Nyhavn – 'New Harbor' – on the way to work

For the fifth and final shot in my blog film strip image header above all I needed to do to get this shot was go to work…oh that and always bring my camera! That’s the way to get great shots…always always always bring a camera. Spontaneous shots are by their very nature just a bit hard to plan, so you will miss heaps of great shots if you don’t have your camera. Great light means less if you can’t capture it.

Well I always do. Have my camera with me that is (my shoulder and neck hates me, the Canon 5D + L quality lenses are not featherweight). Getting shots like this is the reward though (click to see full size):

This is probably the most photographed place in Copenhagen – Nyhavn. Directly translated it means New Harbor and Hans Christian Andersen lived here for some years but it is now the mother of all touristy places in Copenhagen. No matter, it still is a lovely setting in the right light!

The shot above is from a very cold Winter morning on my way to work. The most amazing sunrise was playing in Sky Theater and since I always bring my camera it was an easy (but cold) feat to ride my bike past Nyhavn and shoot this. I am guilty of shooting too much wide angle (I love the sky too much) so I chose to zoom in for a change and completely fill the frame with the wonderful light of the sunrise and the buildings and boats of Nyhavn. In this shot it adds to the visual tension since there isn’t a lot of blank space and your eye can dance along the rooftops of the colourful Nyhavn houses.

I’m quite happy with the result and the fact that I actually got a result – thanks to the most important rule in photography: Bring your camera. Always!