Baiterek Tower

Let’s start right at the center. The Baiterek tower looks great, even if it’s a bit harder to take photos of, as it’s really bright. There is a big park around it, so you can just walk around until you find the view you like the best. You can even go up the tower, but I skipped that. No outside platform means no really good viewpoint from the top. But you my enjoy it :)

Fountains in the center

Not far from the Baiterek tower, you can get to a nice city park with big fountains and flower beds. The tower is well visible from here, so you can use it as a background subject while taking photos here. hey turn off the lights late at night, so be there earlier if you want them to be colorful.

If you walk further away from the Baiterek tower, you will get to the Presidential Palace. But while it looks great, that’s the only spot in the city where I was stopped by a guard and asked not to take photos.

EXPO 2017 Sphere building

This is just such a unique building that you should just not miss. Looks good from all sides, especially in the evening. Since there are light on top and also inside that change and animate all the time, you can get a different photo just by waiting for few minutes. The overall area is quite interesting, and there is also this crazy sculpture right behind it.

Walkway next to Ishim River

There are quite few photo oportunities here. There are two bridge, with the new pedestrian one just looking great for some minimalist architecture photos (I don’t have a photo here, during my visit it was right before competition, and so it was not accessible yet). The other bridge, makes for a really nice curve and looks quite unique too. It also light’s up in the evening. There is also and amphitheater on the path that makes for a perfect reflection photo.

The GPS location is the one right in front of the amphitheater.

Road bridge in the center

Don’t skip this spot. As the road crosses through the city center there a bridge there. And the view towards both sides is just great. Many fountains and interesting architecture to behold. The bridge is short, so it does not shake that much and there is also a statue right in the middle of one of the walkways.

Horses at the Opera

Let’s finish this list with something a bit different. At the opera house you will find these golden horses statues. It really is something different compared to all the other photo spots I shared here. And they just look great :)

Vernazza – over the city spot 1

This is probably the most popular spot in Vernazza. It gives nice view of the town and you will see some photographers here almost always. It takes a bit of waking up the stairs from the town, but it’s not that bad. If you wan’t to do sunset from here, I would go a bit earlier, as it get’s full quickly.

Vernazza – over the city spot 2

This spot gives a quite similar view to the previous one. But there is one big difference. If you look at the tower in the city, it does not reach through the horizon in the back here. I find the way it breaks the horizon line very annoying, so I prefer this spot. This is only about 5 minutes walk up the stairs from the previous one.

Vernazza – on the path spot 1

This is the first spot that’s on the hiking path. But if you go here for the sunrise or sunset, the path is open and you don’t have to pay. The view from the side of the city is great and most photographers go to the bit further spot so it’s not so full here.

Vernazza – on the path spot 2

This is the more popular spot. You will see a railing with a lot of photographer here. In front of the railing there is a spot with quite better view, but one should not go there as it is dangerous. But everyone is responsible for their own actions, so do what you think is best.

Vernazza – down by the rocks

If you don’t just want views from above the city, I would suggest going down to the rocks. Makes for a great long exposure spot. The view of the city is also nice, I just got noghting as it was crazy sunny the day I was there, and that made for horrible photos.

Manarola – opposite the town

Let’s move from Vernazza to Manarola. The best view here is from the walkway opposite the town. You can either stay lower on the walkway, or go a bit higher, to the top of it, where is a small park. Again, if you want to go there, go a bit earlier, as it’s quite a popular spot with photographers. There photos are from the higher spot.

Some also go down onto the rocks, but that’s a more dangerous location. Again, use caution if you want to go there, and you are there at your own risk.

Riomaggiore- down by the rocks

Another very popular spot. Not just for photographers. There will be many people here around sunset and you will be lucky when you get a spot at all. Don’t forget to take good shoes, as the rocks are a bit slippery. It get’s better later, as most of the people leave once the sun goes down.

Monterosso – view of the beach

Monterosso is a bit stretched out, but my favorite view was from the side, seeing the beach together with the ship and mountains in the background. This location is easy to access, just walk along the sea. Here you can even go completely down to the rock, and have a nice foreground. I don’t have one as the area was occupied with people, but you maybe have more luck :)

Monterosso – behind the tower

There is a little platform here with quite a nice view. If you look right, you will see a similar view as the one in the spot before. But if you look straight, you get this nice view of this tower surrounded by the sea.

Corniglia – side view

The last but not least, Corniglia. This town is on top of a hill, so be ready to walk up many, many and even more steps, or take the bus :) My favorite view here is from the side of the town, but since you don’t see the sea as much, it’s not as spectacular as the other ones.

Flying over the Dubai Marina

While I was in Dubai earlier this year, one of the things I did was to take a tandem flight over the Dubai Marina. It’s only around half an hour, but the the experience is wonderful. The new view you get is just spectacular.

So I took this photo while sitting in a second paramotor and being very high up. For me this was the first time I had an experience like this. For a moment I though it will be scary, to just go up in a thing like this. But luckily, I don’t fear heights and I could enjoy the flight fully. If you can and are not scared I would suggest trying it. When I go back to Dubai again, I will go again for sure :)

I have a lot of photo from this flight, and I don’t like them that much. I used the 16-35 lens, and I’m not sure what happened, but most photo are out of focus. will have to redo it.

This is a single photo, edited in Lightroom and Photoshop

Evening in the Dubai Marina

For today, here is a photo of the Dubai Marina as seen from Palm Jumeirah. This view is just so cool. I have many photos of it, but I don’t mind having more. You can see some blurred ships in there, as they were creating a new island there, and working on it the whole night.

This is from one of my recommended spots in Dubai, and you can see the whole list here.

This is a blend of two exposures, created in Photoshop. I usually push the Dubai Marina photos more into blue/colder colors, but this time I though of just making it warmer. And I think it looks quite alright.

Business bay in Dubai

This is taken from one of my recommended spots in Dubai. I have been here few years before, and wow, it’s crazy how it changed. When I was here fist time, it was mostly a construction site, few skyscrapers around, nothing much. And in just few years, there are skyscrapers all around, the whole area is build up and it just looks great. And since it’s a lake, it also gives for a great view with many reflection.

So of course I had to do a panorama here, to catch all of it. I used three photos here, taken actually without a panoramic head. I found out over time, that if you don’t go very wide (wider than 24mm) and your subject is not that close, you can create panoramas easily without needing any special gear. Just rotate the camera and shoot.

This panorama was combined in Lightroom, finished in Photoshop.

And here are few details: