Riga - the first stone buildings Photo

Photographer’s Note

this square is the place of the first crusader camp, when they landed here in 1201. immediately upon arrival, bishop Albert ordered a construction of a palace for himself, and the chapel of the palace was right where the brightly lit church - St.John's church (Sv.Jāņa baznīca) - stands now. but to make a point that they were a force not to be taken lightly, the citiens of Riga built a huge building just next to the palace - St.Peter's church (Sv.Pētera baznīca), and you can see the part of the altar wall on the right. Albert was not too happy with a new neighbour, and already in 1234 left his palace to the Dominican order and moved to another part of the city. the Dominicans established a monastery there, which functioned up until 1524.

after the expulsion of the Dominicans during the Reformation, the building was privately owned and used as a stable and later as a weapon workshop, until in 1582 it became a part of a Latvian parish and has remained that ever since. this is the only church in Latvia where for 400 years services have been held only in Latvian.

the oldest part of St.John's church with the stair pediment could be considered the second oldest stone buiding in the city, the first are the remains of St.Georg's church - Sv.Jura baznīca - just outside the photo on the far left, where the palace of the Order of Livonian Brothers of the Sword stood.

dlevy23, JorgeCK, Floydian, zmey, sonkai, imrek, jorgi, trekks, cfreire, scobert, molla, Tue, fulvio52, steliosk, gunbud, lasscor, ricochet, plimrn, despoinab, Wandering_Dan, lilimih33, dareco, marcan44, npecanhuk, testmaniac, belido has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

dlevy23 (2018) 2008-03-27 5:33

Hi Kristine, very nice photo. Beautiful church. I love how everything in the photo is in the shade and the sun is giving you nutural light for the church.
Nice composition and POV.
Good as usual.

Daniel

[2]

rey316 (1902) 2008-03-27 5:57

Hello Kristine
WOW
Very nice photo
Andrey

[2]

JorgeCK (2598) 2008-03-27 6:14

Hi Kristine,
another great photo. The colors are beautiful. Like the way you frame this photo with the brightly lit church in the center and an excellent contrast with wonderful blue sky.
regards
joRge

batalay (21193) 2008-03-27 6:15

Hello Kristine,

I love the brilliant and composition in this photograph from Riga. The framing is also very effective, the image appearing to float out of the screen where I am viewing it. But what is very special for me is also the highly informative note, well written and packed with information.

Warm regards,

Bulent

baba_flies (8093) 2008-03-27 6:30

Good morning Kristine! I see you have touched ground meanwhile :) This is very good work indeed and I like the half-shadow-half-sun mood, playing with the colors of the buildings in a nice way, especially the church has wonderful sunlight. Very special the sky too, indicating another round of bad weather maybe? What a beautiful town ... I have to say it again ... Enjoy your morning! Barbara.

Floydian (30970) 2008-03-27 6:45

Hello Kristine,
Riga seems beautiful when i look at your latests images. You had good weather with great light what shines over the buildings. Brings out a fine contrast and a warm tone to it. Pov is well choosen with nice straight lines...very nice.
Regards, Henk

zmey (7282) 2008-03-27 8:28

hello there :)

a wonderful depiction of the old St. John's church. bright, warm luminosity on the roof and the fasade, nicely complementing sky... and i hope, visitors appreciate that this show was made in march and you managed to catch a moment of evening sunshine... oh, so rare in latvia at this time of the year :)

good work!

hugs,
k.

ps. should we mention that a cup of tea in the little white building costs about 6 USD? ;)

delkoo (34754) 2008-03-27 9:26

hi kristine
the light is simply splendid and generous , great picture with vivid colours.
best regards
didier

atsouth (253) 2008-03-27 10:48

hi, v nice composition and decisive moment i think, as the the church is the only building with sunlight which brings all the focus to it.

regards

Merline (6578) 2008-03-27 12:26

Kristine,
you are a magician with the colors ! what a beauty, the image seems to come out from the frame in a most special way, must be your crop with just that bank on the border. I can feel the crisp air. Beautiful place with style and cosy too, the light is wondrous, I love the church in full light, the houses darker....
Excellent work, and you make me wish to discover this town of yours !

Have a lovely day and thank you for sharing
Michèle

imrek (4) 2008-03-27 12:27

HI Kristine,
Riga is a wonderful town and you are captured Old Riga very well, the light and colours are superb as the weather.
regards,
imre

jorgi (3804) 2008-03-27 12:48

Hi Kristine,

so, we landed now. :) And the sky is still phenomenal. Adorable light, simply irresistable. It brings the best out of this colourful street scenery and it illuminates the main building just for you. :) You lucky you. :) I love chosen angle with included detail of the church on the right. It gives great sense of street flow. You really know how to handle colours. You must be very positive person. :)

Kindest regards and plenty of thank you!
Jeri

ElAprendiz (7370) 2008-03-27 13:41

Hi Kristine

A precious image, where without a doubt, the illumination has played a too important role, allowing to emphasize very beautiful tonalities.

From a good point of view, you let see a typical and colorful urban landscape to us.

John

euryan (8351) 2008-03-27 18:56

Blue and Orange. My favorite complementary color combination. :-)
The lighting is great and you captured it very well. The highlights and the shadows both have sufficient detail. I like the composition with the green steeple in the upper right hand corner. It stands out nicely.
Regards,
Ryan

trekks (14334) 2008-03-27 19:32

hi Kristine

Your photo skill is obvious here in this pov and finely composed shot of architecture. The vertical lines are perfectly done and light conditions well managed in shadow and light. I like the green spire rising high.

Good work.

TFS, bill

archimatica (13344) 2008-03-28 4:18

Hi, Kristine.
Great warm colors and interesting side light.
TFS
Renzo

cfreire (11667) 2008-03-28 8:45

Hi Kristine,
One shined capture that portrays this architectural wealth. An excellent point of view that puts in prominence the beautiful red roof of the church in contrast with the blue of the sky. The clear shadows enrich and they give dynamism the scene. Well done, regards, Consuelo

scobert (5333) 2008-03-28 9:01

Hi Kristine,
This area must have been quite the place during the late middle ages. The Hanseatic League, the guilds, all of the street vendors and other activities. The era when this grand old church was built makes me think of Wagner's opera "Die Meistersinger" (my favorite) for some reason. Thank God that the citizens of Riga had the good sense to preserve these old landmarks, unlike Henry VIII who destroyed many of the old abbeys and churches during the Reformation (he was a horse's ass). I would not have wanted to have lived anywhere in Europe during the tumultuous years of the Reformation, the Counter Reformation, the Thirty Years War, etc. Tough times! Krisptaps tells me that in spite of the beauty of Riga, there ares some tough times here today. I feel so fortunate when I hear of all of the homeless people. Excellent photograph with beautiful lighting and your usual excellent notes!
Stan

[2]

molla (6891) 2008-03-28 10:02

Hej Kristine,
Wasn't this building nothing just dust and ashes half a century (because it's connection to the old german brotherhood) ago and in quite recent years rebuilt.
great picture.
Anders

Tue (25608) 2008-03-28 14:44

Hi Kristine,
It's a bit close crop in the bottom part of the photo, but it's otherwise a very attractive photo with great light and lovely colours. The light and shadows are well managed too. The sky is here a wonderful background, very well done!
Regards,
Lars

fulvio52 (8314) 2008-03-29 10:59

WONDERFUL, Kristine!
It strongly reminds me of Johannes Vermeer's paintings... I think this damn well qualifies as a comment!
Light and colors are simply fabulous, WOW!
I know you only had a couple days of good weather in Riga. Well... you sure made great use of that limited amount of shooting time.
Have a great weekend, see ya soon,
Fulvio.

steliosk (4784) 2008-03-29 16:38

Same like my previous comment, great texture and colours, the POV is quite good also, and the clarified sky is completing the whole picture.
The shadow part might not fit with the sunny one, but you managed it well.
Many of my city pictures suffer from the same problem "shadows"
at least i try to be creative like you in this one and use their positive side making an addition with something.

Regards
Stelios

gunbud (28153) 2008-03-29 18:16

Hi Kristine,
You have captured this venerable old church in fantastic light that exposes all of its wonderful intricate deails. The colors are stunning and the contrast beautifully with the vivid blue sky. Your note is rich with the history of this lovely Lativian city.
Regards, Tom
Tomorrow

lasscor (7637) 2008-03-30 7:17

Hi Kristine.
Nice sunny composition.
Lovely coloured buildings and wonderful sun light.
TFS,
Corinne

ricochet (4818) 2008-03-30 9:17

Bonjour Kristine
A beautiful composition with a nice framing! The light is also perfect and i mainly like the great sky, bravo à toi c'est une très belle réussite!
Eric

plimrn (19694) 2008-03-30 20:25

Hi kristine,
The sunlight and shadows create a lot of drama here. The light management5 is impeccable giving good detail in the shadows and exhuberant color in the sun without a hint of OE in those wonderful clouds. The note is also fascinating.
HLJ, Pat

despoinab (242) 2008-03-31 14:43

Hi Kristine
very beautiful photograph with astonishing colours.
Great POV

My congratulations
Despοina

crckt (7094) 2008-03-31 20:33

hi Kristine,
Your recent shots all have fantastic colors and this one is no exception. The clarity and sharpness is excellent, top quality shot.
Well done,
Shaeri

Wandering_Dan (3289) 2008-04-01 9:46

Hi, Kristine -

Beautifully managed complex light situation here. A great mix of colors, and the diagonals are good too.

Dan

woozbman (366) 2008-04-02 19:47

Hi Kristine,

Crossword puzzle clue: Latvian seaport
Answer: Riga

That was the first time I heard about Riga and Latvia. Of course that was a long time ago. So back to the present. Here you show us a good balanced shot. The contrast and tones are well-controlled, despite the shade and the bright sunlight. I also like the repeating shapes. TFS.

Best regards,
Lamberto

Wanda1 (11015) 2008-04-09 22:11

Hi Kristine,
The light hitting the one building and the rest in shadow is fantastic, and the shot is so nice and bright and crystal clear. Beautiful details and great pov, and to top it all off the fluffy clouded sky makes the perfect backdrop.
Great work!
Regards
Wanda

lilimih33 (9874) 2008-04-10 14:31

Hello Kristine!
Great light and wonderful colours in your picture!
Nice architecture!
Lovely point of view!
Best regards!
Lili

tmx (1320) 2008-04-14 3:49

hi Kristine, beatiful old Riga? I've never been there, although it's not far from my place in Poland. I see that we're using the same lens -- 18-200 vr from Nikon. it's nice but in fact 27mm doesn't let you photograph wide angle (that's why I purchased Sigma 10-20mm). I'd add more foreground to your picture -- it's important to have something in the front, especially here, in the city. you've beatiful sky, but I'd definitely make two or three steps to the back and show more.
thanks for sharing :)

derek3755 (2341) 2008-05-01 23:36

Hi Ktistine

There's a beautiful richness to the colours in this image, and considering more than one half is in shade, exposure has been handed perfectly.

Derek

dareco (17104) 2008-06-05 2:43

You have so many beautiful pictures in your gallery. This is a real beauty! I love the old church, fantastic architecture, and the lighting and colors are superb! Very nice pov. I once had a friend living in Riga, so I find this especially interesting. TFS and have a great day!

marcan44 (3195) 2008-10-19 5:03

Hi Kristine,
great shot.
The orange roof is fantastic.
Excellent light control and sharpness.
Cheers
Best regards
Mario

npecanhuk (14652) 2008-10-21 1:18

Hi Kristine!
Wonderful architecture, so well captured by you, with beautiful warm colors, excellent management of light, sharpness and pov!
The sky is also a splendid highlight in this image!
TFS - Congratulations!
Warmest regards,
Neyvan

testmaniac (12262) 2008-11-18 21:28

Hello Kristine, very nice and colorful photo from Riga. I like it very much. Anyway your gallery is full with great colorful photographs and I like your photo style very much. Thank you very much for share Kristine.

Best regards,
Phil

macjake (2328) 2009-12-07 11:43

Hi Kristine

I love how the light hits the church, almost in a god-strike-me-down-with-lightning- sort of way, leaving the other buildings to deal with the cold.
lovely blue sky, with bubbly clouds. visually stimulating scene, with alot of key elements.
congrats
Cheers
Craig

belido (16813) 2009-12-14 9:29

Hi Kristine,

Today I was browsing your gallery and found this one :) What a lovely architecture photo. The fact you shot in the shadow, somehow enhanced the focal point on the church, making it a real attraction. I'm sure that golden light and the blue sky are other great additions. Very well done!
Regards,
Carlos

Photo Information

Copyright: Kristine KM (avene) (11136)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-03-05
Categories: Architecture
Camera: Nikon D 200, Nikkor 18-200 3.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S DX VR, Nikon CircPolar II 72mm
Exposure: f/8, 1/60 seconds
More Photo Info: view
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2008-03-27 5:15