Day 21 and 22 - Château de Chenonceau

Now it's time for the next gorgeous fairy tale chateau, situated in the Loire valley by the Cher River. Château de Chenonceau is one of the best known of the valley, and it's not surprising - it really is unique, as you'll see. It was built between 1514-1522 on the foundations of an old mill and later it was built to expand over the river - the castle is literally built on a bridge, which makes me think of a certain place in Game of Thrones. Who knows, maybe this is where George R.R. Martin got his inspiration from? It's certainly a place that sparks imagination and it has an other worldly feeling to is.

I don't have to tell you what a joy it was to walk around with a camera here. The chateau is absolutely stunning! The sky and the lighting really cooperated too, making it even more fun. We stayed here, exploring the castle and it's grounds, for the larger part of the day. As the sun crossed the sky I was lucky enough to catch it lit from different angles. This place really is hobby photographer's dream.

/MrsHjort

Day 20 - Cool and Damp

A trip to France is just not complete without a visit to a vineyard, and that goes double if you're doing a road-trip and are able to buy some of the wine to bring home with you. It's wonderful to create a nice memory of the place where the wine you drink months later came from, to remember the beauty of the surrounding area, the passionate wine makes themselves and the charm of wine cellars such as this one, at Domaine de la Chevalerie. Once a mine where they quarried stone, the caverns that were left behind turned out to be the perfect place to store and age wine. They have just the right temperature all year around and they're humid too, just the way the wines like it. Not to mention how beautiful they are.

/MrsHjort

Day 17 - Sunlight, Sunshine

The Swedish summer is a bit like a lottery - sometimes you hit the jackpot, but more often you lose out. The two latest summers have been jackpots though, and thankfully we got to enjoy this one before we hit the road down south. The summer in France was lovely too, but this year it was a bit hotter than I like it. I'm most comfortable when it's 25-30 degrees C, but some days it was as hot as 42 degrees. This was the very start of this year's heat wave though, so it was not that "bad" yet, but still hot enough that you didn't want to be outside when the sun was at its highest. Therefore, we visited Château de Villandry in the morning.

The sunny morning light really made the gardens pop. I especially like what it did to today's second picture - with the shadow running along the middle of the path in the tree avenue. The symmetry is quite neat. The back-lighting in the top photo was another thing I found interesting. It makes the shapes of the pruned bushes stand out in an interesting way.

/MrsHjort

Day 12 - Altar, Organ, Spaciousness

I thought I was finished with the shots from Cathédrale Notre-Dame d'Amiens, but I was not. These last ones just had to be added into the challenge. The first, because I love how it shows just how grand the cathedral is inside- and I like how the architectural shapes repeat in foreground and background. To wander inside this fantastic building in the morning in complete silence really was something I'll never forget and this image really reminds me of what it felt like being there... the experience of being almost alone inside this wonder was extraordinary.

The second shot is for Bob, who remarked that the organ in a shot from a cathedral Rome in this post was outmaneuvered by another compositional element. I couldn't help but think about you as I shot this, Bob :). Maybe the window steals the show a bit in this one... but I like to think that it shows off the organ as well. We didn't hear it play when we were in the cathedral, but it sure looks beautiful, and it's very tasteful how the inner decor works together.

I hope you like this one Bob :)

The third is quite similar to the first shot I showed you of the inside, but it's taken from a bit further in and I like this shot's composition better (and you can see the altar better), though the other one shows off the the spaciousness of the cathedral well, just like the top shot of today. Either way, I like this one too much to leave it out, so it became a bonus shot. not that I'm sure which ones are bonus shots and which ones are the official ones... just like a proud mother I like them all ;)

/MrsHjort

Day 11 - Glass Work

I couldn't let go of the pictures from inside Cathédrale Notre-Dame d'Amiens without showing you some of the gorgeous glass work. Like I said a few days ago, most of it has been changed out or renovated, but I really couldn't tell. Whichever way they were, they had amazing detail and every motif told a story. Mr and I stood a long time and just looked, trying to identify the biblical stories depicted.

If you have a sharp eye, you might note that there are some stuff missing in the edited shot - I removed some distracting elements. That's something I very often forget to do if they're not blatantly obvious. At least it is that way when I edit, since I know this I often return to my pictures at a later time to edit them a second time. That goes double if I'm putting them in a contest and I might go back to them several times to tweak tiny faults or mess with the contrast slightly. But maybe that's a common thing? Are you like that as well?


/MrsHjort

Day 9 - On the Inside

This is shot from just inside the big entrance to Cathédrale Notre-Dame d'Amiens. We went there in the morning, and as you can see it was nice and empty - just the way I like it when I shoot - it provides fewer distractions in the shots and more control over the composition. It also gifted me with a mood that is hard to get when places like this are crowded. It's was almost like that feeling you sometimes got when you were a child and went into a spacious building that you didn't quite know if you were allowed in. A feeling of being very small and of stepping inside a place that is so grand you also felt like a very insignificant part of the world. Like an ant on the floor of a building that has been a part of history, that has been visited by kings and other persons who have shaped the world we live in today. You don't get that feeling very often... but it's very cool when you do!

The raw format made a lot of difference in making this shot pop. I also enhanced the colors a bit to make things look "sunny" - it was cloudy when we were there, so things got a bit washed out inside. Though I have no doubt a sunny day would have provided its very own set of photographic problems. But then, maybe it also would have made things look cool if the sun shone through the colored windows... (on the sides, behind the pillars).

/MrsHjort

Day 8 - Light Show

We didn't know it before coming to Amiens, but the Cathedral becomes even more spectacular at night. When we heard there was a light show on I knew I couldn't miss it. It was truly an experience and I must have snapped a hundred pictures that evening. These are some of my favorites. I couldn't pick just one, so I made a collage.

After the show, they left the top middle lighting going and we were allowed to walk around and look at it up close. It really made a lot of difference, seeing everything all lit up in different colors and I started to notice a whole lot of details I would never had seen otherwise. The lighting was really masterfully done, matching the details of the building perfectly so that you could see what the figurines were carrying in their hands or the different styles of clothing they were wearing.

What picture is your favorite?

/MrsHjort

Day 4 - Bells and Clock Faces

We're still in Martinikerk. There are things to see inside you see. Like the bells, a short history video about the city and the church and a bell organ (is that the right word? It's the one that came to mind at). It was a nice surprise.

You're getting a bonus shot today. I think you can guess who this is, but for those that are not so familiar this is Mr, the apple of my eye and the inspiration for one of my BotS series' main characters. He's not as crazy in real life, though he sure likes to goof around. He doesn't like having his picture taken though, so getting to shoot him is rare. I'm working on getting him comfortable in front of the camera, but I can't really say anything because I'm the same way. I like being the one behind the camera :)

On a different note, I never stop being surprised of just how much difference the raw format makes. It's so cool how it can save pictures like the bottom one. It totally helps not having to worry about exposure as much as I used to.

/MrsHjort 

Day 65 - Trinità dei Monti

This is the inside of the church that was in yesterday's shots (the one at the top of the Spanish steps, if you don't follow me regularly). It was built in 1585 and it's unknown who designed its facade, but it is believed that a follower of Michelangelo, Giacomo della Porta, who had designed a similar church was the mind behind this one too.

The inside of this church is a bit different to the other churches in Rome - it's more minimalist. While that is not a phrase I'd usually use to describe it, the contrast brought the word to mind. To put it simple there is less color and not as many lavish details - the ceiling for example is not painted, nor is it filled with geometric patterns, it's simply light gray with some tasteful white lines to underline its architectural shape. I didn't get the ceiling in the shots though. Like I say yesterday I had the wrong lens with me and the 55-300 mm lens couldn't provide the wide angle I needed to make stuff work the way I wanted them to.

The second shot is of the view just outside the church. Beautiful in the morning with the light blowing life into all the shapes of the buildings, and a blue sky to top it all off. I rather like the way those three domes interact in this shot, don't you? :)

/MrsHjort

Day 64 - Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti

This is, of course, the Spanish Steps, designed by the architects Francesco de Sanctis and Alessandro Specchi. In Italian they're called Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti meaning the steps to the church Trinità dei Monti. The building of the 174 steps were funded by the French diplomat Étienne Gueffier between 1723-1725, linking the Spanish embassy to the church, that was under the patronage of the Bourbon French kings at the time. They have been sung about in many songs, and they have appeared in both tv-series and movies, and no wonder - it's a beautiful place. They had even put a bunch of flowerpots in the middle of them when we were there to make them look even lovelier.

As you can see, we visited the steps on two different occasions - I had the wrong lens (too heavy zoom) with me the first time and the lighting wasn't entirely to my satisfaction either, so, since the place was not far from where we stayed, we popped by a second time to snap a few quick pictures. I much prefer the lighting in the pictures to the right (that were taken on that second visit) to the one on the left. The blue sky was lovely but not as interesting as the cloudy drama in the other shots that were taken later in the day when the stairs were sunny - if you go too early they will be shaded by the surrounding buildings. That's the stuff you figure out as you explore a city. It's a good thing to think about which direction the sites are facing and when the best time to shoot them should be.

/MrsHjort

Day 55 - The Tranquility of the Roaring Past

These shots are also of Circus Maximus, but the top one is looking to its other end and the bottom is shot from... well the bottom, right in the middle of it between the racetracks. I don't imagine the old Romans would have thought that people would stroll this leisurely along it in the future. The spot is quite quiet nowadays, there are not even many tourists. It's a nice place to stop and catch your breath.

As you can see I've experimented a bit further with these shots than I usually do. If you've been following me, you know I don't enjoy editing shots from overcast days, but I'm trying my best to find interesting new ways to edit them. So this time I took on a bolder approach than I usually do and tried to use their colors differently, going for green and muting everything else a bit instead. I also added a soft tan treatment to the sky to give the shots a bit of a vintage feel. I bias of course, but I like them more this way, I hope you enjoy them too.

/MrsHjort

Day 49 and 50 - Through a Window

We're still at Castel Sant'Angelo. This is one of the windows in the apartments where the pope stayed. The left shot is another one of those shots that would have been too dark in jpeg, but was saved by the raw format. The glass-work, although beautiful, obscures a wonderful view of St Peter's Basilica. Though it certainly makes for an interesting photography subject, don't you think? :)

/MrsHjort

Day 47 - Sunday Mass

Castel Sant'Angelo is one of the tallest buildings in Rome. It has a terrace on its roof with a great view of St Peter's Basilica and Piazza San Pedro, as well as other well known places. If you go to the fort on a Sunday you'll see the people gather for mass in the Vatican - a beautiful and powerful sight.

The masses can be celebrated in the basilica, in the square or sometimes both; it depends on the expected number of people attending them. Most masses require you to have a ticket, but don't sweat it, the tickets are always free.

I was lucky with this picture. As you can see it was quite cloudy that day and we were up on the roof terrace for quite a while before the sun finally broke though and shone in the right spot. I quite like the result, a gloomy sky with bright sunny buildings below it :)

/MrsHjort 

Day 40 - Loose Canon

This is another shot of a place that I think has wonderful natural lighting. And I have to say, it's much more fun to shoot in places like this nowadays compared to a few years back, before I got post-ed software that could handle the raw format. It still amazes me how much more detail you can get out of a high contrast environment. The two step editing (Lightroom - Photoshop) takes a bit longer than just using one program but it's so worth it, and I'll never go back to just using jpg. No more cross your fingers and hope for the best, the loose jpg cannon  Nikon has been fastened and is now operated by an artillerist ;).

/MrsHjort

Day 39 - Solitude

As you enter Castel Sant'Angelo you'll pass by some wrought iron bars that section off small rooms. That is where I noticed this urn, all alone in a corner, with the light hitting it beautifully from the side. It's probably not special in any way - there was no explanation or plaque to tell me about it - but the scene was one of those that screamed "shoot me!". The light conditions - quite dark - had me wondering if I'd manage to pull it off, but the metal bars turned out to be excellent helpers. So I held my breath, steadied the lens on (and through) the bars and hoped for the best. I was happily surprised that it turned out to be free of motion blur and crystal sharp. It's weird, but this is one of my favorite shots from our trip... It's not of anything special or unique in any way, but that lighting... I really like its interplay with the urn and the wall behind it :)

/MrsHjort

Day 35 and 36 - Water and Stone

These pictures are, as some of you might have figured already, from Piazza Navona, right outside the Church I've been showing you pictures of the last few days. Here you'll find yet another Roman obelisk, but it didn't make into my choice photos because of background problems - I'm very picky with what pictures I keep and even more picky with the ones I choose to edit. That's the way you get, for bad or worse, when you've been an eager aspiring hobby photographer for... has it been seven years already!? Wow, where did the time go... Being picky is both great and not so great. It's great because it keeps you on your toes and makes you think about your shots in a way that makes you a better photographer, but it's not so great because you loose that spontaneous element of photography - the "point and shoot" without any preparation. So called snapshots really have their own charm and I like how they capture "real moments" rather than choreographed or planned ones, if that makes sense, but I digress.

Anyway, You'll find three fountains at this square and these are pictures of the largest of them - the Fountain of the Four Rivers by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. It displays four river gods and represents the four continents to where the papal authority has spread by depicting famous rivers - the Nile (Africa), Danube (Europe), Ganges (Asia) and Rio de la Plata (South America).

I'm beginning to find my footing with the gloomy pictures I think. A comment from my favorite sarge got me thinking a bit, and I tried something that I haven't done before in the middle picture. This is where it all gets a bit nerdy, but it occurred to me that the flat look you get out of photos shot on overcast days can be overcome through selective editing. So, I faked things a bit and edited the statue and the background differently from each other when it came to color. In real life, the color of the stone fountain and the church in the background is much more similar, but I wanted the statue to stand out more, so I edited it accordingly. It's still a gloomy picture, but I like it a lot more with the faked interplay of foreground and background. It may not be entirely honest... but then most photos aren't. From mobile photo filters to "Photoshopping"... everybody likes to enhance their shots :)

/MrsHjort

Day 34 - Gloomy Sky

So, like I said yesterday this is Sant'Agnese in Agone, a 17th century church built in baroque style devoted to st. Agnes. The story goes that she was a Roman noble with many suitors, but she was devout and turned them all down. They submitted her name to the Christian authorities. She was put to death and suffered martyrdom at the age of 12. The church is now built at the site where she died and named for the agony she was put through before they beheaded her. You can even find her remains inside - her scull can be found at her shrine.

To move on to a completely different subject, the weather wasn't cooperating with me outside the church. This picture is a perfect example of why I don't like shooting in gloomy weather. All color just goes bye bye and no matter how you tweak it, you can never make it look happy and bright - which is what I like my photos to be. Gloom is my Achilles' heel. I've never really known what to do with it. So, if you have any suggestions on how to make shots like this pop in post-ed, I'm all ears and grateful for every tip.

/MrsHjort

Day 19 - Marble and Stone

Continuing on with the Vatican Museum theme, here is another example of what the interior looked like. I find rooms like these quite tasteful - discrete natural colors and nothing too excessive. I absolutely love the classical style and I also like the subtle differences in the colors of the stone. (We'll save some examples of "sensory overload rooms" for tomorrow). 

The statues in the museum are beautiful, but it was not easy getting a clean shot of them as there are a lot of visitors in the museum every day. This was one of the very few clean ones that I managed to get, and the one that I like the most personally. It was the angle he angle that caught my eye, and the lighting, though admittedly statues like these look great in just about any lighting. The interplay between background and foreground was interesting as well but I wish I had brought my 55-300 mm lens so that the background would have become a bit softer. That's the price you pay for convenience I guess, but I doubt that I would have been able to get the composition right with it, since it would have required me to stand farther away (I don't think there was room for that). Also there's the light issue. More zoom requires more light or you'll get a slight motion blur, so I guess it was for the best in the end... you can't have everything, and lugging around gear is not that practical in a museum like this where there are a lot of people - the smaller you are the easier it is to make your way through the crowds.

Unfortunately, I don't know the name of the top statues, but the bottom one is of Laocoön - a figure in Greek and Roman mythology - a Trojan priest who was attacked, with his two sons, by giant serpents sent by the gods. The statue is larger but I really like this close-up of only Laocoön. It makes you notice some really nice details like the veins in the arms and torso. The statue was made somewhere around 200 BC but it's likely a copy of a bronze original. In turn, this marble version may not be completely original, as it shows signs of heavy restoration. Nonetheless, it's
considered a masterwork.

/MrsHjort

Day 12 - Winged Victory

I had trouble finding facts about the statues on the roof of Altare della Patria beyond their names and who made them. This is Quadriga della Libertà by Paolo Bartolini and on the opposite side of the roof terrace you'll find its counterpart Quadriga dell'Unità by Carlo Fontana. The terrace itself is named for them - Terrazza delle Quadrighe. The statues were completed in 1911 - the 50th anniversary of unified Italia - but they were not placed on the monument's roof until the year of 1930. As you may have guessed, Quadriga has something to do with the number four - it's what you call a chariot pulled by four horses.

As I went up on the terrace, the first thing that hit me, smack in the eye, was of course the gorgeous view. The next thing was the wonderful camera angle you get of these statues, contrasted against the sky. But how to make the shot different and even more bold? Break one of the basic photography "rules" and shoot straight into the sun of course. So I went to a spot that placed the sun in a way that made it look like a halo over the angel's head, and then waited for the clouds to move into a nice looking position. I hoped for the best and thought I'd worry about the lens flare later. It turned out to be an easier fix than I thought though, and I actually only got one green hued circle (with a tiny yellow one inside it). A few tweaks and some cloning later, and I dare you to guess where it was ;).

/MrsHjort

Day 9 and 10 - Sant'Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso

Sorry, I missed a day there, but I'll make up for it with two shots today.

This is a basilica church called "Sant'Ambrogio e Carlo al Corso" or "San Carlo al Corso" for short. It's dedicated to two saints from Milan - St. Ambrose and St. Charles Borromeo. If you go back to my post on day two, you can actually see the dome in the picture of our view from the balcony of the suite where we stayed. It's the big one right in the middle of the picture. I didn't actually think about that until I researched it (I do that each day as I post these pictures).

Anyway, St Ambrose (c. 340–397) was the governor of Liguria and Emilia before he became a bishop and became one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th century. He is considered one of the Latin Doctors of the Church and apparently he was a flexible fellow who wasn't rigid about religious customs; "[w]hen I am at Rome, I fast on a Saturday; when I am at Milan, I do not. Follow the custom of the church where you are.".

St. Charles Borromeo was the Roman Catholic archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584 and a cardinal. He had a leading role in the counter-reformation movement against the protestant reformation and was responsible for several significant resforms including the founding of seminaries for the education of priests.

To move the subject over to photography, I tend to find shooting places like these a bit challenging. There are the standard shots of course, but the ceilings... It's tricky to compose all those curved lines and circles. Not to mention the lighting... Thank goodness for Raw!

/MrsHjort