Helmsley Castle III, a photo from North Yorkshire, England

Photographer's Note

I have previously shown you the East Tower and the Tudor Manor House at Helmsley Castle. Please see there for details of the castle and it’s destruction in the English Civil War.
This photo shows what remains of the south curtain wall, which, in its heyday would have been a lot higher than this and would have totally surrounded the castle. The barbican at the entrance was added sometime in the 13th century. You can see the curves of what would have been cylindrical towers (barbican) each side of the gateway. There would have been a drawbridge and a portcullis where you can see the arch. Just slightly to the right you can see the top of the East Tower (click on the link above for a better view)inside the walls. The north wall also had a gateway and barbican, but little evidence remains today.
This was the best angle to take the photo as some repairs were being undertaken, and this view eliminates the evidence of that.

vincenti, pat0500, Rosa_d_MonteLua, Paolo, imrek, josepmarin, mortijo, ollie59, miuky, Gerrit, plimrn, Henryk_Bilor, riclopes, Philippe, Floydian, bakes888, chrisnet, John_F_Kennedy, peter1892, UlfE, JCG, papagolf21, cobbydale, Didi, pablominto has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

vincenti (851) 2006-12-11 8:34

bonjour kath
une tres belle composition et un cadrage pafait avec des couleurs magnifique.
A+

pat0500 (21561) 2006-12-11 8:41

Hi Kath,
Excellent point of view and beautiful colours.
very good sharpness and beautiful blue sky, good perspective.
A documentary good which you makes on this castle, thank you Kath, very good note..!
Best regards,
Have a nice day.
Patrick

Rosa_d_MonteLua (1508) 2006-12-11 8:50

Hi Kath!
Beuatiful photo with wonderful colors, perfect light ,and a good POV. Splendid definition, too, and the color contrast created by the sky and the castle it's lovely.
I tried a different version in Workshop.
TFS and my best wishes,
Rosa

[workshop] [compare] +

Paolo (41258) 2006-12-11 9:28

Hi Kath, excellent POV and composition to capture that view of the castle ruins.
excellent quality and great contrast of colours.
thanks, ciao

imrek (4) 2006-12-11 9:56

Hi Kath,
a fine composition with an excellent sharpness and lovely colours palette...good shot, nice too look at!!!
regards,
imre

josepmarin (59385) 2006-12-11 10:52

Hello Kath,
Your setting is excellent, increases the aesthetics of these ruins emphasizing them on the blue sky, and contrasting with the green grass of foreground.
The sculptures of the knights add a touch very nice and adapted to the epoch of the castle.
Great lighting and perfect colors.
It is a beautiful composition.
Regards,
Josep

mortijo (12828) 2006-12-11 11:00

This is what I'd call an extensive guided tour. Thank you for the excellent note. The photo has a superb POV and nice colors. The castle looks rather impressive.

ollie59 (796) 2006-12-11 11:07

Hi Kath ,again youve got the light right for Helmsley and at a good angle .The sky for this time of year is superb ,its been kind to us this year. I couldn't remember seeing the statues the last time i was there ,unless i missed them ,but they add drama to the place and counjour up a mystical time.
TFS
Andy

ben4321 (9875) 2006-12-11 11:15

I like this one, Kath. The slightly panoramic crop works well, and I like how the repeating horizontal lines within the image divide up the frame into areas of grass, castle and sky.
The strong light has rewarded you with great colours, and using the ND grad allowed you to make the most of that bright blue winter's sky.
Good work.
Cheers,
Ben

miuky (3335) 2006-12-11 12:18

Hy Kath
This one and the tower are exellent, on the tudor house there's this aura above the roof that makes it a little different...
Great dof and POV here, and great colours:)
Regards, M.

Gerrit (62042) 2006-12-11 12:32

Hi Kath,
excellent picture. Great exemple of a ruin in the right state of conservation - with leaves all over. Fine colours.
Regards, Gerrit

gilou530 (34) 2006-12-11 12:52

salut kath
beau contraste de cette photo, qui met bien en valeur ces ruines, beau travail
amitiés
gilbert

plimrn (21344) 2006-12-11 13:50

Hi Kath,
Clearly the best angle of the series!! The warming low light rplaces the impression of gothic horror with the impression of a stage set. I expect King Arthur to step out at any minute. The golden light on the stones and the framing against the lovely cloud-decorated sky really make this shot special. Being a color freak, I'm not wild about the sepia.
Regards, Pat

Henryk_Bilor (20803) 2006-12-11 14:04

Hello KAth
Beautiful photo of these ruins. I try to imagine how it looked in its heydey :). Now it is not as great as many centuries ago, but still is a nice object to photograph and to dreaming...;)
Great light and colours, especially on the parts covered with plants.
Regards

rhizomes (15343) 2006-12-11 14:33

Hi Kath,
Nice picture ! These ruins looks very interesting in your picture, under a nice blue sky and with a nice light !
Christophe

Buin (42580) 2006-12-11 14:46

Hallo Kath!
A ruin - but still lordly! You show it from a great angle and one can imagine it's former greatness. Great!
Greetings from Germany!
Frank

riclopes (35577) 2006-12-11 14:59

Hi Kath, what I find interesting here is the contrast with the first one of the series, which was so vertical and this is so horizontal that the panoramic format suits well. Even with such an appearance of ruins, that entrance still makes a nice impression. Good shot from a distance avoiding the works. I beleive that those statues at left could give good photos against the entrance.
Ricardo

Philippe (11836) 2006-12-11 16:43

Hi, Kath. You enjoyed very good light conditions to take the picture. This results in very good details in the walls and nice contrasts between the central and lateral parts. I also like the sky for its beautiful hues and the two groups of clouds on the right- and left-hand side that really seem to frame the castle.

Stepan (27210) 2006-12-11 16:52

You had the perfect light for that site. The compo is effective : framing, light, colors... Everything's cool here.
Stéphane

Floydian (30970) 2006-12-11 17:31

Hi Kath,
Aha, a much wider view from that castle. As we see it now it sure looks very majestic and this place must be huge a very long time ago. I like how you included a large piece of sky in to it. Gives a feeling that those clouds really coming in to the scenery...very good.
Regards, Henk

bakes888 (18499) 2006-12-12 2:31

Hi Kath. This is something we don’t have in NZ, castles, ruined or otherwise. Our human history would only date back as far as this castle. Good composition and lovely colours. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers, Paul.

vincz (19113) 2006-12-12 3:28

Very beautiful composition giving lots of space to the sky which give a greater diemnsion to the tructure. i love the staues which makes this castle a bit unrea; since they are much bigger than huamn size it seems (if we compare to the size of the door). Details are excellent, colours as well.

chrisnet (23062) 2006-12-12 4:03

Hello Kath,
A good framing of these ruins of castle, the blue sky is superb, and thanks for your interesting note. Well done.
Regards
Christian

markstaples (15670) 2006-12-12 4:05

Superb Nikon colours in this one Kath. The light falling on the castle is superb. The image is of an excellent quality - even so far away you've captured every single detail in the stonework. Nice use of the ND grad filter which reminds me that I need to get an adapter for mine. The sky is of a wondeful blue. Lovely work.
Best wishes
Mark

John_F_Kennedy (43797) 2006-12-12 4:31

A wonderful landscape with lovely architecture. Great composition and spectacular panorama.
Achim

lukie (0) 2006-12-12 6:58

Hello Kath,

nice view on those ruins. The knight on the foreground seems a tall one to me, comparing him with the gate...

regards,

Luc.

berek (50518) 2006-12-12 10:01

Hi Kath,
another good point of view. great architecture from 13th century. sky is magnificent. have a nice day.
Burak
my overall evaluation -> ****

captainsgirl (3450) 2006-12-12 12:53

Hi Kath, I love the photos of these castles, its like a dream world to me. the photo itself is beautiful , bright color and nice contrasts..the pov is excellent.. tFS
Donna :o)

Thanks for your comments on my photo "Fury of the Storm " :o)

peter1892 (1681) 2006-12-12 13:55

Hi Kath - a good complimentary image to the other shots. The wide view works well, the light & colour is good too. I like the smaller details of the sculptures (knights) that we can see here.

UlfE (14641) 2006-12-12 15:06

Hi Kath,

Beautiful colours and light and a very nice composition and cropping. I really like your series from Helmsley Castle. There is an off- season feeling about it. No people anywhere. I guess it is packed with people during the summer season.

Cheers,

Ulf

Scharan (14144) 2006-12-12 15:07

Ótima foto das ruínas deste castelo Kath. Cores e textura muito bonitas, assim como o contraste com o céu que está lindo neste tom de azul. Parabéns!
Grande abraço amiga,
Vera.

JCG (35153) 2006-12-12 16:25

Hi Kath,

The ruins of this superb fortress are jealously kept by these stone soldiers. Another splendid photograph on these vestiges of the past. The colors and the light are extraordinary. It is very pleasant to look at. Cheer Kath.

Best regards,

Jean-Charles

isabib (1953) 2006-12-12 17:44

Hi Kath,

I like color saturation on those walls. Great details with nice contrast on the blue sky. TFS!

jjbach (9326) 2006-12-12 18:38

Hi Kath,
The colours and the wonderful warm lighting are really impressive. Also the low angle fits very well here. Splendid work!

Regards John

dsidwell (9783) 2006-12-13 0:08

Super colors, Kath! It's good to see your work again. This light on the castle is so very nice. Combined with the blue sky, it's really marvelous!

papagolf21 (152607) 2006-12-13 4:02

Bonsoir Kath,
Passionné d'architecture, je ne peux m'empêcher d'admirer, de contempler, cette magnifique forteresse.
L'idée de placer des personnages (sculptures) à proximité renforce la composition et donne un air historique à l'ensemble.
J'aime beaucoup.
Amitiés.
Philippe

Angshu (56760) 2006-12-13 4:10

Hi Kath
Compositionally excellent, I like the light falling on the ruins. The details arae amazing, captured with a lot of clarity. The statue of the knights are also visible, even though they're in the shade. Beautiful!
Regards
Angshu

rosaline (0) 2006-12-13 4:51

Hi Kath
Wonderfully crisp image. The blue sky is well captured and the soft light works well to give a nice, pleasing image. Good composition and nice cropping. Good work.
Aubrey

cobbydale (1958) 2006-12-13 15:17

Good shot Kath, great level of detail in the stone masonry. Interesting point about avoiding repairs, I took a load of Salisbury Cathedral recently but struggled to get a good shot that didnt include scaffolding in it.

See you shot it in RAW as well, something I must try - I had thought it was only for blowing up images for large prints but have read differently recently.
cheers Leon.

sergio1 (12152) 2006-12-13 18:31

Hi Kath

Your last serie to Yorkshire is beautiful. I enjoy to this pictures.
This shot is perfect (lights, depht, sharp, and panoramic format) all is good.
Thanks for share
Sergio

guillaumejm (0) 2006-12-15 12:39

hello kath,
Perfect colours and light. Your framing giving major place to sky surprised me at the beginning but looking more and more I'm finally convinced!. And I like it very much.
Kind regards
JMarc

Emile (20352) 2006-12-15 23:21

Hola Kath.
Very good picture with good composition, colors and sharpness. Great POV. Lovely place, the blue sky give a nice contrast.
Well done. TFS.

Didi (61589) 2006-12-16 12:14

Hi Kath
There is also nice ruins in England.
Very good lights on the subject; you were right for choosing this POV.
Cheers.

pablominto (53746) 2006-12-28 2:38

Hello Kath,
Interesting ruin capture accompanied by good note!
The point of view is good and you make well use of the special light...
Fine colours and good details, I l,ike how the statue stands out!
Greetings,
Pablo -