Colors of Santa Catalina Photo

Photographer’s Note

Santa Catalina Monastery has housed nuns, and lay residents living like nuns, since the late 16th century. But these were not ordinary nuns--many were sent there by aristocratic families, as was the custom, if they had too many daughters. But the wealthy did not want their daughters to suffer the spartan life of typical nuns, so these daughters had servants to tend to them. Though life was considerably more spartan than for aristocrats on the outside, the nuns would have parties, even perhaps sneaking men inside. In the mid 19th century, the Pope sent a representative who "cleaned up," ending the parties, freeing the servants and making the place more of a traditional nunnery.

By 1970 the monastery needed money to modernize electricity and water, so they moved to a small section and opened the rest to tourists.

The architecture inside is beautiful--I hope this shot gives some idea.

joseelias, Angelillo, euryan, fireflyz, pablominto has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

maki (0) 2006-09-12 11:51

Hi Ken,
Really nice colors of the wall outside and this blue inside this monastery. Nice view through the corridor. Interesting shapes of pots.
regards,
maki

joseelias (367) 2006-09-12 12:31

Nice story. Unfortunately I think the abuse of privileges is something common in many (if not all) religions.

Regarding the photo it’s very well captured. The exposure is excellent, creating a very smooth and comfortable image to look at. The tones are beautiful, vivid but not aggressive becoming hypnotic and the framing with the slight un-centred position of the door very well thought because it brings a little dynamic and allow us to explore the great textures of the right wall. Just miss a bit more sharpness.

darrasin (2860) 2006-09-12 13:39

Hi Ken! Beautiful capture of this doorway with interesting colors. Your sharpness is very good as I can make out the texture in the wall very well. I think the view at the end of the hallway showing a potted plant really completes the scene nicely.

Thanks for sharing
Doug

t0mmm1 (5434) 2006-09-12 15:14

Hi Ken,
this is wonderful. I like this vivid colours and the look throug the corridor to look to the other side is amazing. The blue is so deep and the architectural details so interesting.
Have a nice day,
Tomi

ohe (2332) 2006-09-12 15:26

Dear Ken,
Colors are quite strong in your shot!
I like the red in foreground and the blue in background !
POV & framing are very well chosen!
Colors are very well rendered!
Thanks for sharing,
- Olivier -

Angelillo (9065) 2006-09-12 17:46

Hi Ken,

I like this ochre color in the wall. It's very warm, and the contrast with the cold blue of the background is unbelievable. The simplicity of the composition is very intelligent here, not casual. This shot is really beautiful, I like a lot. Thanks for sharing. Regards,

Angel.

Cormac (26447) 2006-09-13 11:03

Great colour contrast! The warm walls are accented and highlighted perfectly by the blue view through the doorway. I like the slightly off centre composition too, which gives this a bit of a dynamic feel, especially when it could get very static with this type of shot. Welldone!

euryan (8345) 2006-09-13 20:04

Very interesting note Ken. It put a whole new spin on this photograph for me. I really like the way the blue paint contrasts with the salmon colored paint. The lighting is very nice and soft. Very pleasing to look at.

fireflyz (2079) 2006-09-14 23:50

hi ken,
really attractive photo! colors are great and so is the composition. TFS..
skye

dcawker (5665) 2006-09-16 10:07

Beautiful graphic-quality to this shot.. really amazing POV and colors here! Regards, Doug

pablominto (39872) 2006-09-28 1:23

Hello Ken,
The colour palette here is very appealing to me!
The image is well composed and with a fine feeling of depth, that doorway makes me curious about what's inside...
Greetings,
Pablo -

marietom (31766) 2006-12-21 14:24

Joli contraste de couleurs.
Marie