Tower Power Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

San Gimignano was the major Italian producer of saffron, which was grown on the flanks of the Val D'Elsa, the valley below the town; they exported it as far as Holland and got rich. Their wealth drew people in from the surrounding countryside and by 1227, San Gimignano boasted 7000 inhabitants, about the number it has today.

Commerce flourished and the merchants gave generously to public works projects, building fountains, paving squares and erecting churches. For all these impressive realisations, San Gimignano has been inserted from the Unesco in the list of the world-heritage patrimony of the humanity.

robertosalguero, JPlumb, holmertz, Floydian, MayaG, hrschwartz, lilimih33, cherryripe, romanaa, Wanda1, rigoletto, pasternak, euryan has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Mateja (413) 2008-02-05 23:07

Hey Andre,
very nice anc accentuated photo of San Geminiano, with great light and great composition. Your photo shows in a way the best, the funny part of the town.
TFS
Mateja

robertosalguero (2759) 2008-02-05 23:10

Your intro picture look very funny, but somehow I think that is not the real you ;-) Beautiful landscape you show us here. The town stand out very well and create a nice contrast of colours against the blue sky. The architecture of European old towns is very nice and you managed to capture the essence of this place very well. Thanks André.

Roberto

danyy (68088) 2008-02-05 23:29

Bonjour André,
superbes les couleurs, elles m'ont déjà séduit rien qu'en regardant la vignette alors avec la photo pleine taille, tu devines !
Les lumières sont fantastiques et ce POV qui découpe la photo en bandes horizontales colorées est très astucieux.
Joli coup d'oeil.
Bien à toi.
Daniel.

knerkowski (1467) 2008-02-05 23:49

Hi Andre
excellent picture.
Colors are wonderful, good details and sharpness. DOV is well chosen in fact.
I like the foreground you chose, what is for me the most difficult with beautiful landscape.
A very good work
Thanks for sharing
Regards
Kevin

rodgerg (23207) 2008-02-05 23:59

Hello André,
Superb photo of San Giminignano. Convenient composition which emphases well San Giminignano in its environment. This composition development by the differences in colors between each plan. Really a very beautiful photo. Also thanks for the note very instructive.

Roger

JPlumb (3153) 2008-02-06 0:03

Hi Andre, it still looks like a very desirable region in this shot of yours. The valley still looks very prosperous with some very healthy crops. The town seems to have more bell towers than many others I've seen of a similar size. Your shot presents this all well with great depth of field, saturation of colour and good sharp detail on the town and surrounding countryside.

Thanks, John

Giedra70 (554) 2008-02-06 0:44

Hi Andre,

Very nice landscape shot from the Tuscany. Impressive nature.
BR Giedrius

holmertz (9328) 2008-02-06 1:22

Hello André,
This is a very well known place of which I guess there are tens of thousands of pictures. Still you managed an interesting view, where the photo is neatly divided into sections, separated by nicely curved diagonal lines. Excellent colours and sharpness.
Regards,
Gert

donluicu (23921) 2008-02-06 2:14

hello boy

excellente image, sous un ciel splendide...
belles compo par strates egales..

de la bonne carte postale

ciao

Amandine (1026) 2008-02-06 2:24

Bonjour Andre, cette image est très réussie, la composition est harmonieuse, la lumières et les couleurs bien rendues. Bravo

PixelTerror (86036) 2008-02-06 2:24

Ciao Cousin,
Ah le voila le point culminant de ton passage en italie, le Matterhorn architectural de la Toscane ! Tu as bien travaille ton sujet et tu es venu sur le pov au moment qui t'offre la meilleure lumiere sur cette celebre skyline, le matin I suppose, resultat de forts beaux contrastes entre ces couches, c'est le genre d'image que j'agrandirais volontiers au format poster pour l'afficher chez moi. Elle m'a juste l'air un poil soft, mais vu la vegetation je soupconne que tu n'as pas voulu trop accentuer pour faciliter la compression dans les 200KB fatidiques. Magnifico mon bon cousin !
Bonne journee JY

lucabellincioni (3638) 2008-02-06 2:29

magnifica veduta di questa spettacolare cittadina senese!
Bravo!
L.

KLB (17830) 2008-02-06 2:29

Salut Robert

Sympa la note en français ;o). Et le titre est bien trouvé pour illustrer ta compo, également.
Très bon cadrage. La ville qui se découpe sur ce ciel bleu forme une belle diagonale, ce qui accentue les tours qui se dressent fièrement.
La lumière est vraiment superbe et révèle aussi bien la pierre brune de l'architecture, que la végétation du premier plan.
Très jolie composition.

Bonne journée,
Karine

Floydian (30970) 2008-02-06 3:03

Hi Andre,
I've been there, but never saw it like you show us here. Man it's truly wonderful this pov. The warm tones in the green fit perfectly to the warm brown colours of the town. Best part for me is how the town is working his way upwards on the slope till it reach the left side where the towers are standing proud above...stunning..!!!
Take care my friend, Henk

cbrman (18703) 2008-02-06 4:47

Hello André,

Je dois dire que tu as vraiment bien mis à profit ta visite de la Toscane !
Cette vue sur San Gimignano est vraiment belle ! Le point de vue est parfaitement choisi. Les couleurs sont très chaude, cela est dû au fait qu'il y a une jolie dominante verte qui resort bien ici !
Ce qui est attirant ici ce sont ces tours qui donnent réellement un air superbe à cette cité et par là même à ta photographie ! La lumière sur ces vieilles pierres est parfaite !
Bravo ! On en redemande !

A+

Dominique

MayaG (2393) 2008-02-06 5:39

Salut Monsieur Andre,

I see you have definitely been into tower-power mood recently. After two strong vertical compositions, here we have a much more relaxed, horizontal one, yet these towers dominate the scene from the background.
A lovely scenery with nice light, and different tones of greenery provide freshness and dynamism to the photo. Very nice!

have a great day!

Marija

jjcordier (24186) 2008-02-06 6:13

André
La Toscane est une très belle région et cette ville particulièrement intéressante et curieuse avec ces tours carrées (clochers, je suppose). Une composition impeccable et de très belles couleurs....et en plus, pour une fois, j'ai compris toute ta note....o)
Amicalement
JJ

hrschwartz (692) 2008-02-06 7:18

Andre,

Can you beat Tuscany for countryside beauty? This photo of Sienna pretty much captures it all. Well done.

TFS. -even if it isn't hamburgers ;-))

Randy

gneufeld (15055) 2008-02-06 7:28

Hi Andre,
Very effective use of diagonal lines and layers in this image. I love the clarity and sharpness with nicely saturated colors. Fine shot and TFS. Gerald

chinchini (27353) 2008-02-06 8:10

Salut Cousin,
Sympa ta note en français (je connais les tenants ;o)
Superbe carte postale avec la skyline de San Gimignano se détachant parfaitement dans un ciel méditerranéen. Les couleurs sont très chaudes mais un peu sombres sur la végétation (je ne connais pas l'heure de ta prise de vue). Elle est belle la Toscane n'est-ce pas ? Faudra pousser un jour jusqu'en Corse, île voisine ;o) (Moi je suis bien venu au QBC sans oublier mes mitaines et mon passe-montagne !)
Pierre

corniste (4210) 2008-02-06 8:36

André,

une fois de plus une belle d'une région que je connais bien en image, mais que je n'ai pas vu en réalité. Si TE c'est donner envie d'aller quelque part, ceci me démange. C'est un rêve de toujours!

bonne soirée

lilimih33 (9870) 2008-02-06 8:54

Hello Andre!
Nice panorama and beautiful colours and light in your picture!
Lovely perspective!
Great composition, again!
Best regards!
Lili

cherryripe (18830) 2008-02-06 10:03

Salut André
Toi qui était sensé d'attirer de mauvais temps partout, tu as bénéficier d'une superbe journée, mille mois mieux que ce que nous avons connu en plein été. Ton pdv met en valeur les belles tours, les isolant et toute cette végétation varièe au premier plan crée un joli contraste avec la brique des édifices.
A+
Nikki

romanaa (2551) 2008-02-06 11:26

Hello Andre,
I have been there in 1993 and I was stunned by the beauty of the place which I recognized even from your thumbnail. I am happy it has not changed at all. Your picture is beautiful, I like the texture and shapes of the fields in the foreground.
Thanks for sharing.
Best wishes
Romana

barni (14437) 2008-02-06 13:29

Salut André
Ah la toscanne... une région merveilleuse et c'est pas ta photo qui va me faire changer d'avis...
Un bon contraste et un joli point de vue.
Bonne soirée
Christophe

PPG (71) 2008-02-06 17:22

This is beautiful, the diagonal line of the agriculture, the repeating vertical lines of the pine trees and tall buildings, the different layers from foreground to sky, excellent. Well done. TFS
Paul

Wanda1 (10905) 2008-02-06 20:54

Hi Andre,
Each level of the shot from the foreground with the vines right to the top with the buildings has something different of interest to look at, aswell as different natural shades of colour on each layer.
The diagonals throughout form a pleasing image, and the details in the shot is clear. A great image.
Regards
Wanda

scalerman (25633) 2008-02-06 21:48

A: I'm not a very wordy critique-writer and I hope that doesn't detract from what I basically do: dole out green when the shot hits. Fine lines and saturation here. Fine note - as usual with you. regards, c

ag1993 (634) 2008-02-06 23:48

Hello,
Very nice photo with great colours and framing.
Regards
Andrea Gatt

papagolf21 (56044) 2008-02-07 0:55

Bonsoir, cher André,
Un pur régal que cette réalisation photographique. La beauté à l'état pur ! l'éclat architectural prend toute son importance dans ce magnifique environnement.
Ah ! qu'il est doux de pouvoir contempler pareil spectacle !
Superbe !
Amitiés.
Philippe

rigoletto (25978) 2008-02-07 10:38

I regret only seeing this place far from the train, how i missed it, i can't believe myself. It is supposed to be the Tuscan Manhattan isn't it?
Will we see more towers and less vineyards one day? I hope we will...

pasternak (13038) 2008-02-08 4:57

A beauty, Andre, I like all the diagonals and gentle curves here, the Tuscan towns are presented the best like this - against the landscape which they are indeed integral parts of...

Cheers
Alexander

euryan (8345) 2008-02-08 10:56

I have a photo with an identical composition from my trip to San Gimignano last May, only mine has a boring overcast sky. This blue sky is just what I wanted. The side lighting on the towers is perfect to create a nice 3D image. Very jealous ;-)
Regards,
Ryan