Churches in Spain and France

[Cem_Usakligil]

Hi,

I have been to Spain and France in the past few weeks where I have had the chance to visit many churches; small or large, famous or virtually unknown, all sorts really. I this thread I am going to show you a selection of the pictures I took. For some of them, I can give you some info, for some others, just the name. Enjoy, C&C are welcome as usual.

I'll start with the church of Sant Pere in Figueres, Catalunya, Spain. This is the main church of the town of Figueres where Salvador Dali was born and he was also baptized in this church. So Dali has decided to build his famous museum in Figueres right next to it, among other reasons. I could find the following brief info on the Internet:

Next to the main entrance of the Dali museum, you can find the Sant Pere church. It was probably raised on the site of a former early Christian church during the 10th-11th century. Towards the end of the 14th century King Peter the Ceremonious ordered the construction of a new church in Figueres, and a Gothic-style church was raised over the romanesque building. At the end of the 19th century the dome was rebuilt. And also during the Spanish Civil War and WW II, the church was severely damaged.

Església de Sant Pere in Figueres:

Exif info: Canon 5DII, 50mm 1.4, f3.2, 1/30 sec, ISO 3200, handheld​

This next one is a very dramatic scene, one needs to see it bigger for the details (perhaps I can post a crop later). It was quite a challenge to capture it as such without using a tripod and also due to a never ending flow of tourists. Notice the reflection of the church window to my back which is placed carefully at the apex of the cabinet as a second aureole ;-).

Exif info: Canon 5DII, 50mm 1.4, f7.1, 1/2 sec, ISO 400, handheld​

Cheers,

 

[Kathy Rappaport]

Spain

The churches in Spain have so much Moorish influence in the architecture. I love the feel of your captures here, Cem. The brick and the scultpture and the detail are wonderful. It made me feel as if I were there. Wow - you are so steady at 7.1 with 1/2 sec exposure. Very crisp. You must have held your breath or stopped your heart for that whole half second.

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

The churches in Spain have so much Moorish influence in the architecture. I love the feel of your captures here, Cem. The brick and the scultpture and the detail are wonderful. It made me feel as if I were there. Wow - you are so steady at 7.1 with 1/2 sec exposure. Very crisp. You must have held your breath or stopped your heart for that whole half second.

Thanks Kathy,

In the second shot, I was squatting on the ground and I have pushed and held the edge of the camera against the bench which had a curvy surface; it wasn't stable but it has helped. I took some 5-6 frames before I could get one with the right composition and sharpness. The camera was so low that I had to use the live view to compose, looking through the vf wasn't an option. So it was more as a result of blood, sweat and tears and less due surgically precise hands ;-).

Cheers,

 

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

Hi,

I have been to Spain and France in the past few weeks where I have had the chance to visit many churches; small or large, famous or virtually unknown, all sorts really. I this thread I am going to show you a selection of the pictures I took. For some of them, I can give you some info, for some others, just the name. Enjoy, C&C are welcome as usual.

Hi Cem,

Well done, given the difficult shooting situation, especially when one is traveling light and with limited time. I'm sure the collection will give a nice cross-section of styles covering a theme. Your eye for detail and composition shows (e.g. the reflection aureole), even in these relatively simple scenes.

Cheers,
Bart

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

Hi Cem,

Well done, given the difficult shooting situation, especially when one is traveling light and with limited time. I'm sure the collection will give a nice cross-section of styles covering a theme. Your eye for detail and composition shows (e.g. the reflection aureole), even in these relatively simple scenes.

Cheers,
Bart

Hi Bart,

Thanks for the kind comments. I have visited some 8 churches in total and I have typically 1 or two interesting pictures to show from each one. The variation of the interiors is incredible. Some are very kitschy, some are very sober. The pictures may not be interesting enough by themselves but as a series it might become an interesting total.

Cheers,

 

[janet Smith]

Hi Cem

The first one of these really caught my eye, wonderful colour, looking forward to seeing the rest of the series.

 

[Charlotte Thompson]

Cem

Hi so good to see you again!
for me
I love the shadows in the second shot
gives that mysterious religious feel
light and dark struggle-

Charlotte-

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

The crops

So as promised earlier, here are two 100% crops from 2nd Sant Pere picture.

Cheers,

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

Church of Santa Maria de Cadaqués

So now we move to a place some 25 km further to the East of Figueres. It is the small town of Cadaqués at the shore of Mediterranean. Here, the Church of Santa Maria de Cadaqués is a popular place for the hordes of tourists visiting this picturesque fishermen village. Dali has spent a considerable amount of his time in Cadaques together with other surrealists when he lived just to the North of it in a place called Port Lligat.

The resources on the net have the following summary of the church:

The shape of this 16C church has been immortalised by many painters and is a symbol of Cadaqués. The exterior austerity of the building contrasts with the interior, that houses a baroque retable by Pau Costa. This work of art, one of the most remarkable of its kind in all Catalonia is a spectacular piece of gilded wood iconography.

The altarpiece was began in 1727 by Pau Costa. It is dedicated to "La mare de Deu de l'Esperanca" (a Madonna), patron Saint of the village. The central figure is a representation of the pregnant Madonna, over it there's a representation of the coronation of Saint Mary, with Jesus at its right and God at its left. All these figures are surrounded by angels.

Local fishermen financed this altarpiece. Salvador Dali in one of his books recalls how fishermen hanged living lobsters among the angels.

Church of Santa Maria de Cadaqués, the altar:

Exif info: Canon 5DII, 70-200mm 2.8 L IS @70mm, f3.2, 1/30 sec, ISO 1600, handheld

One of the two strong fishermen (Atlas like) supporting the whole altar:

Exif info: Canon 5DII, 70-200mm 2.8 L IS @135mm, f3.2, 1/15 sec, ISO 1600, handheld
​

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Cem,

Hi,

I have been to Spain and France in the past few weeks where I have had the chance to visit many churches . . .

I'll start with the church of Sant Pere in Figueres, Catalunya, Spain.

This is just exquisite. The rendering of the vault almost looks like an etching (perhaps this is life imitating art!).

Thanks for sharing these beautiful images with us.

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

Hi Cem

The first one of these really caught my eye, wonderful colour, looking forward to seeing the rest of the series.

Cem

Hi so good to see you again!
for me
I love the shadows in the second shot
gives that mysterious religious feel
light and dark struggle-

Charlotte-

Hi, Cem,


This is just exquisite. The rendering of the vault almost looks like an etching (perhaps this is life imitating art!).

Thanks for sharing these beautiful images with us.

Hi Jan, Charlotte and Doug,
You are being very kind to me as usual; for which I am very grateful. Thanks. I will show some more in the coming days.

Cheers,

 

[nicolas claris]

Església de Sant Pere in Figueres:

Exif info: Canon 5DII, 50mm 1.4, f3.2, 1/30 sec, ISO 3200, handheld​

Hi Cem
I do like very much this image color and composition are perfect, a little comment though ;-):
I had like to see the vertical lines being vertical, but from where you shot it was obviously not possible, then you should have borrowed Bart's 24 TSE for tilting it…;-)

Or -a suggestion only!- shoot a bit wider to be able in PP to tilt the image in PS…

Exif info: Canon 5DII, 50mm 1.4, f7.1, 1/2 sec, ISO 400, handheld​

Cheers,

I'm less attracted by this one though the image is perfectly made (almost when we know the condition of shooting) but I am really not fan of these iconic things…*certainly due to my atheism ;-)

 

[nicolas claris]

That's detail!
I like this image too (the entire one, not the crop only of course!), I would make the same comments that for the 1st picture…

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

La Sagrada Familia

I have neglected this series and it is about time that I showed some more. Next one is the La Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona.

Cheers,

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

And for the detail fans among you, here is a creative crop (50%, not 100%) of the 1st image.

Cheers,

​

 

[nicolas claris]

I have neglected this series and it is about time that I showed some more. Next one is the La Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona.
Cheers,

Hi Cem
Good idea to get these Sagrada out of your hard disk, I do like them much more than the previous images of this thread! great compositions and quite hard to get, I've been there before! (without camera!-)

well done

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

Hi Cem
Good idea to get these Sagrada out of your hard disk, I do like them much more than the previous images of this thread! great compositions and quite hard to get, I've been there before! (without camera!-)

well done

Merci Nicolas,

The cathedral is in constant turmoil with all the building going on and the visitors can only follow a limited path. So the choices of perspective are very limited as you know. I am glad that I had a few keepers in the end. Thanks for your kind comments.

PS: The previous images were more of the documentary type, whereas these two are not so. That must be the reason why you like them better

Cheers,

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

And for the detail fans among you, here is a creative crop (50%, not 100%) of the 1st image.

Cheers,

​

Since nobody has commented so far, I'll go ahead and tell you that I see a resemblance in this crop to that of a woman's neck, shoulders and torso. It is a woman from the future, dressed in an organic nano material which covers her like a chameleon and enhances her features by shape shifting. So go ahead and call me crazy....

Cheers,

 

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

I have neglected this series and it is about time that I showed some more. Next one is the La Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona.

Hi Cem,

Great shots! Marvelous subject, well caught.

Was this with your 50mm?

Cheers,
Bart

 

[Cem_Usakligil]

Hi Cem,

Great shots! Marvelous subject, well caught.

Was this with your 50mm?

Cheers,
Bart

Hi Bart,

Even better! It was with the 70-200L IS 2.8 @70mm. Thanks for looking.

Cheers,

 

[janet Smith]

Since nobody has commented so far, I'll go ahead and tell you that I see a resemblance in this crop to that of a woman's neck, shoulders and torso. It is a woman from the future, dressed in an organic nano material which covers her like a chameleon and enhances her features by shape shifting. So go ahead and call me crazy....

Hi Cem

No you're not crazy - I see her too - unless I'm crazy as well!!

It's a beautiful shot, amazing detail, love the shapes and tone, I must try architecture sometime, it's one area of photography I've never touched on, I dislike cities and crowded places, but I'm feeling inspired to have a go.....

 

[Mike Shimwell]

Sorry Cem, I thought I had commented on your 'lady'. I see clearly, though I am somewhat concerned about the future of clothing based on the sharp edges that she displays

The shot is lovely, and as Janet says, even at this size appears full of detail with lovely tonality.

Mike