Taken after sunset from Westminster Bridge in July 2006. This was 4 long exposures stitched together in Photoshop to make the panorama.
Information on the Eye
Designed by architects David Marks, Julia Barfield, Malcolm Cook, Mark Sparrowhawk, Steven Chilton and Nic Bailey, the wheel carries 32 sealed and air-conditioned passenger capsules attached to its external circumference. Each capsule holds approximately 25 people. It rotates at 26 cm (10 in) per second (about 0.9 km/h (1 mi/h)) so that one revolution takes about 30 minutes. The wheel does not usually stop to take on passengers: the rotation rate is so slow that they can easily walk on and off the moving capsules at ground level. It is, however, stopped to allow disabled or elderly passengers time to embark and disembark safely.
The rim of the Eye is supported by tie rods and resembles a huge spoked bicycle wheel, and was depicted as such in a poster advertising a charity cycle race. The lighting for the London Eye was redone with LED lighting from Color Kinetics in December 2006 to allow digital control of the lights as opposed to the manual replacement of gels over fluorescent tubes.
Capsules at the top of the wheelThe wheel was constructed in sections which were floated up the Thames on barges and assembled lying flat on pontoons. Once the wheel was complete it was raised into an upright position by cranes, being lifted at 2 degrees an hour until it reached 65 degrees. It was left in that position for a week while engineers prepared for the second phase of the lift. The total weight of steel in the Eye is 1,700 tonnes (1,870 short tons).
It was opened by British Prime Minister Tony Blair at 20:00 GMT on December 31, 1999, although it was not opened to the public until March 2000 because of technical problems. Since its opening, the Eye, operated by Merlin Entertainments but sponsored by British Airways, has become a major landmark and tourist attraction.
By July 2002, roughly 8.5 million people had ridden the Eye. It had planning permission only for five years, but at that time Lambeth Council agreed to plans to make the attraction permanent.
On the 28th of August 2003 David Blaine famously stood on one of the capsules, as it went around for a full 30 minute cycle, in preparation for his 'Above the Below' stunt.[2]
Since 1 January 2005, the Eye has been the focal point of London's New Year celebrations, with 10-minute fireworks displays taking place involving fireworks fired from the wheel itself.
Following Merlin Entertainments purchase of the Tussauds Group in 2007, it owns 100% of the Eye, with British Airways continuing its brand association, and also having provided the original construction loans. The Tussauds Group, British Airways and the Marks Barfield family (the lead architects) had previously owned a third of the Eye each.
11 Апрель 2010, 02:57 Steve9091 Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Cool Britannia, and we'd love to have your photo added to the group.
11 Апрель 2010, 16:11 _mentat ** This was voted a Hit from Hit, Miss or Maybe **
11 Апрель 2010, 19:49 womon in the woods I vote MAYBE only because I am not a fan of shots like this. It is beautiful though.
12 Апрель 2010, 02:29 Jon Bryant ** This was voted a hit from Hit, Miss or Maybe **
12 Апрель 2010, 07:45 norcali80 Beautiful. Too bad there weren't any clouds to make the sky more interesting.Score 9/10 (from the Score Me! group)
12 Апрель 2010, 19:50 Arshad Habib Great colours 8.5/10
13 Апрель 2010, 19:28 erlebnishengst
awesome!
Score 10/10 (from the Score Me! group)
14 Апрель 2010, 17:44 S
Score 9/10 (from the Score Me! group)
Amazing shot!!
15 Апрель 2010, 09:37 Kristin Mitchell photography Score 9/10 (from the Score Me! group) lovely panoramic view!
16 Апрель 2010, 08:52 Charles Lu Great night shot!Score 9/10 (from the Score Me! group)
17 Апрель 2010, 04:16 Andy Sedg Great picture
17 Апрель 2010, 16:36 idgie. Wow!
Теги: London Eye Panoramic Westminster Bridge Panasonic DMC FZ30 Auto-Stitch