An evening stroll on Charles Bridge, Prague
On a warm summer evening the Charles Bridge in Prague is thronging with people visiting the many stalls and artists that line this cobbled link between the city and the castle on the hill. Even at one o’clock in the morning when this picture was taken it is still a hive of activity with those out for relaxing walk in this historic setting.
Overall 490 x 335
St Chapelle crypt, Paris
One of the most magnificent churches in Europe is the thirteenth century St Chapelle, tucked in behind Le Palais de Justice on the Ile de la Cité, just a few steps from Notre Dame. It is renown for the roof of the upper chapel, held up by the slenderest columns and 600 square metres of the oldest stained glass windows in Paris. Its lower chapel has an ethereal quality with a star-studded blue ceiling and a glow from the extensive gold leaf decoration that produces a warm contrast to the dark room. Visitors linger longer than expected, taking in the detail with quiet reverence. A 4-second exposure helped to bring it to life. This made it harder to keep the subjects from blurring across the frame, but the people were important to provide a frame of reference for the scene.
Overall 490 x 385
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Goosenecks State Park, Utah
Millions of years of erosion by water, wind, frost, and gravity cut into this relatively flat plateau in southern Utah creating a meandering river valley. As the ground has slowly risen over millions of years erosion kept the river flowing on its original course with the dramatic results we see today at Serpentine Ridge where the river is 1,000 feet below our vantage point. The San Juan River here joins the Colorado River lower down to contribute to an even greater erosion valley at the Grand Canyon.
Overall 645 x 490
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Zion National Park, Utah
Zion National Park is hidden by its location in an almost inaccessible valley in Utah. Every vista takes in the precipitous cliffs that dominate the skyline, looking every bit like a contrived movie set, except that it is real. A dusting of snow on the peaks opposite provides "icing on the cake" for this vista. This view is from a lookout at the park entrance which provides stark proof of the feat of engineering that finally brought this road through a long tunnel in the cliff walls and down into the bottom of the valley. The road was carved through the edge of the vertical cliff in the 1920's using dynamite and manual labour.
Overall 370 x 500
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Mesa Arch, Canyonlands National Park, Utah
This spectacular natural sandstone arch is perched at the edge of Islands of the Sky mesa with vast views of canyons, rock formations and beyond to the La Sal Mountains. It is the most visited location in Canyonlands National Park, near Moab in southern Utah. Although it is forbidden, visitors have been known to climb over the arch. However the precipitous 400 metre drop immediately to the other side of Mesa Arch makes it risky, especially because of the high winds that often brace the arch. Mesa Arch is a favourite spot for photographers to catch the first orange rays of light from the east that make the underside of the arch glow incandescently.
Overall 480 x 390
