Hole in the Clouds
Nov 16, 2009
An apartment building in Prypiat, the Ukrainian town built for the families of people who worked at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Two days after the nuclear accident in 1986, Prypiat was abandoned.
After twenty-three years, radiation levels have dropped significantly here, but no one is yet permitted to live anywhere in the Exclusion Zone surrounding Chernobyl. It is not considered especially dangerous to spend a few hours visiting the area, however, and a local tourism industry has emerged.
This is a High Dynamic Range photo by Trey Ratcliffe. The Hong Kong picture in the November 4 Good Morning was also by Ratcliffe.
high dynamic range
Chernobyl
Prypiat
Ukraine
(Image credit: Trey Ratcliffe)
Jan 15, 2010
On the roof of the little house in the middle of this Amsterdam canal-side scene is a sign that reads "Coffee Shop 36." It's a marijuana shop.
Amsterdam
cityscape
high dynamic range
Netherlands
(Image credit: Trey Ratcliffe)
Feb 4, 2010
William Randolph Heart's San Simeon palace in California included two private libraries for the newspaper tycoon and his guests. Accounts of life at San Simeon suggest that the amount of time set aside for reading was not always substantial. But this is the smaller of the two reading rooms.
The craftsmanship of the room, including the ceiling, is phenomenal; click on the photo to see it in detail.
high dynamic range
William Randolph Hearst
library
(Image credit: Trey Ratcliffe)
