© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Posts Tagged ‘Christmas tree’
Transition
Posted in Christmas, Photography, Travel, Urban, tagged brussels, Brussels Belgium, Canon A620, Christmas tree, Grand-Place on January 13, 2017| 1 Comment »
De-trimming the Christmas tree in Brussels
Posted in Christmas, Photography, Travel, Winter, tagged brussels, Brussels Belgium, Canon A620, Christmas, Christmas tree, Grand-Place on January 9, 2017| 3 Comments »
Under any circumstances it is a challenge to remove the ornaments and lights from a Christmas tree, but when the tree is several stories tall, a simple step ladder is not enough. Yesterday, when I arrived at the Grand-Place in the center of Brussels, workers had already removed the large red and gold ornaments from the tree and were working to take off the lights using a “cherry-picker.” They worked methodically to remove strand after strand of lights, carefully coiling them as they went along.
As I watched them work, I noticed the beautiful reflections of the square on the shiny surfaces of the spherical ornaments that reminded me of the images you would get with a fisheye lens. No matter which way I moved, my figure was always in the frame, so I decided to embrace the opportunity and create a kind of self portrait. The other images in this set feature the efforts of the workers from different angles.
It was a lot of fun trying to frame shots with my little Canon A620 point-and-shoot camera. As a result of its limited zoom range, I was forced to move about a lot, causing me realize that a big zoom lens tends to make me a little lazy in considering options for framing shots.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Christmas is not over yet
Posted in Architecture, Christmas, Landscape, Photography, Travel, Winter, tagged brussels, Brussels Belgium, Canon A620, Christmas tree, Grand-Place, town hall on January 8, 2017| 4 Comments »
I was happy yesterday to see that the big Christmas tree was still up at the Grand-Place, the historic center of Brussels. It lent some light and color to an otherwise cold, wet day.
I am always disappointed when I see Christmas trees cast aside immediately after Christmas. When I was growing up, it was traditional to wait at least until Epiphany, the celebration of the arrival of the Magi, though I seem to recall some of my neighbors keeping their Christmas tree and lights going for an even longer period of time.
The Grand-Place is always so much fun to visit. The buildings on each side of the square are all different and different elements attract my attention each time that I visit. In the first photo below, you can see the tall town hall in the background. The second image shows the building directly opposite the square from the town hall.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.










