The Dramatic Colonnade, a photo from Vatican City, Lazio

Photographer's Note

Hello Everyone,

I hope you will forgive me for showing you so many touristy places in Rome, but when it is your first time there, you just have to see the iconic places that you have seen on photographs and read about!

On our way to the Vatican Museum, we passed through St. Peter's Square. To see this colonnade is to stand in awe at the visual effect, and consider the skill of designer and craftsmen.

This open space which lies before the basilica was redesigned by Gian Lorenzo Bernini from 1656 to 1667, under the direction of Pope Alexander VII, as an appropriate forecourt. It was designed "so that the greatest number of people could see the Pope give his blessing, either from the middle of the faзade of the church or from a window in the Vatican Palace" . Bernini had been working on the interior of St. Peter's for decades; now he gave order to the front space with his renowned colonnades, using a simplified Doric order but making it on an unprecedented, colossal scale to suit the space and evoke a sense of awe.

I know this colonnade has been posted before so I tried to get a strong composition and for some originality, I used a filter to solarise it. ( liked the effect and I hope you approve, too.) As a workshop, I will post the original.

My warm regards, Bev :-)

ikeharel, ChrisJ, alvaraalto, jhm, Porteplume, PaulVDV, holmertz, COSTANTINO, snunney, macjake, cornejo has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

ikeharel (113385) 2018-10-30 7:44

Hello Beverley,
Nothing wrong for showing known tourists location in any place, and for this picture you done a great job.
There was an exceptional light condition which was seen through the famous colonnade and "cares" the statues above.
The outcome is marvelous, cheers,
Ike

Sergiom (117241) 2018-10-30 7:54

Bonjour Bev,

You are forgiven. This is one of the best of Saint-Pierre de Rome ever.The light on the colonnade and statues is perfect and the sky...WOW.I am just wondering why you did'nt post this one before.

Have a great day

Serge

ChrisJ (171852) 2018-10-30 7:55

Hello Beverley,

The sky is even more dramatic than the colonnaded piazza of St Peters. Nice repetition of the statues and columns with good sharpness. The streaks of sunlit yellow walls in the interior add a nice warm cold colour contrast. Tfs!

alvaraalto (42804) 2018-10-30 7:57

Hello Bev
This dramatic photo reminds me strongly of the work of some surreal painters like Giorgio de Chirico or Carel Willink. The latter named these paintings Arcadian landscapes with exactly this kind of skies and Roman buildings and statues.
Excellent photo management
Have a nice day, groet Rob

holmertz (102732) 2018-10-30 8:00

Hello Bev,
There's nothing wrong with showing the touristy places if they are as iconic as this colonnade, and if you try to make a composition of your own. You make it look like all hell is breaking loose over Saint Peter's. It's almost disappointing to see the WS and discover what a perfectly normal nice day it was. The darkness inside the colonnade and the statues seen against that ominous sky have a very dramatic effect. I like this experiment very much, so thanks for sharing.
Gert

recepyuksel (18640) 2018-10-30 8:14

Hello,
well processed
beautiful composition
Suitable colors and hues
congratulations

mesutilgim (0) 2018-10-30 8:25

Hello Beverley,
Very nice capture from Rome.
Everything here photographycally is perfect but the top of the top is the wonderfull sky, which creates a perfect background to the scene.
Many good and usefull notes and nice framing.
TFS and best regards
MESUT ILGIM

jhm (211736) 2018-10-30 9:01

Hello Bev,

Your picture is absolutely not dramatic only the sky has rain clouds.
A great artwork picture with all the statues
An excellent architectural image.
Perfect of quality and colours.
Very well done, TFS.

Good evening out out of a stormy Belgium,
John.

Tue (92402) 2018-10-30 9:42

Hello Beverley,
Of course I don't mind, I love posting photos of all the touristy place I visit too, they just need to be part of my gallery! This is a great shot of the famous colonnade with great lighting and a dramatic sky. Very well done.
Lars

Porteplume (4036) 2018-10-30 12:26

Hello Beverley,

Wow! A dramatic view indeed!
The sky looks absolutely stunning and the statues are so very sharp against the “metallic blue” of the air, just amazing!
Such an atmosphere... You did it just right!

Amitiйs,
Viviane

PaulVDV (62944) 2018-10-30 13:03

Hello Beverley,
WOW! Indeed this picture has a high dramatic level.
At first, I thought this was a blue hour picture.
Like Gert said, it's almost disappointing to see the reality in the WS :)
Nothing wrong with showing us the touristy places. After all, those places have convinced us to travel and to discover a new city/region/country.
Best regards, Paul

peterpap (2863) 2018-10-30 13:50

Hi Bev! Nice view lots of drama, almost scary. Great skies, so heavy...Impressing. Greetings.

emka (158198) 2018-10-31 0:02

Hello Bev, Famous classic view but with this post-processing, it looks really dramatic and unusual. Impressive composition. I imagine your excitement when you saw these iconic views with your eyes and camera.
Kind regards Malgo

COSTANTINO (116542) 2018-10-31 0:05

Hello dear Beverley and have a nice time
and a happy new day
thanks for sharing with us this dynamic
photo and yes you are right that it is
our first time we see iconic places
like this welldone and wellseen
regards
Costantino

jemaflor (147184) 2018-10-31 0:28

Hi Bev,
interesting frame, good result with these columns, photogenic with this colors and light in the sky, well captured, tfs.

snunney (130967) 2018-10-31 2:44

Hello Bev,
Nothing to forgive, everyone has to experience a new city in their own way. You present us with a very dramatic composition here. Perfectly composed, but but it is the lights and the colours that are the master of the scene. Bravo!

jimmj63 (0) 2018-10-31 3:25

ciao Beverley,
wow! a shot from the Doomsday, directly from Vatican City,
very good shot whit a dramatical light, nice composition, good POV,
ciao, Giacomo

lousat (139298) 2018-10-31 3:25

HI Bev. It looks like a photo taken yesterday after the terrifying rains that devastated Rome and beyond. Your work on the colonnade in this courageous and very dark composition is almost perfect. Of course it is a bit hard to digest, but stands out from the classic and boring WS. Have a nice day and thanks,Luciano

BennyV (34748) 2018-10-31 3:39

Very heavy PP, but my god does it work! High on drama and effect. The shadows underneath are superb too. It reminds me of poster artwork from the seventies. Really great job here, Bev. Thumbs up from Antwerp!

Benny

Silvio1953 (221659) 2018-10-31 5:46

Ciao cara Bev, fascinating blue hour with superb sky, great perspective on marvelous colomnade, wonderful colors and splendid light, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

CLODO (45116) 2018-10-31 5:48

Hi Bev

A dramatic change due to the post processing and you got a new vision of Rome to share with us. The original is really dull!
Best regards
Flight to Manchester tomorrow
CLODO

macjake (98456) 2018-10-31 12:49

Hi Bev
Never ever apologise for posting touristy places, they're there for a reason and should be photographed. Heck, when i go on holiday i have to shoot them too, and post them. No need to ask for forgiveness :) we can tell immediately its been photoshopped alot, but who cares if the result is like this. Its cool that you added in the real photo in the WS, i enjoy that. and ya, this has so much more impact and wow factor. awesome. cheers
Craig

jimmyjimmy (6164) 2018-10-31 18:55

Hello Bev

Almost looks like a scene from the Gladiator movie. Very well done on the saturation. Looks like dreamtime.

Jimmy

Nicou (193806) 2018-10-31 21:18

Hello

Fantastique colonne et jeu de colonne avec la courbe quel gris noir on voit ressortier la lumiиre en fond sueprbe vue et cpatage.
bravo et amitiй
nciou

mkamionka (74481) 2018-11-01 0:30

Hi Bev,
I think Rome is not enough on TE. This place is so beautiful I would post much more postcards, it really deserves it. This is one of my favourite spots. I think you have selected imprecise location. There is a county to select under Italy which is called Vatican :)
This place is truly breath taking but as you showed in the original photo it is very difficult to show its uniqueness. The processing is very interesting indeed. It feels so very dramatic and it reminds me the scene from the movie "Angels and Demons" if you didn't watch it -you should watch it now: Tom Hanks passes through so many familiar spots in Rome. So the sky seems to be here in some sort of explosion which happened in that movie in the sky over St Peter's Square.
So I would probably use the title Angels and Demons for this photo here :)

Very original reportage from Rome,
M

carlo62 (81265) 2018-11-03 14:28

Ciao Bev
sembra che abbiano apprezzato molto questa tua versione drammatica del colonnato, in effetti ha un impatto visivo molto efficace.
Buona domenica
Carlo

cornejo (61504) 2018-11-05 12:06

Hello Bev, very good photograph of this beautiful and interesting composition, very well captured in this interesting image, with good sharpness, light, color and quality. Very good and interesting work perfectly done, my congratulations my friend. Thanks for sharing this beautiful work.

Good night and happy beginning of the week.
Best wishes from the south of Spain.
Angel.

claudeD (47754) 2018-11-11 10:21

Hello Beverley,

wow! what an amazing picture of the colonnades in Vatican city. I especially like this dark sky, really a picture full of atmosphere. Very well done.TFS.

With regards from Luxembourg

JC

jmdias (115208) 2018-11-24 10:14

beverley

an excellent angle showing the repetition of these beautiful columns. I liked the visual effect of the clouds too. rome is fantastic anyway and we never be tired.

take care

jorge