This was my fourth business trip to Europe. I finally got a chance see more than the business hotels & offices that I am accustomed to from my previous visits. This series of posts covers my 5 hour walk of Geneva Old Town & its surroundings. I experienced all that I had imagined of Europe – cobbled streets, flower pots in window sills, inspiring architecture, al-fresco cafes, marquee brands, and more.
The Jet d’Eau is a remarkable piece of engineering landmark that is symbolic of Geneva (much like the Petrona Towers for Kuala Lumpur or Opera House for Sydney). Seen from a wide area & even from the flying planes above, this fountain spews water 140m into the air. When operational, there is about 7000 litres of water in the air at any moment of time. I can only imagine how magnificent this would look against the bright blue sky .. which was missing during this part of my day.
I did the first half of my walk in dull cloudy weather. Most of the photos came out dull & grey – almost monochrome. The gold from the Rolex logo brings some life into this photo & signifies the co-existence of the old with the new (relatively). I bumped up the saturation levels quite a bit to bring out the golden colour here.
The fall brought in some colours into this photo. And the weather was just chilly enough to remind me where I was.
I was looking forward to the architecture in the city, and Geneva Old Town was the right place for this. I just had to look up to find something interesting all around the place. They are impressive photography subjects, the grey skies notwithstanding.
The tram lines bordered by ageing buildings lend a charm to this part of the town. I had to crop this photo in size to bring about some balance into the final product.
Glass stands out on these buildings to lend a touch of modernity. While in the country side there is an effort to conceal the glass with wooden shutters (more to address climatic requirements than architectural or photogenic), urban landscape struts glass as a feature.
The tiles, sandstone, arches, shapes deployed – all go to make these structures photogenic. This one above is a monochrome version of a different perspective of the same building as above.
Cobbled streets are another signature feature of European cities. They never fail to remind me of scenes & sounds from the original Sherlock Holmes tele-serial (Granada Productions / Jeremy Brett in the lead role).
I still tend to go overboard with the DoF (depth of field) that the 50mm lens provides. This photo above is one such example. I have learnt recently that the sweet spot for lenses is usually a couple of stops higher than their maximum aperture. So, for my Canon 50mm f/1.8, I ought to be shooting more in the f/2.2 – f/2.8 range.
—–
Related Posts:
~ Photo Feature – Fall in Geneva
~ Photo Feature – Linger At Balur Estate
~ Pictures From Lunuganga
