Baltic Buildings - Wednesday HDR

There were so many people walking the streets of Vilnius, Lithuania on a Saturday in summer, most of them visitors like us, that there was almost no point in taking photos, unless you like loud, irritating children or paunchy retirees in shorts with those skinny little white legs, or drunken single men on a weekend binge trip in your pictures.

But if they were all out living it up on Saturday afternoon, maybe they'd be sleeping it off on Sunday? Sure enough. These first three are the streets of Vilnius, waiting for the sun to come up over the buildings on a Sunday morning.

These next two are the rooftops of Tallinn, Estonia. I first visited Tallinn almost twenty years ago, and it couldn't have felt more Communist-run down. Nowadays you just flit over on the fast boat from Helsinki and because of the Schengen agreement, there's not even any pass control. Which has the Finns lamenting that "Every fifth crime in Helsinki is committed by foreigners." And that "Estonians committed the most crimes of any national group." The nicest hotel in town twenty years ago was looking a little tired this last visit. Tallinn has a cute litle old town, though.

After their entanglement with the Soviet Union, such is the Baltic states' longing to integrate with Europe that Latvia still plans to adopt the Euro in 2014 (Estonia already has) even if some say now is the worst possible time.

Riga, the capital of Latvia, is the biggest Baltic capital and it has a certain bustle that the others can't muster. Except in its old town. Which really does feel old. First a typical alleyway, then the imposing doors of Riga Cathedral, and a little walkway under and behind the cathedral.

These photos were all taken with Nikon cameras, processed in Photomatix and Photoshop with Nik software. See the HDR Gallery for 388 HDR photos, and the Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia Galleries at EarthPhotos.com.

Comments

[Melisa Soluri]

These photos are BEAUTIFUL. The post-process made them even more vivid. These buildings surely possess architectural magnificence. It's so nice to see them still standing through the years, it must be a delight to be surrounded by all them.