Spiritual Capital of Poland Photo

Photographer’s Note

The Jasna Góra Monastery (Polish: Jasna Góra, English: Bright Mount) in Częstochowa, Poland is the most famous shrine to the Virgin Mary in Poland and the country's greatest place of pilgrimage - for many its spiritual capital. The image of Black Madonna of Częstochowa, to which miraculous powers are attributed, is Jasna Góra's most precious treasure. Founded in 1382 by Pauline monks who came from Hungary at the invitation of Władysław, Duke of Opole. The monastery has been a pilgrimage destination for hundreds of years, and it contains the most important icon of the Virgin Mary in this part of Europe. It is credited with miraculously saving the Jasna Góra monastery during a siege that took place at the time of The Deluge, a 17th century Swedish invasion. The event stimulated the Polish resistance. The Poles could not immediately change the course of the war but after an alliance with the Crimean Khanate they repulsed the Swedes. Shortly thereafter, in the cathedral of Lwów, on April 1, 1656, Jan Kazimierz, the King of Poland, solemnly pronounced his vow to consecrate the country to the protection of the Mother of God and proclaimed Her the Patron and Queen of the lands in his kingdom.

I am back from a short trip to Poland. In this time I had a pleasure to visit one of the most important places in Poland: Jasna Góra. This place has an enormous sentimental value for me. I have visited it many times, in particular twice going there in a group of thousands of other pilgrims by foot from my home town, which took 9 days of walk.

Regardless of the religious value, Jasna Góra is truly a spectacular place in world class standards. Imagine a very well preserved huge medieval fortress on a hill visible from a far distance. The fortress-monastery is packed with top class elaborate architecture with plenty of stunning details.

Unfortunately the weather was not great and I did not have enough time to take as many pictures as I wanted.

The photo presents a view of the Basilica with the 106.3m tower.

miszka, npecanhuk, Ola_Kwiatek, phwall, denisn72, AiresSantos, s_lush, jjanczyk, ophelcia, yedirenk, mikolaj_kawa, Cretense, Amaz, axiotea, lgir has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

npecanhuk (14600) 2009-07-13 5:02

Hello Mariusz! Good Morning!
What a beautiful and attractive picture!
The architecture of that Monastery is magnificent and the whole area seems to be very interesting!
Your picture is excellent because it's got perfect sharpness, exposure, depth of field and natural colors! The pov was very well chosen, as well as the vertical format! The composition is a true highlight!
TFS - congratulations!
Have a great week!
Neyvan

Ola_Kwiatek (2772) 2009-07-13 5:03

Fajne ujecie, fajna kompozycja, swietny kadr. A jakie czaderskie kolory.
3maj sie

jurek1951 (26110) 2009-07-13 5:11

Witaj Mariusz,
super kompozycja,ladny pionowy kadr,ladna kolorystyka jak i ciekawy obiekt,wspaniala fotka,pozdrawiam
Jurek

dta (6049) 2009-07-13 5:12

Hello Mariusz ;
The perspective provides a great dynamism to this picture with all those lines and the clouds in the superb sky . Fine saturated colors , too .
Regards

phwall (5701) 2009-07-13 5:24

Hi Mariusz,
One has to love ultra wide lenses, they open our eyes to images that normally we don't see.
Your composition here is perfect, all of the elements sitting exquisitely in frame.
So too the DOF and colour rendition, superb.
A very beautiful image, congratulations.
Regards
Peter

denisn72 (7043) 2009-07-13 5:30

Hello Mariusz!
I like the effect created by the use of the wide angle. The towers are high and stylish and the monastery shows great archs and lines. Stunning colours and sharpness and the note is useful! Thanks for sharing. Good work!
Best regards
Denis!

AiresSantos (42826) 2009-07-13 6:53

Hi Mariusz
Wonderful POV and colours in this great picture. Well chosen the vertical format and well framed with this red flowers in foreground
TFS and have a nice day
Aires

luighi (4276) 2009-07-13 8:21

Hi Mariusz ,
Espectacular disparo vertical como siempre con excelente nitidez y definicion , muchas gracias por tu consejo .
Un saluo.
Luis

darek1978 (11491) 2009-07-13 8:27

Czesc Mariusz,
Mam nadzieje, ze pogoda sie udala a to niebo tylko na jednym zdjeciu tak groznie wyglada. Nie mowiles, ze do Czestochowy jedziesz. Czyzby na Jasna Gore;) A tak powaznie to Twoj styl w fotografii, ( ktory mi sie podoba, bo uwazam za ciekawy ) zaczynam juz poznawac bez opisu. To dobrze, bo gdyby ktos pokazal mi kilka zdjec, to bez watpienia zgadnal bym, ktore to Twoje. O kompozycji: potrafisz sie odnalezc w tym miejskim mess-ie i dlatego zdjecie mi sie podoba. Jak wiesz, przewaznie w takich miejscach aparatu nie wyciagam ;)
Doskonale poukladane w kadrze a caly PP powyciagal kolory i detale, ktorych normalnie pewnie by nawet nie bylo widac. Ladna pocztowka z...Czestochowy,
Pozdrawiam,
D.

ManuMay (11343) 2009-07-13 8:30

Hi Mariusz!!

Very spectacular, great contrasts and colour tones and superb definition, you choose a very good point of view to obtain an excellent result!!

Congratulations...

Have a nice day...

Manuel

foibles3 (1054) 2009-07-13 8:35

First, the focal length choice is fantastic. Secondly, the vivid colors create the feeling of heavenly warmth.
Cheers!
David
Foibles3

Pablo25 (1787) 2009-07-13 10:21

czesc Mariusz,
tak sie wlasnie zastanawialem gdzie ty byles jak cie nie bylo?:) a tu prosze wakacje w samej Czestochowie. Ja na Jasnej Gorze bylem ostatnio dobrych kilka lat temu i to z jakas pstrykawka Konica. I nawet nie pamietam gdzie gdzie sa moje fotki z tamtego okresu! Hmmm... pewnie na starym kompie w Polsce! Swietna Kompozycja, doskonale kolory jak na ta ponura pogode, slowem doskonala odslona tego slynnego klasztoru.
pozdrawiam
Pawel

s_lush (2512) 2009-07-13 12:58

Hello Mariusz,
I have been to Poland several times, but unfortunately I've never been to Czestochowa. Looking at your beautiful picture, I see that this place definitely is worth to be visited. Excellent capture! Despite the bad weather the picture is so clear and bright. Very good presentation of this really unique monastery!
Best regards,
Sergiy

jjanczyk (1921) 2009-07-13 13:27

Witaj Mariuszu,
Doskonaly kadr!
Niesamowita kolorystyka i super POV.
Udanego odpoczynku w Polsce.
Pozdrawiam

ophelcia (5500) 2009-07-13 15:00

Mariusz, jego szeroki kącik i HDRek:)
Duży uśmiech za zdjątko z PL:)

yedirenk (7539) 2009-07-13 15:08

Witaj Mariusz,
perfect tecnique,perfect photo..well done.TFS

Cevdet

mikolaj_kawa (31161) 2009-07-14 0:40

Czesc Mariusz! Zdjecie z 10 lipca, czyzbys byl na zlocie Radia Maryja? Swietne zdjecie. Wspaniala kolorystyka. Klaniam sie!

Cretense (57010) 2009-07-14 1:19

Hello Mariusz!

What an amazing architecture photo, what a fantastic job in framing and composition! Perfect use of this great wide angle lens, excellent perspective and depth of field! Flawless light managment, fantastic colours and very impressive sky! Congratulations!

Hercules

Amaz (7406) 2009-07-14 1:21

Very fine and colorful capture, Mariusz!!
Good POV and impressive contrasts!!

Well done!!

Best regards,

quillo (7286) 2009-07-14 8:01

-

Hola Mariusz ...............

A very interesting POV with the flowers and
the Monastery perfectly definite,
a nice and agreeable work with
good colors and excellent light.

Un saludo y felicidades.

-

axiotea (16263) 2009-07-14 9:07

Hello Mariusz
It is truly beautiful! The presentation and PP together worked perfectly! I also like the wide angle effect!
Colors and contrast are fine too!
Well done!
Marilyn

lgir (2845) 2009-07-14 11:37

Hello Mariusz,

very beautiful colors on this prospect of which the use of a great angle gives him all its depth.
Good work

Regards
Laurent

jafadabret (40281) 2009-07-14 22:52

Witaj Mariusz.
Cette photo est une réussite. J'aime la perspective et les détails dans les ombres. Je pense que tu as réalisé un HDR magistral.
Bonne journée !
Jacques

ilDottore (4004) 2009-07-16 8:37

Hej Mariusz,
Znów kontrowersyjne dla mnie uzycie HDR, a przecież efekt powinien odebrać mi wszelkie argumenty bo po prostu zapiera dech w piersiach!
Świetna kompozycja, nigdy chyba nie widziałem tak efektownej fotografii z tego miejsca.
Rewelacyjny rozkład planów.
Czego się naprawdę czepiam to uciętego niestety kwietnika na pierwszym planie.
Serdecznie pozdrawiam!
Krzysiek

marietom (32076) 2009-07-22 6:00

hello Mariusz,

j'aime bien ce grand pot de fleurs au premier plan. Très belle composition, sous un superbe ciel.
Bonne journée
Marie