Unstructured Scribbles

NYC, Las Vegas

HDR photography

For the last one year or so I have been completely fascinated by HDR photos and the dynamics behind them.On my recent trip through Europe I decided to try it out with my camera and see how it went. I got a lot of good results. A few bad ones but mostly good. Here is the gallery of the HDR pictures I’ve compiled over time.

HDR a set on Flickr

Brugge

I am writing this post as the last one from my road trip through Europe. The one’s following this one will hopefully be from a stable internet connection in England

Brugge is a really small town, mostly inhabited by younger people. Our hotel, Ibis was in the very center of the town. It was easy to walk everywhere. Many say that if you want to go to Amsterdam without the marijuana and red light district, then Brugge is where you want to be. I guess i was in the perfect place then. There isn’t that much history in the city as such, it just a chill relaxing environment. Here are some of the things I did in Brugge:

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Brussels

Ah Belgium. As our driver Max said, is the land of beer , beautiful women and strong men. We didn’t have musch scheduled in Brussels. I went around the city with Hahn and literally saw everything we could. Here’s a list

• Grand Place( ate the best waffles in the world and godiva there)
• Peeing Boy.. Can’t believe this is their official symbol. Awesome is all i can say
• Royal Palace
• Victor Horta Museum ( Quaint house with a lot of cool nuevo architecture)
• St Micheal’s Cathedral ( The place is massive )

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Paris

Bienvenue à Paris!

The city of every teenage girls dreams where they think a cute french man is gonna come and sweep them of their feet. I wish I could say the same out the women here. Haha. They have this air of authority around them, intimidating if you ask me. Anyway, Paris is a beautiful city as always. A plethora of art and culture all around this city. We got put up in this wonderful hotel called the Oceania. It was outside the city, but the hotel room made up for its location. It was definitely the best shower I have seen till date and the room was equipped with a plasma tv and speakers. We spent most of our days touring the city. There is a lot to see here. Most of all we did was in the center of Paris.

Our first day was spent going to a service at Notre Dame. At this point I was about done seeing cathedrals. It all seemed too redundant too me.It was the music that got me this time. The choir was absolutely incredible and being in the cathedral with so many people chanting is definitely something people visiting Paris should definitely do . On a side note, check this rendering of Notre Dame http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/blaise_aguera_y_arcas_demos_photosynth.html
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Strasbourg

13 hours on a bus and finally we got to Strasbourg. I have to admit, I expected a lot more from this city. It is rather small for a prominent European city. We only had one day here so it wasn’t all that bad. That one day was definitely enough for enjoying the entire city though. We went to downtown Strasbourg. Saw the big cathedral there which was really grand but it was unfortunately going through some renovation, so I couldn’t really appreciate the outside of the cathedral. Downtown was small with a river running around it’s perimeter and many boat cruises. There were more than a few stone bridges which made look very picturesque. One thing i distinctly remember is the food I had there. It was a classic Cuban sandwich. It was absolutely incredible. I ended the day by watching the Eurocup match with a few friends and our gracious driver Max who bought us drinks every-time Turkey scored a goal. That sums up all I did in Strasbourg. No wild partying. It was a welcome, quiet and relaxing 3 days for me

Prague

When you think of Prague, the first thing that comes to my mind is the Eastern Block. Well, I was mistaken. This city is gorgeous. It has centuries of history and the cit is dotted with architectural marvels. As part of our visit here we went on a walking city tour as this is apparently a social norm in Europe. We took the tram to the old city and started walking around. I ate at one of the best restaurants in Prague. I wasn’t impressed, I have to say. Pork Steaks and mash potatoes are not my thing. We continued the tour and saw the Prague Castle, walked down the Old Bridge and saw the clock tower. The cathedral was grand and the evening sun was playing with the stained glass creating all sorts of colors in the cathedral.
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Munich

This is the only city during my trip for which I have mixed emotions.. I had a strange array of experiences which is the only reason I say this. Don’t get me wrong Munich is and always will be a great city. Our visit started off with a shitty hotel which had minimal ventilation and maximum humidity. Not a big fan. Stay away from hotel named Europa. Saurabh decided to visit us here which was cool. Our first day there we made a trip to a Dachau, a death camp from Nazi Germany. I have never been more depressed in my entire life. The place is desolate and just brings this eerie feeling of death surrounding the entire perimeter of the camp. I think every human should go here and experience it first hand. You will see how bad humans can be as a species. The stories I heard, the posters I saw, the documentaries I watched all flashed before my eyes when I was walking through the place. After I was done touring the place I met up with my group again so we could figure out what else we were doing that day.
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