TULUM I — TEMPLE OF FRESCOES Photo

Photographer’s Note

TULUM — TEMPLE OF FRESCOES

Central America abounds in pre-Colombian ruins featuring the vestiges of city-states, including Tikal (Guatemala); Copan (Honduras); Chichen Itza, Uzmal, and Palanque (all in Mexico). Listed here are just the ruins associated with the Maya, and do not even include the ruins of other civilizations such as the Olmec, Mixtec, Zapotec, Toltec and the Aztec (the latter was vanquished by Hernan Cortez in the early 16th century).

The Maya — a race of gifted artists, architects, mathematicians and astronomers — were astride their classical period (between the 3rd and 10th centuries) when much of Europe was immersed in its ‘Dark Ages.’ Mayan mathematicians had formulated the zero around the first century AD, something unheard of in Europe at the time. (In reality by 500 BC the Hindu mathematicians had invented the zero, and the astronomer Aryabhata had formalized it, but it would not be introduced into Europe until AD 1202, when Fibonacci published his book, Liber Abaci).

Deeply devout people, the Maya worshipped the God of the Sun, the Moon, Rain, and Time itself, indeed a god existed for each of 13 different heavens. They developed an astronomy and mathematics based religion, one of the motivations in producing a calendar more accurate than any seen until the atomic clock was invented in the 20th century by a friend whom I admire deeply, Norman Ramsey, the 1989 Nobel Laureate in Physics at Harvard University. The Julian Calendar, introduced in 47 BC, introduced the leap year and took the length of the year to be 365.25 days. A vast improvement to the Julian Calendar, with 365.242 5 days per year, was introduced by the Pope Gregory in 1583, and is still in use. The Maya calendar, developed in ancient Meso-America, was based on a calendar of 365.242 2 days. In distinction, the atomic clock corrects the length of the year to 365.242 199 day.

Tulum, seen in the photo, would not have compared in size and political significance with some of the others listed, especially with Tikal and Chichen Itza. But its significance lies in three other aspects: 1) Perched on a bluff right on the sea, its setting is unrivaled. The sun rises over the turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea. 2) It is a walled city, rare among city-states in Mayan civilization. And 3) it is the site of the landing by Hernan Cortez and the Conquistadors, an event signaling a catastrophic meeting for the inhabitants of the New World. The particular structure seen here is known as the "The Temple of the Frescoes," and is located directly in front of the El Castillo, the dominant architectural structure at Tulum — an image of which I will post in a few days. The Temple of the Frescoes was used as an observatory for tracking the movements of the sun. Featured inside are 13th-century frescoes.

I took the photograph on a recent trip to the beautiful resort of Cancun, 130 km to the north of Tulum, where I attended a 'destination wedding.' Nikon D200, 28-200 mm Nikkor lens, ISO set at 200; hand-held, and shot in JPG+RAW mode.

MLINES, snunney, belido, salvator, dareco, jonathan_hart, BWJ, patshoo, zeynepe, isabela_sor, gracious, WepWaWet, feather, Wandering_Dan, Docarmo, PixelTerror, chpp, stelli, paura, jmdaoudal, Angshu, papagolf21, azaf1, bostankorkulugu, gunbud, ls7902, trekks, Glint, Scharan, stego, Emile, siolaw, Charo, Silversnow, meltemi, Didi has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

snunney (34800) 2008-06-30 8:48

Hello Bulent,
I like the very close framing you have used here and the diagonal juxtaposition between the two structures. The tones and textures in the ancient stones are very well rendered. Interesting complementary notes.

litiancai (1040) 2008-06-30 9:08

Hi Bulent,
Nicely framed shot of this great place! I can remember this place from a trip a few years back and in my opinion it's the best of all the Mayan ruin sites on the Yucatan, mostly due to it's amazing position next to a sea clearer, and a more perfect blue than you can imagine!
Thanks for sharing, regards
Lee

belido (16411) 2008-06-30 9:15

Hi Bulent,

seeing this image and reading your note is a very good learning about the Maya civilization history. It's pleasure to have such nice and interesting post like this in here. Thank you for sharing!
Regards,
Carlos

salvator (18797) 2008-06-30 9:31

Hello Bulent Bey,
Wonderfully shot with a superb blue sky. The sharpness and details seen on the ruin, the blend of the green and blue looks absolutely wonderful.
I wish you an excellent week. Best personal regards.
salvator.

dareco (17104) 2008-06-30 10:19

A very interesting picture! The colors and detail are superb. Very nice pov. TFS and have a happy day!

jonathan_hart (22576) 2008-06-30 10:28

good close shot even if i wish to see a little more of the perspective leading to the BG on the right, fine exposure and sharpness, highly interesting subject
regards
jo

BWJ (1773) 2008-06-30 11:27

Hello Bulent,
What a spectacular shot! You brought into sharp focus the carvings and variations in colors of the ancient Tulum. Sparsely located puffy white clouds in the clear blue sky and bright green grass compliment the ruins very nicely. Your note is an excellent lesson in history.
Warm wishes,
Betty

patshoo (944) 2008-06-30 11:36

Great scene of architectural ruin,Simple composition but effective to explore detail of this ruin,Sharpness reveal many interesting detail,Well light/color and very well prepare story.Good work,TFS.

setenay (7604) 2008-06-30 11:42

Merhaba Bulent Bey,
Harika bir perspektif ve net cekimle adeta canli gibi bir sunum olmus.Renklerin dogalligi ve kompo.harika.Maya medeniyetini ancak belgesellerde izledim umarim bir gun buralari bende gorurum.Takvimden bahsedince aklima geldi(Maya yada Aztek takvimi tam bilemiyorum 21 Haziran 2012 de herseyin sonu diyen takvimli yazit varmis),ben bunun hakkindaki belgeseli tesadufen 2 kez izledim,arilarin giderek azalmasi;kuresel isinma, yeralti sularinin azalmasi derken -Allah korusun-bu dogru olabilirmi,siz orada bununla ilgili bir sey duydunuzmu.Son derece sevimsiz soru bu ama bilim adami olarak dusuncenizi ogrenmek istedim.Selam ve saygilarimla
setenay

zeynepe (9342) 2008-06-30 12:12

Merhaba Bülent Bey,
Harika bir perspektif yakalamışsınız , 3 boyutlu bir görüntü elde etmişsiniz, notunuzla beraber yine muhteşem bir kompozisyon,
Tebrikler,
Zeynep

isabela_sor (42097) 2008-06-30 12:37 [Comment]

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Mediterranean (832) 2008-06-30 14:39

dear professor
a very demonstrative picture.after reading your note i want to see there,
but you know that it is soo far from my country...
last days when i saw some photos about cultures of inka on my psychiatry professor's computer,
i feel similar things:))how about the wedding ceremony which you attended, was it nice?

i interest your Cancun photos and i will wait them
thanks for sharing
regards

albertz (2310) 2008-06-30 16:17

Thanks for sharing this wonderful architecture from the past, i have to say that this shot has been carefully cropped and your pov with the slight distortion conveys a sense of strength and power. Again another excellent note professor. thanks for sharing this.

gracious (20017) 2008-07-01 1:10

Merhaba Bulent,
Many thanks for sharing this beautiful architecture on the Maya ruins!
Excellent pov with perfect exposure and focus in the shot!
the details on the crafting really nice on the whole structure!
well done
Tony

jhm (82421) 2008-07-01 3:07

Hello Bulent,

This is the result of your trip to Mexico, I am surprise what the people then without modern apparatus so a very nice construction built. I am silent when I this see!
You chose a very nice angle, this gives a wonderful perspective and great composition.
Colour and presentation are superb.
Thank you very much for your excellent note again.

Warmest regards,
John.

WepWaWet (3955) 2008-07-01 4:11

Merhaba Bulent Bey,
Harika bir aci ve mukemmel bir perspektif yakalamissiniz. Netlik ve derinlik cok guzel. Maya uygarliginda ve bu fotografta da en cok dikkatimi ceken husus, aradan gecen onca yuzyillara karsin, mimari eserlerin hemen hemen tum olarak saglam kalabilmis olmasi. Aciklayici notunu ise muhtesem bir bilgi kaynagi. Elinize ve gozunuze saglik.
Selamlar,
Seref

feather (49858) 2008-07-01 8:36

Good use of the double perspective to lead the eye in two directions. I'm not sure of the scale, but looking at the trees on the right I guess this is a huge structure. As usual you have written a very full and interesting note.
Well done
Kath

anokutan (7577) 2008-07-01 11:56

Merhabalar Bülent Bey,
Üç boyutlu hissini veren tarihi yapının sunumu harika.Tebrikler.

Wandering_Dan (3219) 2008-07-01 16:31

Hello, Bulent -

Interesting shot, even more interesting note. I like the positioning of the buildings in the background repeating the theme of the main building. And even the clouds are well arranged. (Looks like it could use a bit of sharpening, though.) It might be nice to see the overall sea setting in a WS.

Best,
Dan

Docarmo (8830) 2008-07-01 21:03

Hi Bulent,
Impressive shot, the depth of field here is clearly more than just a question of focus and sharpness in all distances and other camera adjustments. There is an impression of volume, probably because of your strategic point of view.
The note is very useful as usual.
Thanks for sharing,
MCV

Graal (57821) 2008-07-01 23:51

Hi Bulent,
an interesting informations and view of old ruins. Good composition, well quality of photo. I like it.
Gr., Aleksander

PixelTerror (86060) 2008-07-02 1:03

Hi Bulent,
I see you have been travelling lately !
I'm a great fan of this architecture and with this close framing we can get to fully appreciate the details, even more considering the light does much in delivering a luminous impression.
Have a nice day JY

jrj (34779) 2008-07-02 7:21

You are really around Bulent. This setting of the ancient Mexican building structure is well captured and as always fitted perfectly to your note. It's really interesting to look up your portfolio and find all the fine references to your motifs presented.

chpp (3976) 2008-07-02 10:17

Hi Bulent
very nice shot of this ruins, good light and POV. Perfect sharpness to show details and nice perspective
very nice job
have a nice day
chris

stelli (2941) 2008-07-02 13:33

Beautiful and interesting structure and excellent depiction of it by you!!! Thank you for sharing! Regards Stella

paura (38310) 2008-07-02 15:36

Bulent,
The point of view is very nice to show this beautiful composition from this interesting construction. Colors and lighting are also great. Well done!

Abraços do Brasil.

Paulo

jmdaoudal (82) 2008-07-02 15:43 [Comment]

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papagolf21 (56305) 2008-07-03 1:01

Bonjour, mon bon ami Bulent,
Passionné d'architecture, d'histoire, de géographie, je suis comblé avec cette présentation de ces vestiges du passé.
Un pur régal de pouvoir contempler ce site archéologique d’une ancienne cité maya.
Amitiés.
Philippe

azaf1 (15541) 2008-07-03 5:15

Good morning Bulent
Another documentary from your gallery. Very detailed information about the place and an excellent compo of the monument. Signed by your characteristic POV in depicting building (The Parthenon) in great detail and colors
My humble compliments!
Argiris

Tobias__Ortmann (2589) 2008-07-03 7:43

Hi bulent,
a nice shot from great architecture nice depth and great contrast between the old stones to the fresh grass.
I like it
well done
Toba

ls7902 (6156) 2008-07-03 8:50

Good Day Bulent,
A good composition of this ancient monument. I like the colors & lighting too but the main structure appears a bit soft. As always you note is very well written giving us an interesting comparative civilizational history & development. I'm happy to have a member here with vast knowledge, ease & flair for writing. But then you are a scholar :). Regards. Latiff.

PJE (19423) 2008-07-03 8:57

Hello Bulent. I find it amazing how these people were able to build these structures that still stand today for us to enjoy. Glad you were able to check out some historical ruins while on your destination wedding! Very interesting place indeed and thanks for sharing!

pitzimba (382) 2008-07-03 9:13

Ciao Bulent,
tank you for your appreciations...
I like this shot because I 'm very fascinate to see the ruins of ancient people.
I 'm stayed now in Turkish and I see Efeso and I was very enthusiastic.
Good shot and good lights.
Silvia

evanrizo (456) 2008-07-03 11:38

Woooh Mexico, a very impressive land with such culture marks.
I love it.
Excellent framed from a very good pov.
Have a nice time dear Bulent.
Evangelos

barrufeto_77 (25783) 2008-07-03 11:54

Hi Bulent.

I like the POV that produces this lovely effect...well done. Furthermore, the vivid colours are good as well.

About your question.Mmmmm...Barcelona in a day is really difficult but the things you can't miss are: The SAgrada Familia, near there the "Hospital St. Pau" (go inside...amazing), in the Passeig de Gràcia the "Casa Batlló" and "La Pedrera" and if you're not tired, walk by the old town (enjoying "Las Ramblas") till the harbour. Be aware with the pickpockets....

Rgs, Oscar

bostankorkulugu (33522) 2008-07-03 14:52

hoş bir kare tulum'dan... ve notlarınızı okumak yine çok keyifli profesör... maya uygarlığı ilgimi çekmiştir zaten hep... umarım cancun'da bir düğüne de ben giderim ömrü hayatımda birgün:)... sevgiler...

korkut

gunbud (27819) 2008-07-03 18:51

Hi Bulent,
You have captured this marvelous Mayan ruin at a very effective angle that exposes two sides of its lovely details.
The green foreground and beautiful blue sky background make a brilliant contrast to the Tulum Of The Sea.
Excellent historic note.
Regards, Tom

Glint (3042) 2008-07-03 22:56

hello Bulent,
Your (as always)fascinating notes accompany an interesting architecture picture. It is beautifully ancient, weathered into tactile homeliness.You have shown it with such clarity that I have an urge to reach out and stroke it.
regards
Bev

danyy (68672) 2008-07-04 0:08

Bonjour Bulent,
un coint très intrigant à visiter, sans doute avec l'Egypte, les meilleures terres pour les archéologues et antrhropologues.
Excellent POV qui nous montre en coin, deux des 4 murs.
Un tout bon week-end.
Daniel.

trekks (14282) 2008-07-04 1:51

hi bulent

Such a sharp capture to show the texture and details of the architecture. Very well presented. Interesting to see this preservation.

tfs, bill
later

Silvio1953 (41659) 2008-07-04 2:16

Hi Bulent, great view of splendid ancient architecture, good POV, beautiful colors and excellent sharpness, very well done, ciao Silvio

erel (11538) 2008-07-04 10:37

merhaba
Kadrajı ,renkleri,ve netliğiyle. süper bir kare tebrikler .EREL

Scharan (13951) 2008-07-04 17:23

Olá Bulent...quanto tempo, tudo bem?

Ótima foto, com luminosidadde e nitidez incríveis, percebe-se cada detalhe. Cores bem naturais e ótima textura.
Belo trabalho, bonita composição.
Parabéns!
GA
Vera

MLINES (10872) 2008-07-05 21:34

Hi Bulent. An ideal perspective to see this historic monument. Your excellent notes and blue skies add the finishing touches so well. TFS. Murray.

carper (64746) 2008-07-06 10:54

well Bulent my friend I go for this one.
I had a holyday in the Ardennes in Belgium and was by the place Orval. I don't know if you have heard of this place a drame for a line photographer. That why I choose here for this shot professor. the pov is good and the lines are nice a very good perspective. I think this would be something for a super wide lens, but thats personal, good photojob anyway, have a very good evening.
gr. jaap

Angshu (33627) 2008-07-07 0:39

Hello Professor 'A'
Fine use of the double perspective to show us two sides of the amazing building. Interesting to see two types of columns being used on two sides. It would have been fascinating to see some of the 13th century frescoes. Your note, as always, is a treasure trove of information
Have a nice week & with Warmest Regards
Angshuman

stego (22352) 2008-07-08 3:46

Hello Bülent,
This is a place that has been an eternal candidate for a visit for years, as it offers the possibility of conciliating the typical beach resort holidays with something more.
You chose the POV very well, resulting in a very elegant image, and an effective presentation of the constructions.
Maybe the sharpness could be better, although there isn't anything really wrong with it.
Not surprisingly, the note is very well written and quite comprehensive.
Regards, José.

Emile (19947) 2008-07-08 7:11

Hola Bulent.
Very good shot of the ruins, your POV is good and also the wonderful details with can see, again the picture is accompanied by a wonderful lecture.
Well Done.
TFS.
Best regards.

fkokol (1614) 2008-07-10 13:32

gormeyi heyecanla bekledigim yerlerden biri. cok etkileyici bir kultur. sizde harika bir acidan yakalamissiniz. derinlik cok guzel. ellerinize saglik,

figen

keribar (42748) 2008-07-10 21:45

Hello Bulent,

Nice to be in Tulum again ( After 15 years ) and watch the details of the castillo.
Thansks to you of course - Hope to see you when you come to Istanbul - Izzet

siolaw (25728) 2008-07-10 21:52

Hi Bulent
An interesting site, with good presentation of this ruin from a corner POV, which i like. Colors and light are fine, some may say it could have been a bit sharper, but still ok...
An interesting note too, as usual!
Greetings
Laurent

kristina (275) 2008-07-12 2:41

Hello, Bullent! I have missed some of Your perfect works!
Yes, the Maya were fine architects! I consider, today many architects should be more attentively to thees simple and unique things which have been found by Maya! They really knew much about columns, beams, plates , arches, shells and catenaries! About Statical determinacy, Elasticity and Plasticity!

You should write the new book, Bullent! The Book with your photos and notes! It will be the Encyclopedia!
Thank You:)
The DVD with "The Dead Poets Society" is on my hands now:)
Kristina

Charo (31671) 2008-07-13 17:12

Hello Bulent,
Magnificent architecture of this temple. Very nice composition with great depth and excellent details. Well done.
Sincerely,
Charo
PS: It was by Stego soon to come to Spain (Barcelona), I hope you enjoy your company in much of this beautiful city and you have a good holiday.

cfreire (11647) 2008-07-17 17:01

Hi Bullent,
Splendid photograph made under a special point of view. I liked I have detached given it the architecture. Also, years ago I've been there, I visited this place, but unfortunately, I had some problems with the battery of the camera, and then, I did not obtain to make photographs. But still well, that you obtained to make this work. Beautiful job! Best regards, Consuelo

Bluejeans (32173) 2008-07-22 5:28

Ola amigo ,
Muito bonitos estes templos tem uma arquitectura fantástica , um lugar que adorava conhecer um dia devido a cultura e ao conhecimento destes povos , gostei muito dos detalhes , bom ângulo de visão em V, parabéns!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

Silversnow (2119) 2008-07-25 5:23

Interesting architecture, and quite the background on the note as always ;)
A bit overexposure on the sun-lit temple perhaps?

jmcl (13741) 2008-07-25 21:25

Hi Bulent,

I love the way this fills the frame .. it is a really interesting angle of light .. maybe it feels it could be a touch sharper at this size .. It is striking in the power of the dense feeling building .. even from the thumbnail.

take care, John

meltemi (9746) 2008-08-27 0:51

Hello Bülent,
a very impressive temple with perfect point of view to enhance its streght towards the sky. The contrast between the old stones and the sky works very well. We really get the impression the temple rises from from the earth and has not fear of the passing time.
All the best.
Stella

Didi (36074) 2008-09-03 10:18

Salam Bulent Bey
Interesting point of view on the stones who gives a good impact to your composition and we are able to appreciate the architecture volume.
Kind regards.
Saïd Pasha :)