madrasah II Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

another shot from the old fes madrasah. the first one was a centered glimpse at the couryard while this one shows more interior wall detail. here you can also see the current sad state of this amazing structure. hopefully, unesco funding will change things around in the old medina (all of medina has been taken under unesco protection). by the way, despite trees growing in some of the rooms, classes are still held in this building.

thanks for stopping by.
k.

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more general info on madrasas (koranic schools) can be found on wikipedia following the underlying link.

on a technical note: the original photo exhibited strong barrel and perspective distortion. i tried to fix it in photoshop, but could not get rid of it all. also compositionally, i am not quite happy with this shot. however, i decided to post it because of the fasade detail it displays: both in texture and color.

fulvio52, belido, avene, jhm, Philippe, stego, ifanik, bertolucci, danos, gunbud, daddo, pboehringer, scobert has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

fulvio52 (8314) 2007-12-14 7:58

This is another good one, in my not at all humble opinion.
What I particularly appreciate is the amount of color tones and detail you've managed to pin down in what could be labeled as an almost monochromatic shot. I wasn't there at the time of shooting, but this looks to me like far from being easy.
Those textures are truly outstanding.
Therefore : excellent shot and more than excellent management of light.
There's an awful lot to look at in this picture.
Cheers,
Fulvio.

lousat (14892) 2007-12-14 8:17

i like a lot the pic about arabic architecture,this is very wonderfull in sharpness and details,thanks for share this nice work,have a nice day,Luciano

gracious (20017) 2007-12-14 9:14

Hello Kristaps,
First, I liked to compliment you for the wonderful 54 quality photos gallery which I enjoyed very much!
as for this one, is no exception with a good size posting to see and view the perfect details of this wonderful architecture!
Superb sharpness, vivid colour and details with excellent exposure and focus
very well done and well pleased
best regards from NZ
Tony

belido (15997) 2007-12-14 9:59

Hi Kristaps,

the details you captured here are have such a natural visual that sometimes it looks a texturized image. The sharpness is effective to enhance this sense. I also like the perspective and luminosity. Well done!
Regards,
Carlos

dokadak (11490) 2007-12-14 10:31

Hello Kristaps,

This is a great arthitect shoot, good detail and excellent light..
Also like sharp and color.. but if you removed crookedness would be much better...

cheers
hasan

giorgimer (20610) 2007-12-14 13:54

Hi Kris,

nice detail, you took it very well with an excellent sharpness, I'm not 100% convincted about the POV.

TFS

Gio

avene (10842) 2007-12-14 15:01

I'm not going to pretend this is a subtle and eloquente description of life, universe and everything else, because it's not. it is what it is - a detail from an old madrasah in Fes, nothing more. but also nothing less - it's an illustrative photo of a typical architecture. the level of details in your shot is quite amazing, they do look like lace. just imagine the amount of work required to create all these intricate patterns! fantastic colours too, the shades of brown, gray and blue work together very well and look quite elegant. as far as I'm concerned - very good documentary shot.
un abrazo,
K.

jhm (81637) 2007-12-15 0:40

Hello Kristaps,

You show here a wonderful oriental architecture.
These facade is wonderful and very nice decoration.
Excellent shot and more than nice management of light.
Thanks for sharing.

I wish you a nice weekend,
John.

Philippe (11651) 2007-12-15 2:27

Hi, Kristaps. That madrasa is in a really poor state. Your picture shows us details of refined architecture. You complain about distortion. An esy way of avoiding the problem would have been to concentrate more on details, which could have given aninteresting picture too. From that point of view, I think the picutre showing the class being held is a good example.

stego (22318) 2007-12-15 4:19

Hi Kristaps,

You are right about the compo not being so special, but I am glad you post it, because it is still a good photo, very effective in showing a very interesting place.

Shooting architecture is always very tricky, specially if we go for a more panoramic shot like this one - there is so much claiming for being included, the scarce space doesn't give much POV options and the use of wider angles brings nasty perspective distortions and even lenses distortions (which aren't noticeable here, hats off on this). Correcting such things in PP is also difficult, because we have to waste must of the image. On this one, I bet that you had another chalenge: the scarce light (right?), but that isn't apparent in the photo (again hats off).

That said, I think you achieved quite well with this one. As far as I remember (I only visited Fes once, back in 1994), there are more madrasas in Fes, but I think that this one was the only one I visited. Somehow, the relative decay of it gives it much authenticity and it still allows us to appreciate the beauty of the decorations of the walls and floor.

TFS, Regards, José.

nirvana73 (8466) 2007-12-15 7:52

Hello Kristaps
i like texture of the madrasah
great shot and POV
tds
regards
Ozhan

toto (18539) 2007-12-16 3:17

Belle photo de cette maison superbe, les Marocains et surtout les décorateurs Marocains sont de véritables artistes pour créer ce genre de dentelle ornementales sur les façades, les balcons,les corniches et même parfois les toits, ces véritables sculptures sont d' une grande finesse et lorsque les bâtiments sont abimés,les dégats ont l' air moins important avec ces sculptures qui les masquent bien. Belle prise, merci du partage.
Amitiés Thomas

ifanik (20462) 2007-12-16 11:34

Hi Kristaps
Other your supremacy photograph from this incredible building
Very well done
Nick

Bluejeans (31479) 2007-12-16 13:35

Ola Kristaps,
Que bonita arquitectura desta casa , fantastico os detalhes e cores , bom enquadramento da foto, parabens!!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

bertolucci (11976) 2007-12-16 13:59

Hi Kristaps, this is very enjoyable capture of this old facade. I love the high level of detail, it enables one to examine the beautiful and intricate work of the ancient craftsmen. The exposure is spot on too. Very nice work, TFS!
Have a fine start of the week,
Bert

danos (31562) 2007-12-18 9:30

Hello Kristaps,
yes i know this interior of the old fes madrasah.You captured very well the interior with great perspective and POV.Interiors are difficult to shot without distractions.There are a specific kind of lens that are used from the architects for these reasons.Never mind, it's a nice shot with a lot of details.Informative your note too.

Regards,Danos

danyy (67882) 2007-12-18 15:31

Bonjour Kristaps,
une photo qui montre une fois de plus la complexité de l'art architectural de ces pays, pas toujours des plus judicieux mais en tous cas souvent preuve de courage et de finesse dans la conception.
Une photo très nette et parfaitement exposée.
Regards.
Daniel.

gunbud (27515) 2007-12-18 18:13

Hi Kristaps,
Wonderful capture of this fading beauty that is seen in all its granduer and neglect. Very clear colors with striking details to its intricate design. Very clean sharp composition.
Regards, Tom

nadine432 (1128) 2007-12-19 8:18

jolis détails,
belles couleurs,
quelle belle architecture, un travail de maître
Nad

chrisnet (20354) 2007-12-20 12:33

Hello Kristaps,
You have captured nice details of this beautiful architecture, I like the diagonal framing and the good management of the light.
Regards

daddo (11263) 2007-12-21 0:52

HI kristaps. Marvelous details, marvelous variety of design, decorations,texture, forms. And the whole thing looks ancient.The wood is definitely seasoned. I hope restoration is not at too distant a future. Lovely light too Kristaps. Regards. Klaudio.

pboehringer (770) 2007-12-24 7:35

A shot were we can look into all the details and marvel that chracterizes so well the arabic architecture.
I barely can note any barel distortion. In other words I have the impression that you did a pretty good job in correcting that!
Regards, Peter

scobert (5333) 2008-04-14 16:30

Hi Kristaps,
This type of architectual photography, without all of the distortion, is the sole domain of large format photographers, in my opinion. All of the Photoshop in the world can't compare with the capabilities of a large format camera with an experienced large format photographer. But, who wants to carry around all of the extra bulky equipment and fiddle around with camera to make the perspective perfect anyway. This is still an excellent travel photograph which is more than good enough to create a very good image and to make a point. Your sharpness and and all the myriad of details is superb and you did a great job! Well done!
Stan