Stone gate, city walls and moon Photo

Photographer’s Note

Do you remember the alley between city walls? Here you have the entrance to it, shot on a really cold night of December. I guess that the cold helped keeping the tripod steady while the shutter was opened for 4 seconds. :D

The city walls were built in the 13th century, but that carved stone gate is only a few years old and it was put there when that stretch of the city walls was opened to the public during the day.

Despite the freezing cold, the air was very clear and that gave me the idea of trying my luck with the sunrise in Marvão [1, 2], a picturesque fortified village perched on the top of a high scarped hill that is about 20 Km from Portalegre, so I drove there afterwards. I was a bit excited for finally shooting that place and the occasion seemed hardly more appropriate. When I arrived there it was still too dark, so I parked the car and waited. Despite the cold, soon I felt asleep. When I woke up less than an hour afterwards, I was surrounded by a fog so dense that I could hardly see the front of the car. I guess the Gods of Photography decided to punish me for falling asleep. :-(

WS: A closer view of the stone gate.

Location (latitude, longitude): 39.2918,-7.4303

feather, lucasgalodoido, buscape, robiuk, riclopes, paura, trekks, gracious, jaywalker, denisn72 has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

robiuk (10763) 2008-11-04 15:53

Ola!
Very good result of your night-shooting, Jose.
Love the vertical composition and the way you aligned the
elements in it - the whole frame is very well balanced and
I'm sure it will please many.
Congratulations,
Robi

buscape (3589) 2008-11-04 15:58

Hello Jose,
nice picture of these three elements.
I like your POV here, even we can see just a bit of the stone gate. But on the other hand we have the nicely structured city walls and the shining moon above. I was surprised that the moon was changing form in just 4 sec. of exposure time. Very well done.
Best wishes,
Helmut

lucasgalodoido (16583) 2008-11-04 17:13

Olá José,
interessante essa foto mostrando os dois elementos, mas não gostei da captura da lua, uma solução interessante aqui seria um HDR só pra ela, e com tripé não ia ser muito difícil, nem a foto nem a edição posterior, mas mesmo assim ótimo trabalho.
Parabéns e Abraço

ribeiroantonio (21881) 2008-11-04 18:14

Parabéns pelo modo como conseguiste conciliar quatro níveis de luz muito diferentes e difíceis. No entanto, a lua sofreu com os 4 segundos e o ISO a 100. 4 segundos não parece muito tempo mas é suficiente para se notar o movimento do astro da noite.
Tirando isso, está tudo muito bem, incluindo a escolha da vertical.
António

sacavem (8225) 2008-11-05 2:04

OLá Jose,

Difícil manejar diferentes fontes de luz, certamente um desafio interessante e de certa maneira ganho.É como diz o António os 4s não deu para tudo e a lua sofreu com isso.Mas aqui está um belo exemplo de ajuda e compreensão deste resultado fotográfico. Obrigado.
Um abraço,
Filipe

feather (49858) 2008-11-05 12:36

It gets freezing cold in southern Portugal!? Excellent night shot with very good exposure. The gate is like a work and art and beautifully illuminated, and I love the touch of turquise light on the yellow fence. The moon is bright enough to show some blue in the sky. Amazing how much the moon moves in just 4 seconds. Well done
Kath

ElAprendiz (7370) 2008-11-05 19:36

Hola Jose:

Me agrada mucho como has trabajado aquí las escasas luces y las sombras, con una gran nitidez.

El largo tiempo de exposición ha sido apropiado, para permitirnos observar unas bellas tonalidades en diversos planos. De igual forma la nota es muy explícita.

Saludos, John

riclopes (32967) 2008-11-06 0:56

A vida de fotógrafo é dura! :)) Olá José, confesso que é uma imagem que não me atrai muito e nem sem bem porquê, pois os elementos estão bem enquadrados. Talvez seja a cor do corrimão no 1º plano ou da lua cheia que mais parece uma lâmpada de candeeiro do que uma lua. O trabalho escultórico do portão é que parece bastante interessante e apetece ver uma imagem mais aproximada ainda do que se vê no WS, num resultado mais abstracto. Quase que ponho a hipótese de cortar o 1º plano, mas também fica um pouco estranho...
Um abraço,
ricardo

paura (38278) 2008-11-06 3:12

José,
Uma linda imagem apresentada em fotografia de perfeita técnica. Você vai acabar ficando bom nisso, amigo.

Abraço

Paulo

ifanik (20504) 2008-11-06 5:03

Hello my friend
This is very beautiful night picture with very good composition and colors
Congratulations
Best regards
Nick

trekks (14262) 2008-11-06 6:46

hi Jose

It is not easy to capture at night the detail of walls with long exposure especially when you have to find the source of light but you have composed this view of lighted wall with good control over the shadow portion to avoid interference of the artwork.

Shutter of 4s and still able to retain the brightness level on the walls and showing a moonlight. Something I have yet to try for close up.

Definitely not recommended to fall asleep in Malaysia because of bugs and mosquitoes at night!

tfs, bill

gracious (20017) 2008-11-06 10:42

Ola Jose,
Very artistic and beautiful night shot!
the vertical format is really suitable for the great displayed of light and shadows from the moon down to the bottom!
great exposure and focus with great sharpness and sharp details
well done
Tony

batalay (20826) 2008-11-06 11:26

Hello José,

A superb juxtaposition of the modern wall, the ancient walls, and the much more ancient moon (4.5 billion years old). It is the texture of the new wall in contrast to the rough hewn 13th century wall that is especially dramatic. There is no doubt that you can get much crisper atmospheric conditions in the cold days of winter.

Warm regards,

Bulent

jaywalker (12190) 2008-11-06 14:17

Hi Jose, The moonlight opens up the whole photo allowing the wonderful architecture of the old wall to be seen, the contrast between the gate is superb, I like the vertical framing & overall a great shot, kind regards Wilson.

AiresSantos (41908) 2008-11-08 1:43

Ola Jose
Um belissimo trabalho, tres em um. Excelente definicao e bom manuseamento da luz
Um abraco e bom fim de semana
Aires

vascao (192) 2008-11-09 5:35

Composição incomum, José, algo abstrata e intrigante. Muito a se ver e adivinhar, realmente interessante.
[]'s
Sergio

jmdias (19087) 2008-11-10 16:38

zé

bem criativo este mix de lua, muralhas antigas e o monumento moderno, bem iluminado. belo este enquadramento englobando todos os elementos. belo trabalho

abraços

jorge

denisn72 (6971) 2008-11-12 17:04

Hello Jose
Very good exposure for that night picture. The details of the wall are visible. The moon is a good element in the picture as well as the gate with all those shapes on it. Nicely done!
Best regards
Denis!

Bluejeans (32035) 2008-11-22 3:34

Oi amigo ,
Bonita composição bem simples mas muito bela a luz sobre as muralhas , interessante e o contraste entre o moderno e antigo , os detalhes da textura da muralha ficaram bonitos , parabéns!!
Um abraço Gonçalo