A day in Bruges

Had the opportunity to visit Bruges this week when a friend made a brief stopover in Belgium before travelling back to Japan. While a typical tourist destination, knew Bruges was the ideal city to visit for a day with its many historic buildings, cobblestone roads and picturesque canals that earn it the moniker ‘Venice of the North’.

Leisurely walking around Bruges was a visually rich and terrific experience, the city center is filled with gorgeous historic buildings, centuries old bridges, charming old-fashioned houses, green parks, all within walking distance.

Luckily the day of our visit the weather was absolutely beautiful with warm summer temperatures and a clear blue sky. Although the bright sunshine could be challenging when photographing the sights, captures could easily be overexposed or too dark.

Was the first day trip using the recently acquired Sony FE35mm f/2.8A ZA Zeiss Sonnar*T lens on my Sony A7 MkII, and am satisfied with its performance although I actually appreciated it the most for being compact, light and inconspicuous.

A photo of the Beguinage’s tranquil convent garden.

Was not entirely satisfied by the resulting color palette of some photos so opted to process those in black & white with a creamtone preset which creates a visual atmosphere befitting the city’s historical sights.

No doubt one the city’s most famous canal sights and likely also most photographed spots is the Rozenhoedkaai.

After walking through the popular spots and taking in many of the sights, am keen on visiting Bruges again someday to see those historical buildings and parks that we did not get to see during this single day.

The view over the canal from the Bonifacius bridge is truly charming, the sight really takes you back through time.

You can see more photos taken in Bruges in this Flickr album.