Haifa Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

Let’s be honest, I know this is not a great picture. However, it is the only picture from my recent trip to Israel, where I went to work on an offshore drilling platform.

During my very first trip to Israel I did not have any spare time for tourist activities. It was just a drive from Tel Aviv airport to Haifa on the day of arrival and another drive, after two weeks on the rig, from Haifa back to Tel Aviv airport. I really hope to have some more time next month when I return for more work.

The picture is a view of the downtown and bay of Haifa, taken through the window of the hotel room on Mount Carmel where I stayed for a few hours before catching the helicopter flight to the rig.

Haifa is the third largest in Israel, with mixed population of Jews and Arabs totalizing over 264,900 people. Situated in a broad natural bay between the beautiful Mediterranean Sea and the splendid slopes of Mount Carmel, the city’s terraced landscapes offers a rich variety of breathtaking panoramas, giving the observer the sensation of being on a wonderful peninsula. Haifa has a history dating back to Biblical times. The earliest known settlement in the vicinity was Tell Abu Hawam, a small port city established in the Late Bronze Age (14th century BC). In the 3rd century AD, Haifa was known as a dye-making center. Over the centuries, the city has changed hands: it has been conquered and ruled by the Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders, Ottomans, Egyptians and the British. Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the city has been governed by the Haifa Municipality. For more information on the City of Haifa please click here.

Bluejeans, riclopes, gildasjan, phwall, paura, Vasylis, COSTANTINO, stego, rginer, wgreis, AiresSantos, mvinagre, Scharan, dareco, ChrisJ, emjleclercq, Lay, papagolf21, Docarmo, azaf1, Charo, ruisc_pt, xuaxo, serp2000, serp2000, Urs has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

gildasjan (23291) 2009-04-14 23:34

Bonjour Antonio
Un bon POV sur ce port pour une image aux teintes douces qui s'estompent vers la ligne d'horizon.
Bonne journée
Amicalement
gildas

phwall (5412) 2009-04-15 0:55

Hi Antonio,
I thought you had posted this already, must have been a different shot. Having never been to Israel, and probably never will get the chance this is a fine capture very much in the true spirit of TE. Don't apologize for this not being a great shot, personally I like it a lot, it shows me a landscape I've never seen before.
Well done.
Regards
Peter

paura (37736) 2009-04-15 4:13

Antonio,
Linda essa paisagem, amigo. Interessante a profundidade que você conseguiu alcançar aqui. Muito boa.

Abraço

Paulo

Vasylis (1403) 2009-04-15 5:10

Dear Antonio ,

Very informative note...and be welcomed in Israel.
I didn't knew they are having offshore oil rigs....(exploration or extraction?)....
All the best !
Vasy

COSTANTINO (22167) 2009-04-15 6:33

hello Antonio,
beautiful panoramic view of this
city of Israel. Really interesting to
know about it. Regards,
Costantino

Greg1949 (8507) 2009-04-15 7:35

Antonio,

Nice shot all the same, fine place to visit too.

Greg

stego (22322) 2009-04-15 9:29

Olá António,
Como referes, não é muito impressionante como "foto", mas é uma boa apresentação dessa cidade portuária, desde um PdV esplêndido.
Um abraço, José.

rginer (525) 2009-04-15 10:11 [Comment]

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wgreis (5894) 2009-04-15 14:38

Olá Antonio,
gostei do ponto de vista alto, mostrando deste um primeiro plano detalhado até o horizonte, misturando-se com o firmamento.
Parabéns e abraços,
Wagner.

AiresSantos (41272) 2009-04-16 8:10

Ola Antonio
Uma bonita vista sobre Haifa !
Apesar da falta de definicao, nao deixa de ser uma boa foto.
Excelente perspectiva e detalhes
Um abraco Amigo
Aires

mvinagre (285) 2009-04-16 12:37

Ola António

«Pode não ser uma grande foto», mas é muito interessante e as fotos também servem para nos mostrar por exemplo esta excelente vista desta cidade, que não conheço mas que gostava de conhecer.

abc
miguel

Scharan (13951) 2009-04-16 14:42

Olá Antonio

A vista do lugar é muito interessante.
Cores clarinhas e bem naturais.
Parabéns pelo trabalho.
GA
Vera

dareco (17024) 2009-04-16 19:38

A very interesting post, much to see in this one picture. You've given us a wonderful view. TFS

ChrisJ (69464) 2009-04-16 20:04

Hi Antonio

It's really not that bad. A superb high pov, overlooking the city of Haifa, with reasonable sharpness, & good colours & framing. I like the sweeping curve of the bay. Tfs!

albertojr (718) 2009-04-16 21:22

The quality of the picture is not that good, but the composition and your high vantage to get a view of that cityscape is very good. well done.

jmdias (18713) 2009-04-17 2:47

antônio

a luz estava meio azulada, mas dá para se notar a arquitetura da cidade e sua localização, ter uma ideia de como ela é. O edifício em primeiro plano ajuda a dar mais profundidade à compo. esperamos que logo vc tenha tempo para mostrar mais detalhes da cidade. Eu nem sabia que eles tinham poços de petróleo, achei que só os árabes tinham sido contemplados..Imagino o risco de uma plataforma destas no mar e terroristas loucos para fazê-la ruir. hrrrrrrrrr. mas os israelenses estão longe de serem bobos, vão proteger tudo, muito bem.

abraços

jorge

tober (3886) 2009-04-17 11:30

Despite the light is not at its best here, your bird's eye perspective makes it an interesting photo which makes us to have an overall idea about the general appearance of this Eastern Mediterranean city. Best regards, Tolga

emjleclercq (14125) 2009-04-17 13:21

A very modern architecture for such an old city, and a large harbour. Good depth, but average sharpness in my opinion. Too bad you could not have time to visit the place.

All the best,

Emmanuel

trekks (14260) 2009-04-18 3:19

hi antonio

Very interesting to see this high angle POV of such impressive city scape giving a good overview of Haifa.

tfs, bill

Lay (26) 2009-04-18 16:47

Olá António boa noite!
Contudo... tivemos o previlégio de ver a cidade de Haifa, certamente uns pela primeira vez e outros recordando.
Todas as suas fotos são "5 estrelas", esta pode não ser uma das suas melhores, mas para mim e outros como eu simples amdores e principiantes, está muito bem também!
Obrigado António e ""apareça""
Tenha um bom Domingo
Maria

Wandering_Dan (3171) 2009-04-19 16:56

Hi, Antonio -

Artistically, it's not so hot, true. But we sometimes forget that part of TE is showing people about other parts of the world, and they aren't always artistic places. And it does show the bustling city and its busy harbor. So it's a good contribution.

The old port on this bay, by the way, is at the north end: Akko (Acre), originally a phoenecian city and one of the oldest ports in the world. (Haifa is not mentioned in the Bible, but there is a reference to it in the Talmud, which would make it at least 2000 years old.)

Best,
Dan

papagolf21 (55926) 2009-04-22 14:28

Bonsoir, mon ami Antonio,
Je réponds tout de suite à la question posée à propos de ta critique relative au château : oui, ce château se visite, heureusement pour les passionnés d'architecture et d'histoire. L'intérieur du château est très joliment meublé.
Merci pour cette présentation de la ville de Haifa, c'est tellement mieux d'apprendre par l'image et par la note. Une belle réussite.
Amitiés.
Philippe

Docarmo (8812) 2009-04-25 21:57

Olá António,
Acho que eu nunca tinha visto uma paisagem de Israel. Achei o POV muito bom! Uma ótima contribuição para o TE. Então, o Monte Carmelo é aí nestas vizinhanças?
Obrigada por partilhar,
Maria do Carmo

Giorgio (8602) 2009-04-28 7:34

- Superb panoramic view on the famous city Antonio on top of that, technical quality and sharpen is in date, picture full of relief, it's very successful, bravo!
Greetings.
giorgio

azaf1 (15541) 2009-04-28 8:21

Good evening Antonio

Eventhough big cities is not my soft spot I must admit that the very detailed note which you have included makes the cityscape more attractive to my eyes. A very nice POV from above with sharp details and open horizons offer a great picture of the place.

Have a good day and TFS
Argiris

kschanna (2586) 2009-04-29 22:49

Hello Antonio,

May not be the best picture of Haifa but certainly is interesting, and the elevated PoV works well with the sun being on the right.

Thanks for sharing
Kamran

Charo (31651) 2009-04-30 5:35

Olá Antonio,
Que sorte de viajar ao redor do mundo!
Grandes perspectiva desta cidade e excelente luz e profundidade.
Um abraço,
Charo

riclopes (32845) 2009-05-02 2:42

Olá António, vejo que também não tens sido muito participativo por aqui...Por acaso acho esta vista de quarto espectacular. Até parece que já estás no helicóptero e vê-se a linha de costa a perder de vista. A luz que faz os detalhes perderem definição no horizonte até está bonita dando se calhar um maior efeito de profundidade.
um abraço,
ricardo

Bluejeans (31529) 2009-05-02 3:55

Oi Antonio ,
Interessante esta cidade a beira mar foi pena a neblina no horizonte , gostei do primeiro plano com esta casas bonita a sua arquitectura ,belo ponto de visão , parabéns!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

ruisc_pt (6206) 2009-05-05 10:22

Não deixa de ser um excelent "shot" Antonio.
Aliás.. está assinado :)
Um ab
R

alftrek (2693) 2009-05-05 22:44

Hello Antonio,
While it may not be the best photo on TE, it is certainly far better than thousands and thousands of others. In fact, majority of your photos are of high standard, and honestly to me including this one.

You may be aware that as a Malaysian Passport holder, the only country in the world that we are barred from entering is Israel. For that reason, I will never get a chance to see Israel until there is a shift in government restriction or when I take up citizenship of another country.

For now, this gives me a treasured glimpse of Israel.

TFS in the spirit of TE

Alfred

sacavem (8034) 2009-05-06 2:35

Olá António,

Como dizes não tiveste tempo para fotografar a cidade.Mas esta perspectiva não tendo uma qualidade excelente é muito boa para mostrar uma boa parte com a sua baía e assim ficamos com uma ideia da cidade de Haifa.TFS
Filipe

Graal (57220) 2009-05-07 22:49

Hi Antonio,
amazing town landscape, good presentation of Haifa, fine POV You had. I like it.
Have a nice day.
Aleksander

xuaxo (5627) 2009-05-10 12:33

Olá António,
Realmente a vista pode não ser das melhores (e a foto não pode alterar isso), mas conseguiste uma boa panorâmica, dando uma ideia razoável do aspecto da cidade e do litoral. Há por aqui (TE) fotos muitíssimo piores, as quais por vezes nem comentários recebem.
Não sabia que Israel também tem petróleo offshore.
Cumprimentos,
Francisco

serp2000 (9145) 2009-06-10 23:04

Hi, Antonio,
Good shot, but I like the view to Haifa from the mount, over Bahai's garden. Interesting note!
Have a nice day!
Serghei

Urs (2425) 2009-06-19 1:51

Dear Antonio

Haifa must be a very modern and wide spread town when looking at your shot. The modern complex in the foreground gives the right start to explore the countless rooftops towards the sea resp. the port. The sea of houses meets the sea of salt water. Very well framed with great DOF, sharpness and colors. Well done

Best regards
Urs