Uploads from © Lucie Debelkova / www.luciedebelkova.com, tagged ancienttimes, with geodata

China - Beijing - Peking - 北京 - Forbidden City - Palace Museum - UNESCO World Heritage Site

nobody@flickr.com (© Lucie Debelkova / www.luciedebelkova.com) — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 13:22:22 -0800

The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost five hundred years, it served as the home of emperors and their households, as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government. Built in 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 buildings with 8,707 bays of rooms and covers 720,000 m2 (7,800,000 sq ft). The palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987, and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.

Less usual view of Forbidden Palace, I was waiting for the lights to come up over palaces of Forbidden City after sunset, however only the main gate was lit with not very strong light. I had to set much more sensitive setting to get more colors out of the Forbidden city. Very top of the photo is rather bright from the traffic on the other side of the palace. I do like the way the photo came up.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY !!!

Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II; Lens’s focal length: 70.00 - 200.00 mm; Focal length: 127.00 mm; Aperture: 7.1; Exposure time: 32.0 s; ISO: 320

All rights reserved - Copyright © Lucie Debelkova

All images are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without expressed, written permission of the photographer.

China - Beijing - Mystical Reflection of The Forbidden City

nobody@flickr.com (© Lucie Debelkova / www.luciedebelkova.com) — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 04:23:32 -0700

The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost five hundred years, it served as the home of emperors and their households, as well as the ceremonial and political centre of Chinese government. Built in 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 buildings with 8,707 bays of rooms and covers 720,000 m2 (7,800,000 sq ft). The palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987, and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.

Weather conditions in Beijing are not very pleasant for its strong polution and smog. This was one of those evenings and I thought I wont even go out to shoot, however I recalled that hazy poluted air can have special effect on photos with strong source of light such as this and I was right. The atmosphere around walls of Forbidden city was very mystical due to the low visibility, calm water and strong lights.

Camera Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II; Lens’s focal length: 17.00 - 40.00 mm; Photo Focal length: 31.00 mm; Aperture: 11; Exposure time: 32.0 s; ISO: 100

All rights reserved - Copyright © Lucie Debelkova

All images are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without expressed, written permission of the photographer.

Egypt - Traces of Time - Pyramids of Giza Lost in the Desert Sand

nobody@flickr.com (© Lucie Debelkova / www.luciedebelkova.com) — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 02:02:13 -0700

The pyramids of Giza are perhaps the only true rival to the Great Sphinx when one thinks of ancient Egypt and its architecture. The Valley of Giza -- with its wonderful monuments -- is truly a marvel of architectural prowess. The three largest pyramids located in the valley consist of the Great Pyramid of Khufu, the Pyramid of Kafhre and the Pyramid of Menkaura. The Great Pyramid of Giza enjoys special status among the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World". None of the others have survived into the modern era. The construction, date, and possible symbolism of the Giza pyramids are still not entirely understood. This mystery only adds to the attractiveness of these ancient wonders and many modern people still regard Giza as a spiritual place. A number of fascinating theories have been offered to explain the "mystery of the pyramids".

Everytime I visit such a famous place like pyramids of Giza, I'm faced with a challenge that this place was photographed probably a trillion times and it is nearly impossible to come with something original. The day I visitted Giza valley rewarded me with some wonderful blue sky with clouds that created nice shadows passing over pyramids. Although Pyramids of Giza is probably one of the most visited locations on the planet, you can still get a feel that you are discovering it on your own if you walk bit further from those millions of tourist that never seem to stop coming !

Camera Model: PENTAX K20D, Photo Focal length: 10.00 mm, Aperture: 6.7, Exposure time: 1/180 s, ISO: 100

All rights reserved - Copyright © Lucie Debelkova

All images are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without expressed, written permission of the photographer.

Egypt - Caravan at Pyramids of Giza – Famous landmark – One of Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

The pyramids of Giza are perhaps the only true rival to the Great Sphinx when one thinks of ancient Egypt and its architecture. The Valley of Giza -- with its wonderful monuments -- is truly a marvel of architectural prowess. The three largest pyramids located in the valley consist of the Great Pyramid of Khufu, the Pyramid of Kafhre and the Pyramid of Menkaura.

The Great Pyramid of Giza enjoys special status among the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World". None of the others have survived into the modern era. The construction, date, and possible symbolism of the Giza pyramids are still not entirely understood. This mystery only adds to the attractiveness of these ancient wonders and many modern people still regard Giza as a spiritual place. A number of fascinating theories have been offered to explain the "mystery of the pyramids".

Everytime I visit such a famous place like pyramids of Giza, I'm faced with a challenge that this place was photographed probably a trillion times and it is nearly impossible to come with something original. The day I visitted Giza valley rewarded me with some wonderful sky with clouds that created nice shadows passing over pyramids. This "caravan" of camels appeared just at the right place and time to give the photo timeless feel.

PENTAX K20D, f/8, 0.008 sec (1/125), ISO 100, 18 mm

All rights reserved - Copyright © Lucie Debelkova

All images are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without expressed, written permission of the photographer.