Welcome to my brief visit to the historic and picturesque Belgian city of Bruges, which I visited recently. I start my snapshot of the city with this classic postcard view of  Bruge’s typical Flemish architecture and the landmark Belfry tower.

Postcard view of Bruges

 

I like my photography to go beyond the standard postcard scenes and away from the bustling streets, this tranquil park view appealed. It’s all about the light on the shiny cobbles for me.

A tranquil corner of Bruges

Humble backstreet view

Continuing my walking tour of the city, I liked the striking contrast between blue sky and the rustic red tiles, as well as the quirky cat statue on the windowsill on this shot (above left).

Back into the city centre and the tourist hot-spot of  Markt (Market Square)…

Looking out through Belfry clock

Taking a break on route from the hundreds of steps to climb, I paused to capture this shot peering out between the clock hands of the Belfry tower.

Markt Square, Bruges

Aerial view of Bruges

A touch of Photoshop was needed to cut through the haze for my shots from the top of the tower. These two shots emphasize the delightful colourful Toytown meets Legoland look of the city below. The view was well worth the tiring climb to the top. Fitting the lens between the unnecessarily tight netting at the top was a challenge though!

 Illustrating how cold it was, the horse’s breath is clearly visible as it crosses this bridge. I got cold waiting for one of the many horse and carriages to pass and add to the photo.

From the same spot moments later, I noticed the rainbow-like phenomenon of a ‘false sun‘ in the sky behind the statue on the bridge. I under-exposed the shot to silhouette the statue and show off the colours in the sky. Quite clever eh?

One of the preserved windmills

In contrast, on my way back to the railway station, I walked along the river to take a look at one of the several preserved windmills. My trusty fish-eye lens came in handy to capture the lovely sky and sense of  ‘movement’ with the clouds.

I strongly recommend a visit to this stunningly beautiful city. I’m sure I’ll visit again and when I do, I will time it to allow some evening photography; the guide book makes it look quite spectacular at night.

NEXT TIME: Back on board Queen Mary 2 (name-dropper!) and on to the French port of Le Havre. A big contrast from historic Bruges, but not without it’s charm.