The old ferry dock in Drøbak

HDR - Photomatix - Made by 4 exposures

Rødtangen quay

Multi exposure - Photomatix - HDR

Night shots from Drammen

Triple exposure - HDR

Singel exposure

Sky Watch Friday # 16

Some sunset shots captured this week.

Nikon D200, Nikkor 50mm f/1.8

Each photo are made by 5 exposures.

Click on the photo to enlarge.

For more Sky Watch photos, visit Wigger’s World.

Sky Watch Friday # 15

Rødtangen - Hurum - Norway

Triple exp. HDR

Triple exp. HDR













For more Sky Watch photos, visit Wigger’s World.

Oslo City Hall

The City Hall
Oslo City Hall is the political and administrative heart of Oslo. The building also has an important place in the history of Norwegian art and architecture and stands as a monument to the main artistic movements from the middle of the last century.
The main function of City Hall is naturally the political and administrative running of the capital. In 1986 Oslo was the first municipality in Norway to introduce a parliamentary system with a City Government. The Mayor is elected separately by the City Parliament and sits for the whole electoral period of four years. The City Parliament consists of 59 members who assemble about 15 times a year.

In addition to being a work place for some 450 municipal employees and politicians, Oslo City Hall also attracts more than 100,000 guests, visitors and tourists every year. It is the capital’s most important venue for formal ceremonies, the best known being perhaps the presentation of the Nobel Peace Prize. It is also an arena throughout the year for 400 or more large and small arrangements, receptions, banquets, award ceremonies, civil confirmations, etc. The tradition of holding civil weddings in the City Hall came to an end when the ceremony was transferred in 1994 to the new Oslo Courthouse.

The lower level of the Oslo City Hall, which is entered from the harbour side, houses the City Hall Gallery and the municipal Information Centre. The gallery presents a variety of changing exhibitions throughout the year and during the summer various events and activities are staged outdoors in the square.

HISTORY
In 1915 Hieronymus Heyerdahl, Mayor of Christiania (renamed Oslo from 1st of January 1925), presented a plan to combine the building of a new city hall with the clearance of Pipervika, the old slum area by the harbour. In 1918 an architectural competition was won by Arnstein Arneberg and Magnus Poulsson. Their final design, completed in 1930, combines the various artistic and architectural trends of the period. The blend of national romanticism, classicism and functionalism gives the building a truly unique character.
The foundation stone was laid in 1931 and a new city centre was gradually created on the site of the slum clearance, with the City Hall as the towering centrepiece of this ambitious development plan. World War II, however, delayed completion and the building was not officially inaugurated until 15th May 1950.

STATISTICS
The City Hall covers a ground area of 4,560 sq. metres. The total floor area is roughly 38,000 sq. metres distributed between two office towers and a central building containing the main hall and the city parliament chamber. The main hall is one of Norway’s largest public spaces with a floor area of more than 1,500 sq. metres and a ceiling height of 20.8 metres.

The east tower and the west tower are 66 and 63 metres high respectively. The Mayor and the Chief Commissioner of the City Government each occupy a corner office at the ground floor of the two towers.

In 1950, the City Hall had only 4 outside bells. Two years later, the carillon at the top of the east tower had 38 different bells. In the year 2000, however, a further 11 bells were added as part of the celebrations to mark Oslo’s 1000th anniversary and the City Hall’s 50th birthday. The carillon plays every day on the hour from 07.00 to 24.00. The bells are all cast in bronze consisting of 78% copper and 22% pewter precisely. The largest of the bells weighs as much as 4,000 kilograms (8,818 lbs), while the smallest weighs only 14 (31 lbs). Concerts are regularly played on the carillon during the summer.

THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
Since 1990 the Oslo City Hall has been the venue every 10th December for the presentation of the Nobel Peace Prize. The ceremony, which is broadcast live on television throughout the world, has been a significant factor in making the City Hall an important tourist attraction for visitors to Oslo.

Source - Oslo kommune

Sky Watch Friday # 13

Rødtangen - Hurum

Nikon D200, Tamron 17-50, Triple exposure.



Oslo opera house

Nikon D200, Tamron 17-50

For more Sky Watch photos, visit Wigger’s World.

Drammen Museum

Some photos from Drammen museum.

Sky Watch Friday # 12

Sunset - Drammen

Sunset - Drammen

For more Sky Watch photos, visit Wigger’s World.

Akershus Fortress - Akershus Festning - Oslo

Akershus Fortress or Akershus Castle (Akershus Festning, Akershus slott) is the old castle built to protect Oslo, the capital of Norway.

The first work on the castle started around the late 1290s, by King Håkon V, replacing Tønsberg as one of the two most important Norwegian castles of the period (the other being Båhus). It was constructed in response to the Norwegian nobleman, Earl Alv Erlingsson of Sarpsborg’s earlier attack on Oslo.
The fortress has successfully survived many sieges, primarily by Swedish forces. In the early 17th c., the fortress was modernized and remodeled under the reign of the active King Christian IV, and got the appearance of a renaissance castle.
The fortress was first used in battle in 1308, when it was besieged by the Swedish duke Erik of Södermanland, who later in the same year won the Swedish throne. The immediate proximity of the sea was a key feature, for naval power was a vital military force as the majority of Norwegian commerce in that period was by sea. The fortress was strategically important for the capital, and therefore, Norway as well. Whoever ruled Akershus fortress ruled Norway.
The fortress has never been successfully captured by a foreign enemy. It surrendered without combat to Nazi Germany in 1940 when the Norwegian government evacuated the capital in the face of the unprovoked German assault on Denmark and Norway (see Operation Weserübung). During WWII, several people were executed here by the German occupiers. After the war, eight Norwegian traitors who had been tried for war crimes and sentenced to death were also executed at the fortress. Among those executed was Vidkun Quisling.
Akershus fortress is still a military area, but is open to the public daily until 9pm. In addition to the castle, the Norwegian Armed Forces museum and the Norwegian Resistance museum can be visited there. The Norwegian Ministry of Defence and Defence Staff Norway (armed forces headquarters) have a joint modern headquarter in the eastern part of Akershus Fortress.

Image of the sarcophagi of King Haakon VII, Queen Maud, King Olav V and Crown Princess Märtha.
Several Norwegian royals have been buried in the Royal Mausoleum in the castle. They include, King Sigurd I, King Haakon V, Queen Eufemia, King Haakon VII, Queen Maud, King Olav V and Crown Princess Märtha.

Viev from the fortress