Guardian of silence Photo

Photographer’s Note

The last post of José (stego) from Segovia in Spain inspired me to choose this one for today. This gargoyle is one of the vigilants of the cloister of silent in Alcobaça Monastery. I guess that he must get really mad everyday with all the noise that the visitors make since this should be a place of absolut silence.

WS1 - wider view with other gorgoyles.
WS2 - even more wider view of the whole cloister.

Cloister of Silence
The cloister of the monastery were built during the reign of, and probably sponsored by, King Dinis I. It is one of the largest mediaeval Cistercian cloister in Europe. Its columns are decorated by capitals with animal and vegetal motifs. The builders were Portuguese architects Domingo Domingues and Master Diogo. The gothic Fountain Hall has an elegant early renaissance water basin inside, decorated with renaissance motifs including coats-of-arms and reliefs of gryphs. The second floor of the cloister, in manueline style as revealed by its typical twisted columns, was built in the early 16th century.

Source: wikipedia.

Juntas, Buin, delkoo, ChrisJ, feather, josepmarin, Sne011, Cricri, zeynepe, Photo65Net, xuaxo, adores, stego, jafadabret, saylan-cb has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Buin (38310) 2008-12-28 2:21

Hallo Ricardo!
Here I like the skillful composition of the picture. The shown is really beautiful and impressive and you have had a wonderful favourable light which emphasizes the sculpture in a great way. Not an everyday photo indeed ...
Greetings from cold but sunny Germany - and all the best for the new year!
Frank

delkoo (34810) 2008-12-28 3:32

hi ricardo

excellent choice, Light management, contrast, color and definition and crop are simply superb,

didier

ChrisJ (70443) 2008-12-28 4:54

Ola Ricardo

A good upward pov of the gargoyle, with a striking warm cold color contrast between the red tiles & blue sky. Excellent sharpness & contrast. Tfs!

jmdias (19935) 2008-12-28 5:02

ricardo
a posição da gárgula parece se combinar com a direção das nuvens, belas cores em azul e vermelho, bela a luz e o enquadramento,pena são os vândalos a rabiscar o patrimônio, por que não tatuam seus nomes idiotas na própria B.. e ficam olhando ao espelho ?

abraços

jorge

feather (50168) 2008-12-28 5:38

I thought 'That's a coincidence; José has gargoyles on his post today!' Then I read your note; no coincidence at all! ;D I am intrigued to know how you got this POV and hope it wasn't you who did the graffiti. ;D The WSs provide no clue, although they are great for showing more of the place. I love the composition; very creative and unusual. Just a bit lower and it would seem as if the gargoyle was blowing out steam to make the clouds.
Kath

Aviller (3108) 2008-12-28 5:56

Very interesting picture. To be honest I might have opened the aperture a bit more in order to bring out the gargoyle somewhat more. It's still a good shot though with great colors and a good composition as well.

josepmarin (34131) 2008-12-28 5:57

Olá Ricardo,
el primer plano de esta gárgola es impresionante!! Podemos ver todos sus detalles y texturas gracias a la alta calidad de la imagen, mientras la diagonal del alero nos regala una buena perspectiva y los tejados rojos añaden un bonito grafismo al conjunto. El cielo azul tan limpio y las nubes son la guinda en el pastel.
Todo funciona muy bien en esta espléndida composición, amigo mío.
Un abrazo,
Josep
Te deseo un feliz Año Nuevo.

sacavem (8525) 2008-12-28 7:02

Olá Ricardo,

Um grande pov com cores e contraste no ponto. Bom olho fotográfico na busca de perspectivas diferentes.

Um abraço,
Filipe

Sne011 (3103) 2008-12-28 7:19

Ola Ricardo,
Excellent compo, great point of view! Attractive and unusual photo with intense colors, I love it!
Happy New Year and my best wishes for 2009!!
Sneza

Cricri (43790) 2008-12-28 9:43

Hola Ric
Le cadrage est superbe avec un merveilleux contraste, belle lumiére et détails, belle image complémentaire et aussi intéressante en WS
Friendship
cricri

siamesa (13247) 2008-12-28 9:46

Olá Ricardo,
Fiquei pensando como alguém conseguiu colocar aquelas letrinhas na gárgula. Só mesmo a vontade de enfeiar o interessante e belo. Uma beleza de captura.
Abraços
Maria

zeynepe (9362) 2008-12-28 11:19

This splendid POV is a result of your architectural vision. The sculpture merges with the clouds and also creates an extra power.The red roofs makes a rather abstract pic.Congrats and tenha um bom domingo Ric:)
Zeynep

gilou530 (35710) 2008-12-28 12:46

salut ricardo
une grosse netteté et un plan bien trouvé ou le gargouille semble vouloir se jeter sur les toits, un ciel superbe rien de plus pour faire une belle photo
amitiés
gilbert

Photo65Net (43096) 2008-12-28 13:39

Hello Ricardo,
Nice saturated colors in this one.
I like your compo, and how you used perspective.
Have a nice day,
JB.

xuaxo (5843) 2008-12-28 13:44

Olá Ricardo
Acho que já tinha visto este "bicharoco", mas na tua foto está muito bem apanhado. Gosto da vista quase tridimensional da gárgula em contraste com as linhas rectas dos telhados.
Cumprimentos
..-. .-. .- -. -.-. .. ... -.-. ---

chris04stop (2521) 2008-12-28 15:00

Strong, strong, strong this defender of silence! A great photo,Ricardo, a wonderful light and... a deep symbology. Bravissimo!
Anna Paola

adores (15781) 2008-12-28 15:46

Olá Ricardo!
O detalhe está excelente! Captáste muito bem a gárgula! Gosto do pov, da nitidez e das cores. O céu está fantástico, gosto daquela nuvem por cima da cabeça da gárgula:)!

emka (22389) 2008-12-28 15:56

Hello Ric,

Interesting unusual composition from Alcobaca. Nice diagonal of the roof and splendid sharpness of this old gargoyle. Fantastic colours.

Regards

Malgorzata

coco (28146) 2008-12-29 5:20

Hi Ricardo.

I like this strong diagonal and the powerful colours of this picture.

Well done and thanks for sharing.

kevinos (6927) 2008-12-29 22:01

Well Ricardo, the angle and the POV sure do serve to make him look aggressive. It has good colour and sharpness and the angles divide the frame in an attractive way.Regards Kevin

paura (39376) 2008-12-30 8:05

Ricardo,
As cores estão fantásticas aqui. Vejo que ainda não está fotografando com a máquina nova. Fiocu boa a profundidade de campo nos f/8.

Abraço

Paulo

Juntas (3574) 2009-01-01 15:09

Olá Ricardo. Gosto muito: Dos detalhes do gargoyle, da perspectiva que escolheste, do jogo entre os telhados, dos Ws's que bem podias não ter queimado em WS's. Very nice. Abraço. Paulo

stego (22482) 2009-01-04 10:27

Olá Ricardo,

O bicharoco de pedra está muito bem apanhado e bem colocado na diagonal, combinando-se muito bem graficamente com as linahs do telhado e até com as nuvens. É uma imagem com imenso impacto visual, pela nitidez, pelas cores e, claro pelo grafismo. Como referiu a Kath, é intrigante como conseguiste este PdV, dá ideia que estavas suspenso acima do pátio do claustro.

Os WS's são um bom complemento e estão bem conseguidos, especialmente o #1 que, embora menos impressionante e mais corriqueiro que o post principal, me deixaria muito satisfeito se fosse meu, nomeadamente porque está a anos-luz do melhor que eu consegui há pouco mais de um ano.

Não tens nenhum close-up das gárgulas em forma de porco e cabras que acho que se vêm no WS2? Achei-lhes um piadão e não me lembro de ter visto tal coisa em mais lado nenhum.

Um abraço, José.

giorgimer (21478) 2009-01-05 4:16

Hi Ric,

wonderful composition, extraordinary colors and sharpness. Excellent choice for the POV.

Well done!

Gio

Angshu (34141) 2009-01-07 0:34

Ola Ricardo
One of your best architecture shots in terms of composition. We as a viewer appear very close to the gargoyle about to pounce on some unsuspecting victim. The presence of those red tiles are excellent & provide fine contrast with the blue sky. The Wss are good as well & thanks for the link to Jose's post which provides an excellent POV of this Monastery. But stellar framing has made this a fantastic picture my friend..congratulations!
Best Regards
Angshu

edal (6601) 2009-01-07 6:14

Ola Ricardo,
You have managed perfect presentation of the colors (even lichens are clearly visible) and remarkable diagonally oriented composition.

Gorgoyls are not encountered in East-Eropean ancient architecture - that is why they rise curiosity when visiting such places.

Best regards,
Anton

Bluejeans (33113) 2009-01-15 5:46

Oi Ricardo
Coitado do gárgula ja está gasto pelo tempo já tá cheio de fungos ,boa diagonal com o telhado , gostei do efeito grafico das telhas , bom contraste de cores , parabéns !!
Um abraço Gonçalo

jafadabret (40369) 2009-02-16 9:47

Bonjour Ricardo.
Cette gargouille est très expressive et semble bien demander le silence. J'aime la composition et les belles couleurs.
Superbe !
Jacques

saylan-cb (12726) 2009-02-20 2:07

Hi Ricardo,
This is a beuatiful compositions and good POV here.The colours and light are great.
Excellent work!
TFS/Regards,
Have a nice day.

Urs (3296) 2009-11-04 2:36

Ola Ricardo

That looks so Asian to me, but it is Portugal. Possibly the Portuguese were the best colonial masters as they integrated themselves into the societies they colonized. The contrast of the vibrant red roof vs the deep blue sky is bold while the gargoyle adds dynamic to your shot. Well done

best regards
Urs