Looking through Photo

Photographer’s Note

Around 1270 Zweder I van Zuylen van Abcoude built a freestanding keep on a raised and moated site. This military building was about 11 meters high and had 2,5 meter thick walls. Later on an extra floor and a residential wing with a great hall were added.

Until the beginning of the 15th century Duurstede Castle was possessed by the Van Zuylen van Abcoude family when they were forced to sell it to the bishops of Utrecht who kept it until 1580.

From 1459 till 1496 the castle contained the administration and archive of the diocese of Utrecht and served as the residence of bishop David van Bourgondie. He rebuild and fortified the castle and made it a square stronghold with residential wings around a rectangular courtyard with 4 round towers on its corners. The old keep became the core of one of the new wings. The bishop had his living quarters in the great 'Burgundian' tower. An earthwork had to protect the castle and its bailey from enemy attacks. The bailey had a drawbridge.
From 1517 the Duurstede Castle was inhabited by bishop Philips van Bourgondie, a half-brother of David. He kept court like a true renaissance king and started to embellish the castle. When he was done 2 residential wings had been rebuild and provided with exceptionally large windows. At these times the castle contained about 57 larger and smaller rooms.
After his death the castle was inhabited by a bailiff and the household disappeared, also because emperor Karel V took away the secular powers of the bishops.

After 1580 Duurstede Castle fell to the States of Utrecht. But because in 1577 the fortification of the town of Wijk bij Duurstede had started, the bailey had to make way. The States of Utrecht had no money to maintain the castle so it slowly fell into decay. And after the French troops had devastated the town in 1672 the townspeople repaired their houses and the town walls with stones from the castle.

In 1852 the town council became owner of the castle and turned the fortifications around the castle into a park.
Until around 1925 the castle could only be reached with a little ferry.
This one I shoot last sunday during a trip. I hope you like the shot.
gr. jaap

papagolf21, kebek, Galmeida, Gerrit, MilouIntefix, jhm, capthaddock, feather, weswang, danyy, elihesamian, jafadabret, chinchini, nwoehnl, singuanti, jmdaoudal, ChrisJ, HNIK, Tue, Albrecht, Emiel_Skyfreak has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Zepi (22848) 2006-01-17 5:21

Hello Jaap,
Belle composition pleine de couleurs !
J’aime ici ce cadrage et ces reflets dans l’eau !
Belle architecture également
Beau travail
Merci pour le partage
Amicalement,
Sébastien

kebek (5434) 2006-01-17 5:27

Serwus Jaap !
Absolutely brilliant composition and exceptional warm light on this castle. Very interesting place, very well shown.
Best wishes,
Mat

Galmeida (12559) 2006-01-17 5:27

Hi Jaap,
Excelent point of view and enqadrement you did in a splendid capture to this beautiful small castle and surrounding scenery. The enquadrement of the bridge giving to the castle is excelent as also your approach angle with the branch trees at right and left. Good light atmosphere in a beautiful scenery.

Good colors, light and fine sharpness. Very well seen, done and composed. Congratulations and my Best Regards.
Fernando

Henryk_Bilor (20375) 2006-01-17 5:29

Hi Jaap
Beautiful castle in a low Sun light. Nice view and colours.
Have a nice day.

Fixfocus (9377) 2006-01-17 5:52

Dag Jaap,
Een mooie doorkijkje,goede pov en perspectief,goede diepte danks de boomen in de voorgrond.Het licht en de kleuren zijn prachtig.
Gr,
Hermann

Gerrit (36615) 2006-01-17 5:54

Hi Jaap,
Mooie gebouwen en fortificaties. Prachtige kleuren en leuk gebruik van de kale bomen.
Bedankt en groeten, Gerrit

MilouIntefix (30) 2006-01-17 6:19

Nice castle...intersting informations....nice photo....well centered,beautiful colors and nice reflections on the water.....well done!!!!

dkeus31 (26527) 2006-01-17 6:25

Hello Jaap,
Very nice light on these buildings.
I would maybe have tryed to crop the right building.
Regards,
Didier

faubry (32521) 2006-01-17 7:42

hello Jaap, superb lighing shot!!! beautiful colors: i like a lot your post
thanks
francine

anavazao (5592) 2006-01-17 7:49

Hi
nice composition and colours, love the autumn golds.

Ana:)

jhm (83802) 2006-01-17 8:44

Hallo Jaap,
Eens afgeweken en naar een kasteel overgestapt, en absoluut geen slechte keuze, zeker het kleine brugje die ons leidt naar de toegang waardoor er diepte ontstaat, de lage zon op de gebouwen geeft die mooie winterkleur met datwarm gevoel.
Goed wek Jaap.
Groeten,
John.

lukie (0) 2006-01-17 9:29

Dag Jaap,

mooi zicht op deze toren en stuk ruïne. Goed gevonden titel ook. De takken zijn als het ware een soort kader.

groeten,

Luc.

capthaddock (28640) 2006-01-17 10:15

Hi Jaap - no clouds or windmills today? Outstanding light and colours as usual, I really like the way the branches fill the sky, eliminating the need for any clouds.

Graal (59144) 2006-01-17 10:52

Hi Jaap,
interesting castle and informations in note. I like the colours and composition. Well done.
Rgs, Aleksander

feather (50588) 2006-01-17 12:08

Interesting that there is still water in the moat.
The light is beautiful on the tower. A well composed shot framed by the winter branches.
Kath

weswang (18223) 2006-01-17 12:10

Hi Jaap, You have well taken advantage of the winter with bare branches to frame the castle view as you have with this picture. Nice use of the golden colored sunlight to provide outstanding highlight. A well taken picture with sharpness and depth. Well done.

danyy (69963) 2006-01-17 13:10

Bonjour Jaap,
festival de couleurs et lumières chaudes pour illuminer ce superbe édifice d'une beauté architecturale et esthétique inconstestable.
Un excellent cadrage de derrière les branches, avec ce petit plan d'eau à l'avant plan, très équilibré tout cela.
Best regards.
Daniel.

elihesamian (26091) 2006-01-17 13:11

An excellent informative shot with a great colors,details,sharpness and composition indeed,What a light!
I like a semi hazy/foggy in its atmosphere that made it dreamy and lovely,in a fine way captured and composed,Jaap,great one,
Best
M

xavshot (63373) 2006-01-17 13:13

Bonsoir Jaap
très bel endroit très bien mis en valeur par la lumière. Il est impressionnant ce chateau ; on le dirait tiré d'un conte de fée
Bravo
Xavier

jafadabret (40717) 2006-01-17 13:41

Jaap bonsoir !
Cette photo est superbe par sa composition et ses couleurs. J'aime le cadre fait des branches nues. Là encore tu as su attendre la belle lumière, celle qui dore tout ce qu'elle touche. Une très belle photo !

chinchini (27947) 2006-01-17 13:58

Bonsoir Jaap,
Voila un radical changement de sujet même si je retrouve les plans d'eau dans cette image. Et ça me plait beaucoup, je suis même étonné de découvrir ce beau vieux château.
Pardonne mon Cher si je me suis permis de faire un WS pour donner du punch à cette belle photo, parce que tu as dû oublier de le faire ;o)
Mes amitiés/Pierre

[workshop] [compare]

nwoehnl (120) 2006-01-17 14:00

Nice architectural study, Jaap - good how the winter sun accentuates the vivid brown and ochre colors that are found in the stonework of the castle. Good inclusion of the bridge in the frame, and the barren trees make for a good graphical foreground while at the same time not hiding too much of the visibility.

jverkamman (2291) 2006-01-17 14:01

What a beautiful photo, i like the light it’s warm and mysterious.
Also a good composition.

Greets, Jacques

rbcy1974 (20746) 2006-01-17 14:13

Hello Jaap
excellent composition
Beautiful, great framing by the trees.
Beautiful light and depth.
Daniel

P-S-I-G (24482) 2006-01-17 14:59

Salut Jaap,
Excellente composition à travers les branches. Très belle lumière. Le cadrage met bien en valeur l'édifice. Bravo.
Fabrice

Ann75 (0) 2006-01-17 16:23

Hoi Jaap,

Prachtige foto met geweldige kleuren. Prachtige compositie en zeer goede scherpte. Je hebt ook goed gebruik gemaakt van het licht. Erg goed werk!

Groeten,
Ann

jmdaoudal (82) 2006-01-18 0:21

This POV gives a whole view from the interesting place here, and you could note have it lake this in summer :-)
This is luminous with the light and stones colors, well done
Jean Michel

papagolf21 (57029) 2006-01-18 4:10

Bonsoir Jaap,
Magnifique château, magnifique composition, magnifique note d'accompagnement.
Que dire de plus, sinon admirer sans modération.
Un véritable succès, Jaap.
Félicitations.
Amitiés.
Philippe

ChrisJ (70569) 2006-01-18 5:43

Hi jaap

Good use of the fg trees, to frame the attractive bg castle. I like the color contrast between the red & blue sky. Good work!

rosaline (0) 2006-01-18 6:16

Jaap
good work here to catch this scene with such warm light. The bridge leading over to the building is charming and the effect of the brances gives some good impact. Overall, a great shot.
Aubrey

donluicu (24001) 2006-01-18 6:17

Hi Jaap!
excellent framing with this picture, with warm tones, and very nice building....excellent shot??
regards
loic

singuanti (15240) 2006-01-18 11:51

Hi Jaap. You found the ideal POV to be able to frame the branches around it without being too invasive with it. The great light just helps accentuate what a beautiful building it is. Nice one Jaap.

HNIK (1104) 2006-01-18 12:16

Hi Japp!
It's a nice picture with branches of trees,very well composed with the building and the bridge and the river.i think the sharpness could be better but i like it so much.
Thanks for sharing
Best Regards

Tue (25608) 2006-01-18 18:24

Goedenavond Jaap,
Mooi plaatje van deze toren van de ruïne gezien door de takken. Het warme licht is erg mooi, prima foto!
Groeten,
Lars

hdl (6737) 2006-01-19 7:48

Een prachtige ruine. Goeie focus en het look-through effect komt goed tot zijn uiting. Interessante uitleg op de koop toe; bedankt!

anesugur (17120) 2006-01-19 16:10

Very nicely done.
The colors are really nice and natural.
Great composition.Congratulations. Uğur

Albrecht (11267) 2006-01-20 5:58

Hoi Jaap
Heel mooi van sfeer en kleur. Prachtig tijdsbeeld en een perfecte compo.
groetjes Albrecht

Steft (5962) 2006-01-22 5:51

Hoi Jaap,
Mooie foto, het is net een schilderij. Prachtig zachte kleuren en vormen, mooie geel licht in het midden en door de kalen taken rondom ziet deze ruine er nog mysterieuzer uit.
Stef

ruisc_pt (6213) 2006-09-07 17:37

I like the exposure and yhe comments,
Nice lighting smooth but not too much..
Good JOb

Budapestman (43344) 2006-10-04 11:02

Hi Jaap!
This is a fascinating and very spectacular architecture photo!
Beautiful lights and splendid atmosphere! This is a excellent composition and very expressive POV! Very aesthetic and fine details! This is a particular and very successful architecture photo! Thank you, nice days
George