View from a Palace Photo

Photographer’s Note

A dynasty of Bundela Rajput kings invested much effort in transforming Orchha into a pretty capital. The kingdom's most famous king, Bir Singh Ju Deo, saw the beautiful Jehangir Mahal come up in the early 17th century. Raja Indramani (1672- 76) supervised the construction of the Rai Praveen Mahal, named after his mistress. Not as majestic or spacious as the Jehangir Mahal but no less important than that, is the Rai Praveen Mahal, surrounded by a beautiful garden.

This building lies behind Jehangir Mahal.
Seen from the top of Jehangir Mahal, Rai Praveen Mahal looks very small indeed as you can see in the workshop. The petite palace built for Rai Praveen is a low, two-storeyed brick structure designed to match the height of the trees in the surrounding, beautifully landscaped gardens of Anand Mahal, with its octagonal flower beds and elaborate water supply system. Skillfully carved niches allow light into the Mahal which has a main hall and smaller chambers.

Rai Praveen Mahal is not just another palace. Here the visitor is taken down in a romantic depth with the Mughal Emperor Jehangir and Rai Praveen, the paramour of Raja Indramani. Praveen was a beautiful lady of her time with great artistic taste and abilities. She was a superb dancer as well as a singer. The lanes of Orchha ring with the stories of Jehangir’s romance with her. Jehangir loved her deeply and wanted to marry her – an offer which she refused. The Palace of Rai Praveen is, thus, not only a monument of romance but also of an Indian queen’s faithfulness to her husband.

Here I have tried to frame the majestic Jehangir Mahal palace through the columns of Rai Praveen Mahal, the same columns you’ve seen earlier in this earlier post.

This picture is in fact a cropped version of this shot. Pls. do let me know if it was judicious on my part to do the crop or is the original picture better. Thanks a lot.

ribeiroantonio, Soumyadeb, ChrisJ, feather, jhm, Budapestman, papagolf21, riclopes, pierrefonds, patdeph, plimrn, emjleclercq, josepmarin, jmcl has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

laxpix (656) 2009-01-04 23:35

Great framing and focus.

ribeiroantonio (22060) 2009-01-04 23:45

The crop is quite good as it let us admire the detail of the framing arch but I also like the original version.
All the best for 2009.
Antonio

eversmile (6543) 2009-01-05 0:19

Hi Angshu.

I like your POV and the striking, beutiful view, that inspires to me a strong feeling of nostalgia, although I have never visited the place. You captured the charms of the past splendour, still visible, with the elegant shapes of the architecture. I like both of your compositions, maybe a little more the view in WS, more opened and fresh, creating the sensation of a softer light. Well done.
Regards
Marine

jasmis (51339) 2009-01-05 0:25

Splendid natural frame. Amazing "layers" of this presentation.

Regards.

Soumyadeb (144) 2009-01-05 0:42

Hi Anshuman --

Yes the framing is excellent but use of light and use of depth of field have made this a real gem.

Congratulations
Soumyadeb

everlasting (10942) 2009-01-05 1:56

Dear Angshu, I am in two minds about the crop and the original. Here in the crop the symmetry plays a great part as does the natural framing of the arch, but I also like the original as it opens the palace up, with much more light, which i also like, so if I had to choose it would be difficult, but then again why choose --- when you have two very good compositions.

ChrisJ (70569) 2009-01-05 2:00

Hi Angshuman

Wonderful use of the fg arch to frame the impressive bg building. Maybe I'd burn in the strong highlights, at left? Impeccable sharpness, & good colour & contrast. Tfs!

feather (50588) 2009-01-05 3:13

I'm sure that you will remember that I love the use of archways as a frame. This one is very well done with perfect exposure of both parts and perfect choice of focus, avoiding the trap of having the arch out of focus. Did you blend two different exposures or is it just one shot? I think you made exactly the right choice to crop, as in the original uncropped version, the eye is continually drawn to the left instead of through the image to the palace. Excellent shot
Kath

jhm (83802) 2009-01-05 4:19

Hello Angshu,

Very high of quality, also the through look at, care for a wonderful lovely image.
Lovely architecture with this wonderful image of this splendid palace.
Excellent captured and lovely composed, also a very well presentation.
Very well done, TFS.

Best regards,
John.

Budapestman (43344) 2009-01-05 4:28

Dear Angshu,
Wonderful photo with a superb composition. The ornate arch gives a spectacular framework to the amazing building which can be seen in the background. The details rich and beautiful. Great work. Congratulations. Have a nice week!
George

BennyV (5002) 2009-01-05 4:45

Lovely shot, Anghu. Great job to get the light right on both the interior bow and the palace.

Benny

Gerrit (36615) 2009-01-05 19:08

Hi Angshu,
wonderful buildings and beautiful light. Great see-through and composition.
Regards, Gerrit

Graal (59144) 2009-01-05 23:51

Hi Angshuman,
beautiful natural frame, good details of architecture, fine idea and realization. An interesting WS and history in note. Good work.
Gr., Aleksander

papagolf21 (57029) 2009-01-06 0:41

Bonjour, mon ami Angshu,
Décidément, ce sont de véritables trésors que vous nous présentez toujours avec autant de talent. C'est bien dommage que ces gemmes soient si loin de la France pour en apprécier toute la beauté. Merci Angshu, de nous faire profiter de ces merveilleux spectacles.
Amitiés.
Philippe

riclopes (33159) 2009-01-06 1:49

never ending series of this incredible place...Olá Angshu, another great framing through these beautiful arches. I totally agree with the crop. It makes a stronger 'right to the point' image with no unnecessary distractions. The sense of symetry is harmonic and that incudes the part of the palace we see with 2 big elements on the sides and a small one in the middle. Superb complementar view.
friendly regards,
ricardo

pierrefonds (26835) 2009-01-06 4:00

Hi Angshuman,

The arch window is framing well the Rai Praveen Mahal. The point of view is allowing us to see the details and colors of the architecture of the building. The picture is clear and sharp. The colors are enhanced by the good luminosity. Have a nice day.

Pierre

patdeph (18644) 2009-01-06 8:32

namaste Angshuman
if I had done the photo myself,I think I should have framed like this,using the arche as splendid frame!Here,the arch appears with all its details,and its very beautiful:It's not easy to find the good exposure to have this effect,and you did it perfectly!Very nice picture!
Regards
Pascale

jafadabret (40717) 2009-01-06 9:37

Hi Angshu.
Le cadre que tu as choisi pour cette photo est des plus beaux. Tu as bien fait de couper une partie de l'original. L'édifice est magnifique comme le sont souvent les palais de ce pays.
Excellent !
Jacques

plimrn (19892) 2009-01-06 12:52

Hi Angshu,
Stunning light management, outstanding framing, color and detail and a fascinating note. Another winner!!!
HLJ, Pat

bukitgolfb301 (5148) 2009-01-06 12:58

Hello my dear Angshu

This is also great masterpiece.
Anytime I am impressed with your photo, specially flaming and composition, which are perfect at all.

Best regards and many tahnsk for sharing

Takero

emjleclercq (14652) 2009-01-06 13:06

Another nice natural framing, like viewing a palace from another palace. Good details onf the framing of the window.

All the best,

Emmanuel

josepmarin (34295) 2009-01-07 9:12

Hi Angshuman,
A great idea on having used the columns to frame the palace, in a good perspective with the sky in background.
You have managed perfectly the light to obtain a beautiful result in the luminosity and the colors.
I think that the crop that you have done on the original photo works very well, because it centres the framing on both columns.
Well done.
Best regards, my friend,
Josep

jmcl (14197) 2009-01-11 8:54

HI Angshuman

Wonderful and thoughtful framing .. I love the detail and warmth on the framing arch .. well done cropping .. the foreground to background detail is very nice .. tremendous image .. take care, John

sayat (2944) 2009-01-13 10:42

Hi Dear Angshu,

I think the non-cropped version is better. But, apart form the cropping, the overall composition is just beautiful my friend! It's so nice to see the delicate ornaments on the arch and at the same time enjoy the architecture of the palace which is sharp enough. Great management of light too!