Magical Mystras, a photo from Lakonia, Peloponnesus

Photographer's Note

The week before, we were on a bus travelling to Monemvassia, and the driver waxed lyrical to us on the journey about "magical Mystras" as he called it. He sounded like a travel guide, which in a way I suppose he was. So the next week, we hired a car and drove over the mountains to Magical Mystras. And so it was. Huge, steep, ruinous, impressive, with monasteries as the only surviving intact buildings. Although modest renovation work was progressing: the donkeys in the picture were carrying building materials, tiles and so on. The tower in the middle distance is I believe, the campanile of Pantanassa Monastery.

Vasilis Protopapas yesterday posted a photograph taken only last week from almost the same spot, so I was inspired to echo his work with mine, taken 14 or 15 years ago. I don't know if it's old enough to qualify as a Kasia Nowak antique!

Neg scanned on a Nikon dedicated film scanner at 4000 dpi, giving a 100mg 16 bit file. Hope you like it!

papagolf21, jhm, tyro, Romano46, COSTANTINO, GFSSD-1 has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Gerrit (62042) 2014-12-09 2:26

Hello Will,
beautiful photo and landscape. I like the way you can follow the path together with the donkey drivers and the fine colors. You should straighten the horizon though.
regards, Gerrit

papagolf21 (152607) 2014-12-09 2:31

Bonjour, Will,
Riche idée que de nous présenter la montagne et ses petits sentiers empruntés par les mules ou les ânes.
La composition s'apparente à une superbe peinture.
La réussite est totale.
Amitiés.
Philippe

jhm (211738) 2014-12-09 4:48

Hello Will,

This is real indescribable with two donkeys used as transporter for materials, here should them use maybe a helicopter..
What a lovely panorama view about these wonderful and quiet area
Perspective and depth are absolutely perfect photographed.
An excellent composition, nice of colours and very nice presentation too.
Very well done, TFS.

Best wishes,
John.

tyro (30513) 2014-12-10 1:42

Hello Will,

An interesting note and a delightful photograph to accompany it!

Although the quality of this photograph doesn't match your more recent ones taken with a fancy modern digital camera, nonetheless your composition here is perfect, the narrow steep track leading us very nicely down to the monastery and the magnificent distant view to a township and a valley beside a steep mountainside disappearing off into the mist. The heavily laden donkeys and their handlers add great foreground interest and we wonder just how they will fare on this precipitous journey.

The light and colours are beautiful, your exposure perfect and the quality is amazingly good for a scan. Was this a colour slide, print or negative?

Beautiful!

Kind Regards,

John.

P.S. Not that big a file size, really: after all, 100mg is only around a three-hundredth of an ounce. :)

kasianowak (17676) 2015-01-01 3:55

Hi Will
I was in Nepal when you uploaded this image so only just found my name in the note. :) Let's say that any shot taken over ten years ago and scanned from film qualifies as an "oldie".
This one is a joy to look at on this gloomy day in London.
I wish you a great New Year 2015 with lots of travel, sailing and photography. And see you at the next exhibition I hope! :)
Kasia

Tigerlily (3381) 2015-01-01 11:08

Hi Will,
I like the colour contrast and the composition of the image. Interesting note.. I wonder if they have built up the houses now after all the donkey years... how many trips the poor donkeys had to make? Antique? Yeah, how long is the donkey year..? Joking. I'm coming to say:"Happy New Year!" to you.
All the best.
Regards,
Jasmine

emka (158826) 2015-01-02 23:01

Hello Will, I do not qualify it is an oldie. What is it 15 years? :). But it does look as a magical place, specially with these two donkeys (the second looks more similar to the horse). Beautiful composition and very nice colours. This little red dome is charming.
Good scanning job.

WArm regrad s MAlgo

Romano46 (18472) 2015-01-03 9:18

Ciao Will
mi piace in maniera particolare la composizione con la contrapposizione del terreno accidentato a confronto con la piana sottostante.
Notevole anche la contrapposizione di colori con il verde e i toni rossi che animano l'intero fotogramma.
Ottimo il soggetto e perfetta la ripresa dal punto di vista tecnico.
Un lavoro eccellentre.
Complimenti
Ciao, buona serata e buon anno
Romano

COSTANTINO (117792) 2015-01-05 8:42

Hello my dear friend Will Perrett
and have a nice time
you are a very lucky person being the week
before on a bus travelling to Monemvassia
what a wonderful view over the mountains
to Magical Mystras
I like the small path withnthe donkeys
impressive way od transport
regards
Costantino

GFSSD-1 (5888) 2015-02-18 15:09

Hello
this is a powerful document indeed..
congrats i like it a lot
all the best