Alcazar de Segovia II Photo

Photographer’s Note

I don't resist posting this classic postcard of Segovia showing the Alcazar from below, not far from where I took my last post, even though I have already made another post of it.

Much of the rest of the note is copied from that post.

This medieval castle, half fortress, half royal palace, is one of the most famous landmarks of Segovia. Its name, Alcázar comes from the Arabic (El) Ksar, and in Spain it refers to a fortified palace or castle that in most cases was originally used or built by the Muslim that ruled much of the Iberian Peninsula from the 8th to the 15th century.

It's a very picturesque construction, not only for its fairy tale architecture, that is said to have inspired Walt Disney's design of Cinderella's palace, but also because of its location, on a the top of a high scarp in the confluence of two rivers with superb views to the mountains of Guadarrama. You can understand better what I mean by looking at these posts: 1, 2, 3.

The first written reference to the existence of a fortification in the place dates from the early 12th century, when Segovia was taken from the Muslim by the Christians, but there are archaeological evidences that there was a Roman fort in the place where now stands the palace. The place was used as residence in several occasions by the Castillian Kings since the 12th century, but much of what can be seen now dates from the early 15th century, although some important works were carried in the late 16th century, when those funny conic roofs, rarely seen in this part of the world, that look like witch hats, were added. This long story of reconstructions is the origin of the mix of architectonic styles that can be found, from Romanesque to Renaissance, passing through Gothic and Mudéjar.

It served as a state prison for much years and then it housed a military academy of artillery from 1764 to 1862, when it was almost completely burnt in an accidental fire, so almost everything that can be seen inside came from other Spanish historic places (furniture, paintings, tapestries and other artwork and decorative items) or was rebuilt, mostly in the late 19th century, but that doesn't make a visit less interesting because everything you see there is genuine, except some masonry decoration and some sculptures, which supposedly was carefully done to look like it did before the fire.

• WS #1 - Another shot with basically the same PoV but with another PP. I hesitated choosing it to be the main post.

• WS #2 - Another façade to enlarge my series on façades of Segovia [1, 2, 3].

Link to all my posts of Segovia: *.

Location of the PoV (latitude, longitude): 40.9544,-4.1342

ribeiroantonio, Docarmo, siolaw, Atousa, feather, PixelTerror, Gerrit, marjan, lucasgalodoido, BWJ, jaywalker, gracious, riclopes, Emile, sacavem, COSTANTINO, paura, danos, parbo, npecanhuk, JCG, Bruno40, saylan-cb has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

ribeiroantonio (21975) 2009-02-06 18:59

Decididamente, gosto mais desta foto do que da do WS que me parece ter as cores muito saturadas, especialmente a do céu.
O PdV pode ser clássico mas é muito bom, por mostrar grande parte do castelo.
Está muito bonita a tua foto.
António

Docarmo (8856) 2009-02-06 19:25

Olá José,
Concordo com o António que esta parece melhor, mas não por causa de saturação nas cores; gostei mais do contraste aqui. A do WS#1 parece ter sofrido PP para aumento de claridade nas áreas de sombra. Gosto mais do céu aqui também. Linda imagem!
Achei o WS#2 muito artístico!
Parabéns!
MCV

PaulVDV (5383) 2009-02-06 21:16

Olá José,
A very good POV to show how beautiful and mighty this famous alcazar is. Indeed your WS #1 is more 'sunnier' and the vegetation has more colours. But the alcazar is presented well and dominating high above us on both pictures.
Best regards, Paul

Rafer (4542) 2009-02-06 22:22

Impresionante punto de vista muy bien capturado con magnífica luz...este verano a ver si hago una escapada por ahí...saludos

chawax (6197) 2009-02-07 0:02

Hi Jose,
Excellent point of view on this wonderful castle. You had a great light that gives nice colours to the walls of the castle.
Regards,
Olivier

Graal (58786) 2009-02-07 0:13

Hi Jose,
great castle, fine presentation, good WS. Yes, views like from good postcards and I like it. Good photojob and note.
Gr., Aleksander

carper (65742) 2009-02-07 0:20

fantastic castle jose,
a fine shot of your, good contrast, fine composition, I like it, good photo job, have a nice weekend.
regard Jaap

siolaw (25834) 2009-02-07 0:23

Bonjour Jose,
Tu as bien contrôlé la lumière latérale difficile et la façade a l'ombre est bien exposée et les détails sont bien visibles. La perspective aussi est bien maîtrisée.
Cadrage et netteté impeccables..
C'est tout bon!
Laurent

SNOOP_Chan (840) 2009-02-07 0:42

A lovely castle with great architecture. It seem from this angle like the trees are holding the building. A nice job, tfs!

Atousa (3466) 2009-02-07 1:12

Salam Jose,

What a dreamy castle it is!.. A perfect shot taken from a good angle with great play of light n shadow.. choosing this as the main post has been the right choice in my opinion..very well framed too..TFS
Greetings, A

feather (50168) 2009-02-07 3:11

You always give us something to debate! ;D I remembered your previous post and the WS attached that I liked, so compared those first and have to agree that this is the better of the two. This POV is much better as we can see two facades and have the benefit of the way the light works on the cylindrical towers. Next I compared this with WS1 and think a combination of the two would work the best of all. On this one I prefer the PP you did on the castle with a natural looking depth in the shadows, while on the WS I think you lightened the shadows a bit too much, but I think the light in the trees is better than on this one (maybe just a tad more contrast needed)
I like WS2 and am not sure why you posted it here. As a different subject it deserves its own space surely! ;D
All-in-all another excellent presentation
Kath

Greg1949 (8519) 2009-02-07 3:22

Jose, I am torn between the two versions of this shot, both are great. This is a magnificent sight for sure and in addition to inspiring Disney I think this end was used as a shot of Lancelot's home in the 1967 version of Camelot that starred Richard Harris. Shots and workshops are beautiful. Great capture.

Greg

PixelTerror (86861) 2009-02-07 3:25

Ola Jose,
Wow beautiful castle so nicely rising over the hill, good pov from below to have the structures stand out over the sky, from the shapes it reminds me of Neuschwanstein in Bavaria.
Have a nice day JY

Gerrit (36313) 2009-02-07 3:40

HI Jose,
fantastic castle.
Great situation and good POV and light.
Regards, Gerrit

Didi (36516) 2009-02-07 3:46

Salut mon cher José
Faire des châteaux en Espagne, c'est un sujet très intéressant, un point de vue en contrebas qui met en valeur l'architecture.
Je note aussi un très bele équilibre ombres/lumières.
Alcazar vient du mot Arabe Al Kasr qui signifie Château tandis que le mot Sérail veut dire palais et non le lieu des copines du Sultan :).
Amitiés.

marjan (6093) 2009-02-07 5:20

Hi kose, ecxelčlent shot with nice composition and very big and good notice.

Majrna

lucasgalodoido (16831) 2009-02-07 9:29

Olá José,
muito bonita mesmo essa vista e as formas desse castelo, aqui no Brasil um bem parecido com esse virou noticia esses dias, pois um Deputado construiu um indêntico há um castelo alemão por milhões e não declarou ele a receita, um escândalo danado, mas o curioso mesmo é de onde tirou dinheiro pra ocntruir ele, mesmo com o pomposo salário de deputado... coisas do Brasil mesmo, e no final o povo é quem paga o pato... Ah, boas cores na foto.
Parabéns e Abraço

BWJ (1777) 2009-02-07 13:39

Ola Jose,
Great colors, light, contrast, clarity, sharpness and perspective in your composition! Impressive shot and a great note.
Kind regards,
Betty

cam (8880) 2009-02-07 13:43

Hello Jose
Both views are beautiful and with difficulty, my choice will go with the WS version, for an easier reading of the shadows area.
I like seeing the harshness of the rock emerging from the softness of the forest.
Well set against a wonderful sky.

Have a good WE
Charles

coco (28146) 2009-02-07 14:28

Hola Jose.

Extraodinaria foto y un lugar, como siempre, lleno de encanto. Además, la foto hace justicia al Alcázar.

Un saludo.

jaywalker (12308) 2009-02-07 14:42

Hi Jose, A wonderful low POV capturing the full splender of this magnificent architectural building, the blue sky creates a great backdrop, nice sharp quality adding up to a super shot, TFS, kind regards Wilson.

gracious (20017) 2009-02-07 20:27

Ola Jose,
Compliment for this excellent shot on the castle!
the upward pov is great with beautiful sunlight that falls on the castle!
perfect colour contrast in the whole composition
thanks for the sharing
Tony

batalay (21213) 2009-02-07 21:34

Hello José,

The vantage point you've chosen presents a veritable fairyland. I see that this wonderful image is again from the week before our historic meeting in Barcelona. This we watched a new Woody Allen film called "Vicky, Christina, Barcelona," and many of the places we saw on August 3rd, were in the film.

Warm regards,

Bulent

riclopes (33135) 2009-02-08 2:31

Bom dia José, nem sei reconhecer se é um postal clássico, o que só me faz admirar mais esta vista espectacular. O Castelo é verdadeiramente impressionante a elevar-se acima da mancha verde contra o céu azulão. Faz-me lembrar um puzzle que fiz há uns anos - aliás acho que esta daria um excelente puzzle ;-) Tecnicamente parece-me tudo muito bom numa imagem super atractiva. Percebo as tuas dúvidas em relação à outra foto. As cores do WS1 são ainda mais atraentes mas prefiro os contrastes e talvez a luz mais natural desta foto.
bom domingo,
ricardo

Emile (20151) 2009-02-08 8:42

Hola José.
De las varias fotos que nos has enseñado del Alcázar tuyas y no tuyas para mi esta es la mejor, las áreas de la preciosa arquitectura iluminadas y en sombras se resaltan mas que en tu WS, los contrastes de colores son muy buenos. Estabas en el sitio perfecto y la hora perfecta para captar esta magnifica foto. Tu POV desde abajo y el azul del cielo realzan la impresionante figura del Alcázar.
Buen trabajo mi querido amigo, un fuerte abrazo.

sacavem (8525) 2009-02-08 8:49

Olá José,

Mais uma bela imagem destas tuas férias por Espanha.
Bom trabalho de Ws bem como este trabalho que nos apresentas, boa cor e sobretudo de luminosidade.

Bom domingo,
Filipe

COSTANTINO (23255) 2009-02-08 11:09

Ola Jose
Beautiful castle with nice architecture
The massivecastle is very dominated in this skyline..The point of view is the best and
very effective to show us the majesty..
Great lightness
regards and compliments
Costantino

pVerin (12) 2009-02-08 14:31

Jose, clásica toma de este fastuoso Castillo, no hay ningún elemento que disturbe la armonía de la construcción y la naturaleza, muy buen compuesta y ejecutada, es una gran fotografía.

sunamoon (5061) 2009-02-09 11:19

Jose! Mi felicitación por esta espectacular foto!
Me encanta Segovia nada más de verlo en foto, la alcazar de Segovia es impresionante por su diseño asi como castillo de cuento de adas, tu captura genial la luz y color! Un encuadre perfecto, FELICIDADES!

Un saludo,
Elena

paura (39376) 2009-02-09 12:38

José,
Beleza de trabalho, amigo, tomado de excelente ponto e com excelentes ajustes de cores e iluminação. Certo que o sol te ajudou um bocado, né? Mas bons fotógrafos também tem de ter boa sorte.

Abraço

Paulo

Bluejeans (33113) 2009-02-10 6:11

Oi amigo ,
Lindo ponto de visão sobre este castelo em diagonal , tem uma arquitectura muito bonita , gostei muito dos detalhes, boas cores e enquadramento , os Ws ficaram interessantes, parabéns!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

danos (33330) 2009-02-10 14:07

Ola Jose,
impressive shot with great perspective and low POV of the Alcazar de Segovia.Excellent the contrast and the brightness of the scene as the sharpness and the clarity.I think that this one is better from WS.Informative your note.Well done.

Regards,Danos

parbo (11034) 2009-02-10 18:58

Olá José,

This version is more preferable for me because its wonderful surround in splendid green textures. Famous castle seems just jumped from middle page of story book. The clarity and sharpness are fantastic with easily recognizable birds on air.

Parabéns e Abraço!

Ertugrul

npecanhuk (14756) 2009-02-13 8:25

Olá José!
Perfeito o ponto de vista escolhido para mostrar o Alcazar de Segovia! Uma vista que nunca tinha visto e verdadeiramente bela! Nitidez e esposição estão excelentes! Luzes fortes, naturais e lindas! Gostei bastante!
Parabéns, abraços e até logo!
Neyvan

JCG (25753) 2009-02-17 3:06

Ola José,

Superbe point de vue sur ce magnifique château qui a des faux airs d'architecture bavaroise !!! J'aime beaucoup la lumière que tu as obtenue ce jour-là mettant bien en valeur les reliefs et détails du bâtiment. Les contrastes de couleurs sont appréciables également. La forme du toit de la grosse tour est surprenante... Une belle série et merci José pour cette note complète et bien intéressante.

Avec toutes mes amitiés et une très bonne journée,

Jean-Charles

Bruno40 (6442) 2009-02-19 5:36

Hi Jose,
Wonderful place, it looks like the Neuwanschtein castle in Germany. Very well chosen POV against the blue sky to enhance the castle.
good work
Jorge

kiks (6151) 2009-02-23 9:59

Very impressive architecture and i like your choice of catchig the shadow side of it. Because of it the shapes and lines are stronger.
Best regards
KIKs

emilbo (9659) 2009-03-02 10:03

Olà Jose!
J'avais oublié cette belle photo prise à contre-jour mais les tours sont magnifiquement éclairées et bien mises en valeur devant ce merveilleux ciel bleu. Superbe architecture et beau contraste de couleur en plus d'une excellente note. Je pars en fin de semaine pour un mois en République Dominicaine mais je vous reviens après.
Amicalement,
Emilius

saylan-cb (12726) 2009-03-04 10:30

Hi Jose,
This medieval castle is perfect with great capture and the colours.I really like the POV and light.
Excellent work!
TFS/Regards