Another shot from the pleasant town of Luxembourg.
The new part of the city is a busy economic centre, however.

An Egyptian Dance Group in Aswan, 1992.

Comparing an analogue and a digital photograph

How often have I seen a beautiful sky and could not capture it - except in my mind? When I was in Carlisle, I had the luxury to have two cameras with me: my Minolta Dynax 9 (or Maxxum 9 in the US) and a very small point-and shoot Panasonic Lumix FX8 digital camera.

I was quite happy with the result produced by the Panasonic, but I very much prefer the result I got back from the lab when my slide was developed.

Actually, apart from the fact that the SLR camera is much bulkier and heavier, it also has a spot meter, which explains the much more dramatic sky. I did underexpose a bit with the Panasonic as well, but I guess to a much lesser degree (one of the disadvantages of analogue photos: no EXIF data…

Luxembourg is a very small country, but as a host to many important European instututions it is also one of the wealthiest states in Europe.
Surprisingly, the city of Luxembourg is a very green place and you can see such seemingly “rural” scenes right in the centre of it.

A dog sleeping on one of the many rowing boats of Xochimilco (Mexico City).
More about Xochimilco.

The “moon valley” in the Chielan Andes - one of the most spectacular lanscapes I’ve come across on my travels.
If you click on the image and look at the lower right, you may see that the small black dot there is in fact a human figure…

Varanasi is maybe the “holiest” place in Hinduism. Many people believe that “death in Varanasi is Liberation” meaning that if you are cremated here, you have a good chance to escape the cycle of rebirth.
Consequently, many people come here to die, dead are brought here for cremation and there are millions of pilgrims.
There are over 100 “ghats”, some of which are dedicated to burning bodies while others are pure bathing ghats for the ritual cleansing (puja).
There also are plenty of small rowing boats for pilgrims and tourists who want to see this all from the water of the holy river Ganges.

Other names for Varanasi: Benares, Banaras, Kashi.

Shot on a graveyard next to St John’s church at the end of Princes Street in Edinburgh.

Aren’t these nice autumn colours? That’s what the local park is like right now….