The Holidays Are Coming Photo

Photographer’s Note

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Kongens Nytorv [the King's New Square] in Copenhagen - one of the city's most popular squares - all dressed up for the Holiday Season. This night looking especially inviting after years of giant restorations.

The ring of elm trees called 'Krinsen' [the Wreath] were cut down - due to the elm disease - and replaced with young linden trees, giving a clear view to the surrounding beautiful buildings. Traffic needs - including the Metro station - were optimized and the garden surrounding the statue of king Christian V was brought back to its former glory.

On the left hand side is the Royal Theater [Det Kongelige Teater], where the left part is the New Stage called 'Stærekassen' [the nesting box] due to its uplifted position over the street. It was added in 1931 to the original building from 1874.

The 'Greek temple' partly blocked by the dark statue belongs to the Danish Bank [Danske Bank]. Followed by the sumptuously decorated building of Magasin du Nord, the most beautiful department store in Scandinavia. Built in 1894 on the site of a former hotel called Hotel du Nord – hence the name - it was Denmark's first department store.

Café à Porta - the city's first patisserie from 1792 – squatting in the adjacent building and Hviids Vinstue - the oldest inn from 1723 – in the next block, are both a bit hard to see, partly due to scaffolding. This is where Strøget - the pedestrian street leading through the city to Rådhuspladsen [the Town Hall Square] – starts. Or ends…

Every Christmas the seasonal decorations of Hotel d'Angleterre is a long awaited 'highlight' of Kongens Nytorv. This year a curtain of light is revealing a merry-go-round, large building blocks and various toys - aiming at the newly born Prince of Denmark, as well as the bicentennial celebration of Danish storyteller H. C. Andersen.

The hotel was established in 1795 and the present building - containing the five-star hotel - was erected in 1874. It's one of the oldest hotels in the world and many are the royalties, presidents, celebrities and movie stars, who have added their names to its legendary guest list.

The illuminated ground in the middle of the panorama is part of a circular ice skating track surrounding the plantation. Due to the very mild weather it looks more like a snowy path, but I actually saw a couple of girls trying a run.

And it wouldn't be Copenhagen without a bike in the frame!
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Stitched in PF from 4 shots [6, 3.2, 1.6 & 2 sec] covering 180°, adjusted for contrast and levels, ran NeatImage 60%, resized for TE, applied USM, framed and saved for Web.

Jeppe, Verol, digi-mom, mugush, perryhooter, oochappan, maphoto, nwoehnl, kent_s, jiherka, pamastro, orme, Clochette trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

Jeppe (18623) 2005-12-10 16:19

Godaften Kaj

Et flot panorama fra vores hovedstad. Jeg er imponeret over den flotte finish - Meget beskrivende note som forklarer alt om dette centrale sted.

Verol (284) 2005-12-10 16:23

Beautiful night panoramic shot. Very well exposed, all these lighted trees and ice skating track show very nicely perspective and give sense of depth. Congratulations!
Maciek

Paolo (40741) 2005-12-10 16:29

Hi Kaj, excellent shot, full of light qnd with a great focus for a night shot;
great note too;
thanks, ciao

mugush (2088) 2005-12-10 16:52

Very nice shot
eyes love it..
good composition ,very detailed note, i like it
Creativity is the key of this photo
thanks for sharing
Love
Mugush

perryhooter (2424) 2005-12-10 17:41

Season's Greetings Kaj!

Superb panorama and very interesting note. This is what TE is all about. Well done !
Robert

oochappan (22032) 2005-12-10 17:53

hi Kaj(in Tamil kaj means hand)
And on top it is a marvellous pano with all those lights, ok everybody knows from where you took this now (the satellite-photo is really so clear, you are lucky).
Have fun, I am enjoying your note too.

digi-mom (1064) 2005-12-10 22:20

Kaj, I think this is a fantastic view. The only thing that would make it better might be a complete 360. Your note makes it clear to understand what we are looking at (and in two languages, no less), and really draws me to want to see it for myself. A nice looking area, historical - cold, probably - and very Copenhagen. :o) Thanks for posting.

maphoto (8076) 2005-12-11 0:03

Hi Kaj, I always enjoy looking at your night shot, again very clear and well composed. The large version is as beautiful, great holiday scene, the wide panorama suites perfectly all these light, well seen and done.
Happy Holiday, best wishes to you and your familly.

tinamunk3 (6382) 2005-12-11 8:53

Hej Kaj,

Virkelig virkelig flot billede fra vores flotte hovedstad. Du har fundet den flotteste vinkel med de mange smukke bygninger.

Og tusind tak for en suveræn note - selv om man bor i byen, så har man mange ting at lære.

En skam, at der ikke lige er et par skøjteløbere på isen...........men det her går rent ind.

Tak.

:) Tina

Lolydodia (578) 2005-12-11 9:15

Nu fick du mig i julstämning. Fantastisk panorama som innehåller allt det som gör jul till jul! Bra kompsition. Bra gjort!

Mvh Lydia
p.s tack för alla dina kommentarer. jag uppskattar dom mycket mycket! God Jul!

nwoehnl (120) 2005-12-11 9:49

Very nice night panorama, Kaj - lots of details to be found, and the buildings along the square sure look pretty in the seasonal decorations. Technically well handled regarding the exposure and the sticthing work, and your note makes an excellent guide to the view. Well done.

kent_s (1911) 2005-12-12 4:52

Hej Kaj
Ett stycke gott hantverk både bak kameran och mellan ryggstödet och tangentbordet gav oss denna underbara panoramabild.

Hälsningar
Kent

jiherka (4465) 2005-12-12 12:50

Nice night view, and beautiful panorama. You compliment me for the panorama, but yours has nothing to envy to mine. The light is well maitrized. This view is clearly a good composition.
Well done Kaj.
Salutations
Jacques

pamastro (7213) 2005-12-27 21:41

So the danes were also ravaged by Dutch Elm Disease, a bacteria that did not originate where its name suggests. We were also ravaged by it 2 decades ago and are currently being attacked by the Emerald Ash Borer, which has destroyed my tree.

Anyway, beyond that link this is an excellent stitch and a very nice wide one. You bring in the entire square in its Christmas beauty. The curving path really works to swing the eye around through the wide panorama. The breadth is excellent and the lighting is beautifully captured.

Even though the decorations are the main attraction I find the lighting on the curve and on the ground in general to be the most attractive. There are beautiful reflections and shading there and the clarity of it gives it a cinematic quality, a panoramascope (there's a format I wish they still had).

The cluster of buildings and area of the square on the far right would make a nice composition itself. The way the buildings descend into darkness and the reflections on the cobblestone surface and the emptiness lends it a haunting atmosphere. Put a lone person out there it could be a shot from a thriller.

orme (6746) 2006-01-03 1:16

This is a fantastic panorama shot, Kaj. I really like the mixture of light and darkness. The detail of the buildings is incredible, considering is was taken at night and you are so far from them. I especially like the Royal Theatre with its illuminated arches. Well captured and stitched.

MoloX (30) 2006-01-13 17:52

Wonderful picture.

Clochette (8076) 2006-02-10 4:58

Hi Kaj
Congratulations for this pano, it's very difficult to do (I know, I made my first ones last month ;-).
It's all the more tricky with night shots, because the exposure must be the same on each part.
Nicely done !

dorte_s_t (2285) 2007-01-24 7:22

Hello , Kaj .
This is an absolutely amazing and beautiful photo of Copenhagen . Seems to me you put a lot of effort and emotions in this .
Everything is there - and your note is so informative and interesting !
Fantastic !