I enjoyed the way it was gently covering the shore with it’s big waves leaving on it wonderful shells and stones… I just adored going out to the ocean during short breaks and lunch pauses, looking at it, listening to it, smelling it… I could do that forever. But I needed to go back to work.

When the working day was over and it was already dark outside I was watching from my balcony how the moon was rising. I spent there around 10 calm minutes and then I started receiving calls, emails  and went out for dinner to try delicious local seafood. These several days were like a fairy tale to me, they were a never ending sequence of interesting events, meeting, knowing something new.

From the gallery: beautiful images of Florida

Buckingham Fountain in Chicago

I somehow missed this fountain when I was in Chicago last time. Yes, it’s really difficult to miss this beauty but I’ve managed to do that. But that’s even better. So this time I had an opportunity to see something new.

Buckingham Fountain looks really cool. It is situated on a perfect spot: right next to the lake Michigan, all surrounded by skyscrapers. From this spot there is a beautiful panorama of the city and the fountain looks like an excellent addition to it

The fountain symbolizes the lake Michigan. And each of the four sea horses on the it’s sides represent four American states that border the lake.

From the gallery: professional images of Chicago

Architecture of Chicago

The thing that fascinates the most in Chicago is it’s architecture. In this city it’s unbelievably beautiful. Each building has it’s own unique look and history and at the same time they all form a wonderful skyline of the city that gives an impression of a real style.

There is a river that goes through the center of Chicago. Some time ago sewage went directly into the river and then went further to the lake from which the citizens took drinking water. That was the cause of many diseases and people didn’t like the river and tried to live away from it. But then the engineering marvels turned the river backwards so it started to flow away from the lake. So Chicago acquired clean drinking water and its happy citizens started to move their homes closer to the river.

Now when there is no need to dump anything into the river it is very prestigious to build houses on it. And you can see the most beautiful skyscrapers while walking along Chicago river or while sailing on it on a boat.

There is a rule in Chicago: if you want to construct a house downtown you need to do something nice to the city. Following this rule, for example, there appeared a nice green walking waterfront against the Trump Tower.

Actually wealthy people in Chicago have constructed a lot of wonderful things. For example, an owner of one skyscraper have planned his building that way so he could drive this car to the top of it where he had his penthouse and just park it there.

A lot of houses are constructed as big complexes, they are called buildings-cities. Such buildings contain in themselves offices, residential apartments, shops, parking lots for cars as well as for boats, kindergartens, gyms, pools, beauty salons … everything that a man can need for a full life, so  he can never go out of such building. But if I were to live there I would definitely go out. Because walking on Chicago streets is such a pleasure!

From the gallery: professional photos of Chicago

Chicago skyline

There are big waves on the lake Michigan today. I walked to the Lincoln park and went out on the pier. If the wind was not so strong I could sit here with a book from time to time looking at the skyscrapers of the city and watching the background of clouds becoming more and more interesting. I like to come to such places and spend there a couple of calm hours.

But today is not calm. There are big waves today. They loudly hit the pier and spill out into the shore touching some incautious passers-by. The wind is strong.

It is starting to get dark. I am watching the waves and I am starting to envision the picture that I would like to make. I need to go down to the sand, try to catch the moment when there will be no wave and capture Chicago skyline with the reflection of the city lights in the water. Then I need to return to the safe place where the wave can’t reach me.

I try to follow this process and the photos do look similar to what I’ve pictured in my mind. Then at the moment when I have finally captured the perfect composition my legs get hit by the wave all the way till the knees. I take my tripod and ran away.

I ran to the subway and get home. A glass of red wine helps me to overcome the cold. I look at the pictures on the preview and some of them I really like. Tomorrow I’ll try to meet the sunrise.

From the gallery: professional images of Chicago