The Cemetery Photo

Photographer’s Note

The fourth in a series of pictures taken in and around the church of Saint-Peter-De-La-Tour at Aulnay in Charente-Maritime.

The picture is a vertical stitch of five images.

The Church of St. Peter in Aulnay de Saintonge, Poitou, is regarded as one of the finest Romanesque churches in western France. Located in a peaceful setting overlooking a pasture at the edge of Aulnay village, its beautiful architecture is enhanced by an extensive, fascinating array of Romanesque sculpture inside and out.

Known in Latin as Aunedonacum, Aulnay's history begins in Roman times, when it was a small town along the road between the prominent ancient cities of Poitiers and Saintes. In the Middle Ages, the road continued to be used, especially as part of the pilgrimage route from Paris to Santiago de Compostela.

The first known church in Aulnay (of unknown date) was called St-Pierre-de-la-Tour, which was given to the Benedictine monks of St-Cyprien Abbey in Poitiers in the 11th century.

In the early 12th century, the church was transferred to the chapter of Poitiers Cathedral. Shortly thereafter it was rebuilt, most likely under the direction of Poitiers' canons, in about 1140 to 1170.

A few changes and restorations were made in later centuries, including the top half and spire of the tower (13th/14th century) and the reworking of the west façade (15th century).

The above information was extracted from an article on the Sacred Places web site. The full text of the article can be read here.

For French speakers, there is quite an extensive article about the church on the French Wikipedea site here.

ChrisJ, gentedilivello, gildasjan, besnard, jurek1951, dareco, dip, maltese, jjanczyk, asajernigan has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

delpeoples (5380) 2009-05-31 1:44

Hi Stephen, it's good to see you're making the most out of that amazing sky. I love it when the clouds are like that. I like the composition here, the lines of the graves, the pathway and the steeple in the G. All amazingly sharp and well-metered. Impresive stitching too - your technology is way beyond me but whatever it is you;ve done, you;ve done well. Congrats, Lisa.

ChrisJ (69522) 2009-05-31 1:49

Hi Stephen

Excellent lighting contrasts, with good graphism and sharpness. Superb colour & saturation. Good linear perspective & repetition, are added by the crosses. Have a great Sunday!

gentedilivello (1711) 2009-05-31 2:05

Hi Stephen,
great view of this cemetery, sharp and bright. You chose a very good POV and the framing is perfect.
Regards.
Gabriele.

gildasjan (23333) 2009-05-31 2:09

Bonjour Stephen
Très belle perspective dans ce cimetière pour aller vers l'église.L'exposition est parfaite et l'image bien nette.
Bon dimanche
Amicalement
gildas

besnard (30118) 2009-05-31 2:56

Bonjour Stephen
Un bon cliché net et bien cadré avec le chemin qui conduit le regard vers l'église. Un bel ensemble paroissial.
Merci pour le partage et bon dimanche.
Nicole

npecanhuk (13027) 2009-05-31 5:23

Hello Stephen1
Not too fond of cemmeteries, btu your picture is magnificent!
Sharpness, exposure, colors, depth of field are all excellent1 The viewpoint was superbly chosen and, yes man, you ably, cleverly, smartly and wonderfully composed this image - composition, in fact, is its real highlight here! What a sky! The row of crosses, the trees and the church in the background, just to mention some of the captivating elements, were all so nicely placed in the frame!
TFS - congratulations!
My warmest regards,
Neyvan

amaryllis (17045) 2009-05-31 5:36

Bonjour Stephen
un très beau cadrage avec ce cimetière au premier plan avec des tombes qui datent déjà et cette allée qui nous mène à l'église
une tres bonne luminosité et netteté accompagnent l'ensemble
bon dimanche
juliette

cobbydale (1924) 2009-05-31 8:50

I really like the viewpoint on this one Stephen, looking down the path with the lines of crosses and trees on the right. Nice contrasing tones of blues and greens to balance the stone tones.
cheers
Leon

jurek1951 (25728) 2009-05-31 9:11

Hi Stephen,
Beautiful clouds and sky.Nice composition, colours and lighting,Very interesting architecture.
Georg

Silvio1953 (40771) 2009-05-31 10:12

Ciao Stephen, usually I don't lie cemetery's photo, but this one is very fine architecture, great composition with beautiful perspective and splendid colors, very well done, ciao Silvio

Nicou (43813) 2009-05-31 10:51

Hello,

quel ciel, une merveille, ces flanelle fuyantes sont grandiose, avec la supefbe vue sur l'allée et som ombre du gtrillage, les tombes, grandisoe.

Bravo et amitié

Nicou

dip (12408) 2009-05-31 13:11

Hi Stephen,
a good clear and sharp shot from an unusual place for photographs,
amazing colors and excellent lighting,
informative note as well,
Greetings,
Dimitris.

dareco (17024) 2009-05-31 13:12

All of the pov's in this series have been great. A very interesting place! Lovely detail and it appears to be a beautiful day. TFS

claudigan (2704) 2009-05-31 13:31

Bonsoir Stephen,
Le problème de la photographie de cimetière, c'est qu'il n'est pas aisé d'organiser les elements de la composition sans se perdre dans l'immage. Aussi je trouve la perspective admirable ici avec notament un tres bel alignement de croix sur la droite. Par ailleurs, la lumière et la netteté sont très bien gerées. L'ambiance est très bien restituée avec la place que tu as donné à la pierre et aux ifs (ou buis)tout à fait carractéristiques.
Amitiés,
Claude.

maltese (21529) 2009-05-31 22:13

Hello Stephen
Quelle lumière qui donne des couleurs superbes et qui rendrait presque joyeux cet endroit!!
une excellente composition et une très belle réalisation
Beau travail!!
Amicalement
Hervé

Graal (57268) 2009-05-31 23:08

Hi Stephen,
unusual pp, photo from stitched 5 images. Good finally effect. An interesting glance on the old cemetery. Good presentation and informations. I like it.
Gr., Aleksander

wolf38 (12493) 2009-06-01 9:43

Hello Stephen. More beautifully one cannot photograph a cemetery. In this composition everything complements itself in best way. Also the light is ideal. Exemplary also again the text. Regards, Wolfgang.

jjanczyk (1668) 2009-06-01 9:47

Hello,
Stunning photo! I am not a big fun of taking shots of cemmeteries, but... it's excellent...
leans towards reflections about life,...
TFS
Jolanta

darek1978 (11097) 2009-06-01 10:02

Hi Stephen,
A very good POV and composition. The picture is well detailed and the light and the colours are very beautiful. Majestic and eerie at the same time. Well done!
Best regards,
Darek

Fis2 (45194) 2009-06-01 10:56

Witaj Stephen!
Good POV and curious composition.
I like the perspective.
The light and colors are good.
Regards
Krzysztof

asajernigan (13889) 2009-06-02 3:32

Stephen,
This is a well composed shot using the walkway to lead the eye into the shot. The graveyard provides many good points of interest in the foreground with the church dominating the background. The angle of the shot is fine giving he shot depth and direction. The lighting and colors are fine with nice sharpness and DOF. You managed to capture a great sky here as well.
TFS,
Asa