Photographer's Note
After some days without posting anything because I was away from my home PC, here it's another one of Marrakech.
PP work (done with The Gimp, I posted the original as aWS):
- Played a bit with the perspective tool to soften the 'contre-plongé' (I don't know the english word to a down to up pov) efect. I fear that in the process I ended up with an even more awkward perspective.
- Correction of the under exposure on the shadows using two duplicated layers (desatured to B&W and 'gaussian blurred'), one for brightening the shadows, other to correct the excess exposure of that on the sunlit wall. I am not convinced that this 3rd layer was really needed, but I didn't have the courage to go back and experiment only with 2 layers.
- Put the sky more blue, by adjusting the colours after selecting only the sky.
- Resize to fit TE limits, increase sharpness (40) and saturation (25).
Looking at it some months after posting it, I think it is too light, because until recently I used very low brightness on my computers displays. Making myself interested and careful in adjusting the displays properly is one of the many things I owe to my TE addiction. :D
More recently I have posted a photo of one of the students' rooms that fill the upper floors of the whole building
Ben Youssef Medersa was founded in the 14th century, but what is seen today is the result of the major reconstruction done in the 16th century. As I hope you can see in the photo, every little piece of the wall is intricately decorated with stucco work and carved cedarwood, in a style much influenced by the art of Islamic Andalucia (Southern Spain). I fact, many parts are nearly copies of some parts of the fabled Alhambra palaces, in Granada and it's believed that many architects and workers that built the place were Muslim Andalucians that fled from Spain or their descendants (Granada, the last Muslim possession in Spain, was conquered in the 15th century and most of the Muslim people that didn't fled to North Africa before or just after the conquest did it on the following years).
Other sources state that the style has more influences from the Merinide period (Merinides were a dynasty that ruled in actual Morocco from 13th to the 15th century), but as in that period the influence of the Andaluzian art workers was already very strong in Morocco, there is no real contradiction between the two claims.
Medersa (aka medrassa) is a koranic (theological) school and this one functioned until 1960. It was the larger medersa in the Maghreb (all North Africa West of the Nile) and it's said that in occasions it housed more than 1000 students (some mention 1500, but the more common number mentioned is 900).
Web links to more info: Igougo, Lexicorient, Wikipedia.
Critiques | Translate
robertosalguero
(292) 2006-11-26 15:25
Hola Jose. The architecture of this building is beautiful. I never get tired of looking at details of older buildings, their colors and styles. Excellent perspective to capture this facade in good sunlight. I checked the workshop and I prefer the original, though the posted here is also excellent. Nice work with the layering process. Have a nice day :-)
Roberto
jwmunro
(286) 2006-11-26 15:38
Hello Jose -
This is a nice image and you did a great job with the PP. There is a lot of subdued color here and some nice details in the building. During PP you have been able to maintain the detail in the building, well done. Good exposure with proper DOF and sharpness.
Thank you for sharing
John
superpau
(1464) 2006-11-26 16:39
Hola Jose
me gusta mucho el trabajo que hiciste en PP, especialmente al corregir tu POV. Quedó muchisimo mejor!
Los detalles son intensos, asi como tambien la luz! Me gusta la sombra, como se proyecta sobre la mitad del edificio. Una imagen muy frontal, pero que este edificio se merece!
Saludos!!!!
Paula.
adores
(46979) 2006-11-26 18:06
Alô José!
Excelente perspectiva desta Madersa que é realmente muito bonita.Gosto das cores e do efeito da sombra. Acho que o teu trabalho valeu a pena porque resultou muito bem.
Cumprimentos, Anabela
parbo
(11092) 2006-11-26 22:02
Hola Jose,
Art works at this façade is splendid. Motives tells us they were did mastery of precise works there. Excellently created few colored spectrum helps to show us different sections and standing visitors at door helping to us imagine the scale of your view. I checked also your workshop version and your work for this principal version is excellent with your detailed notes. Congratulations.
Friendly Regards,
Parbo
UnTrained
(0) 2006-11-27 7:53
Olá José,
good work to give more light for the details under the roof. A bit strange (on my monitor) are the people behind the door, but that is less than a detail. The structured walls in light and shadow are better than in the original. Well done.
In the meantime I checked the effect behind the door with another monitor - less strong!
Cheers, Ulf
fanch
(0) 2006-11-27 10:11
Bonjour Jose ,
Décidément , le Maroc semble être un pays magnifique et il est visiblement une grande source d'inspiration pout toi !
Ce batiment est magnifique et le travail avec Gimp fonctionne bien !
Je trouve que ton cadrage hésite entre deux possibilités : un cadrage large qui aurait bien convenu , ou au contraire un cadrage plus serré , qui aurait mis en valeur les détails de l 'architecture.
Tu nous as habitué à une très grande qualité de photo , c'est pourquoi je me permet d'être un peu critique !
Très amicalement ,
François
PS : la prochaine fois je ferai l'effort d'écrire en anglais !
Gustaw
(21670) 2006-11-27 15:01
Hi, my friend!
Next interesting photo from Marocco. Very interesing and beautiful architecture, nice warm colours and light. Interesting arab door.
Marek
Donald
(136) 2006-11-27 16:11
Hi Jose, I like the building very much, and I know what you were trying to do pulling the photo forwards, and I think you got so close but not quite! I do this sometimes and it is a very good tool so do not give up on it as it works very well with practise, I do think that you lost a bit of colour but over all you did well.
the building is very beautiful and the capture is very good. Good POV good Composition. and a very good note so well done my Friend.
Kind regards
Donald
lucski
(3691) 2006-11-27 16:48
hi Jose
nice photo with great details and colours, this building is amazing... great PoV and perspective
good job mate
TFS lukasz
Photo Information
-
Copyright: Jose Pires (stego)
(24132)
- Genre: ÌÅÑÒÀ
- Medium: ÖÂÅÒÍÎÉ
- Date Taken: 2006-07-26
- Categories: ÀÐÕÈÒÅÊÒÓÐÀ, ÈÑÊÓÑÑÒÂÎ
- Camera: Olympus E-300, 14-45 mm Zuiko Digital
- Exposure: f/8, 1/180 ñåêóíä
- More Photo Info: view
- Map: view
- Âåðñèÿ: Îðèãèíàëüíàÿ âåðñèÿ, Workshop
- Ïóòåâîäèòåëü: Morocco 2006
- Òåìû: Symmetry, World Heritage Sites Part VII, Médersa Ben Youssef de Marrakech [view contributor(s)]
- Date Submitted: 2006-11-26 15:17
Discussions
- To robertosalguero: Boy, you were quick! (1)
by stego, last updated 2006-11-26 03:29 - To fanch: Merci, François (1)
by stego, last updated 2006-11-27 11:53