Dubrovnik's Placa, a photo from Dubrovacko-Neretvanska, Coast

Photographer's Note

The main street of Dubrovnik’s old town is called the Placa, but is also known as Stradun. Tourist guide books often refer to it as a ‘marble street’ but in fact it is paved in stone that has been polished smooth by centuries of people walking over it. Nowadays no vehicles are allowed in the old town, so in the summer months the Placa, lined with trendy cafes and shops, becomes one of the busiest promenades in Dubrovnik.

At the end of the Placa is the clock tower which was first built in the 15th century, but restored many times. The current structure was restored in 1929 and fortunately escaped the shelling of Dubrovnik by the Yugoslav Army, Serbs and Montenegrians in 1991 and 1992. In this picture you will be able to see that more than half the roofs are quite new, whilst the rest are much older. About 70 per cent of the buildings in the old town were damaged in the shelling of Dubrovnik, two out of three roofs holed, and several historic buildings were burned down. The city has done a good job of restoring the old town – except that it was not possible to perfectly match the colour of the roof tiles because the tile factory that had made the originals had long closed down.

I tried taking some shots of the Placa at street level but it was hard to get a good composition because of the crowds of people walking in front of the camera all the time. So I went up onto the top of the city wall near the Pile Gate for this POV.

PP: Cropped, adjusted levels, lightened shadows 3%, darkened highlights 3%, increased saturation 9%, USM.

alainh, capthaddock, riclopes, carper, peter1892, keribar, aloyho, fireflyz has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

craiggc (2509) 2006-04-07 10:26

This is a gorgeous shot of a gourgeous town! Your view has such depth leading down to a nice focal point of the bell tower. A perfect technically perfect composition in my opinion.

The processing you have applied has nicely brought out the detail in the roof tiles and the people are all nicely rendered.

The horizon is spot-on too.

Very good note

All-in-all a superb effort!
Well done, Craig

maki (0) 2006-04-07 13:44

Hi David,
Nice view of the Stradun with the rooftops and walking people. I like Your POV from the old town walls. Nice, natural colours. regards. maki

MichaelTrezzi (3347) 2006-04-07 13:48

Hi David, very nice and not very traditional view of the Dubrovnik's Placa. Like the nice separation of the medieval town from its background due to the contra light. Well done. Cheers, Michael

Erwinf (584) 2006-04-07 14:23

Beautiful picture!

Nice to see how many people there again.
I went to there some years before the war there, I think it was 1984 and I like the "stone-architekture" a lot.

Thanks for sharing!

kensimage (8557) 2006-04-08 12:56

The overhead POV is great here, David. You just can't convey the overall feel from street level. This is nicely composed and framed, and the light is good. I hope to visit there someday! Regards, Ken.

alainh (35555) 2006-04-09 1:34

hello David
what can i say more ? light, angle, format, sharpness, all contributed to make a splendid composition.
congratulation for your very beautiful and various gallery
regards
alain

elmec (12210) 2006-04-09 11:24

Hello David!
Great shot!
I like the perspective from the roofs to dawn
Very good framing i like the roofs and people between them!
Good work!
Regards!

capthaddock (28790) 2006-04-10 10:24

Hi David - what a lovely town, I was lucky to see it several times in the off season, really nice overlooking perspective, I like the tiny glimpse of the sea behind the belltower, I'm tempted to scan my Dubrovnik photos now.

riclopes (35567) 2006-04-11 3:50

Hi David,
Well I would try the same thing. You did well in going up here. This view is absolutely marvellous, so full of wonderful details and the crowd of tourists, like hants downthere, filling up the beautiful main street. Excellent note, as usual, very good clear image, with a good manage of lighting and nice natural coours and sharpening. I just love this view! Congratulations!
TFS,
Ricardo

jasmis (57596) 2006-04-11 3:59

Splendid composition with central street and the church on the background. Amazing roofs, too. Interesting note. Regards David.

gaby (19819) 2006-04-11 4:19

David bonjour - nice to meet you on TE with this lovely lanscape - great POV, vertical compo along the street and splendid background -
very well done
Thanks
Gaby

carper (96) 2006-04-11 6:06

well David,
I realy enjoy this one, the point of view is very nice, you create a nice depth in the shoty, the quality is very high, I like the details and the good colours, very good photo. Good job
gr. jaap

peter1892 (1681) 2006-04-11 16:20

Nice shot - the POV is great, worth the extra effort of getting up to a high vantage point. The street scene is good, with interesting buildings & nice colours. The back drop is also good, and I like the way that you've captured a little bit of the water as well, it adds an extra bit of contrast.

keribar (43841) 2006-04-19 3:24

I have never been there but thanks to a great picture such as this one I imagine I am already in Dubrovnik. Looks as if they really take care of this place, no TV dishes no poles but well manucured old roofs. now that I have seen this striking image I think to put Dubrovnik on my next agenda.

Best regards - Izzet

aloyho (6705) 2006-04-22 5:45

Hi David,
This is an exciting POV with the people, the roofs and the background nicely allocated. Indeed it is a busy place not only because of the people but the other elements too. I like the blueish background as it calms the eyes and give it some rest. I enjoyed how the highlight brings out the shapes of the roofs and the shades. Congratulations!!! Have a nice week end and sorry for the delay.

fireflyz (2097) 2006-08-04 17:53 [Comment]