Cathedral of Tarragona Photo

Photographer's Note

About the photo:

The results I got don't match the expectations I had when I photographed these old blocks that keep a strong medieval atmosphere. I was aware that the unavoidable high contrast would ruin most of the photos of the narrow streets with dark shadows, not to mention the awkward perspectives produced by the wide angles needed if I wanted something more than just details. The use of exposure bracketing and shooting groups of photos aiming at making some stitchings later also proved worthless. However, to my unskilled eyes, the light was good to architecture photos during the time I was near the cathedral - the clouds lowered the contrast, but not too much, and it was bright enough to use f.8-11 at 1/100. There wasn't many people either, so it looked like I had nearly perfect conditions to get good shots, some of them for making panoramas.

It wasn't one of my best days, I wasn't able to profit being alone without anybody rushing me to move along or just looking bored. I guess that a tripod would have been useful, but as far as I remember, I was too lazy to carry it. There are two annoying things that I notice in the shots I do in occasions when I think about panoramas and make be angry with myself: one is that I disregard getting shots that are worth by themselves, i.e., they don't need to be stitched to render a worthy photo; another one is that most of my sets of shots prove incomplete to make good panoramas - in the case of this cathedral, the best panorama technic wise misses the upper part of the arcade above the door.

This is a single shot. I would like that the shadows weren't so dark and the perspective was more straight, but this is the best I could do.

About the cathedral:

It started being built in the 2nd half of the 12th century, in Romanesque style, but many parts of it are Gothic, like this fa蓷de. It was consecrated only in 1331. You can find more details in the Spanish Wikipedia.

On the place of the actual cathedral stood sucessively a Roman temple dedicated to the cult of the Emperor (the temple of Augustus, the first Roman emperor), a Visigothic cathedral and a mosque.

The area was the Forum of the of Tarraco, the first major Roman city in Iberia and I guess also the most important during all the Roman rule of Iberia. It was founded in the 3rd century BC near an existing and already important Iberian settlement, and it was the capital of the first and largest of the 3 Roman provinces of Iberia, first known as Hispania Citerior and then Hispania Tarraconensis.

Other posts of the cathedral in TE: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

Location of the POV (latitude, longitude): 41.1185,1.25753. View in Live Search

shevchenko, Wanda1, besnard, jusninasirun, Valerka, eungbong, BennyV, danos, ifanik, bostankorkulugu, adores, paura, hispic, Giorgio, rodgerg, lucasgalodoido, jlbrthnn, Docarmo, Gerrit, gracious, AiresSantos, Emile, sunamoon, Didi, adramad, JCG, parbo, riclopes has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Guto (1738) 2009-03-29 19:02

The contrast with darken sky looked good here. Maybe it increased the medieval atmosphere. Well, I don't know another way to shoot in those narrow streets, but using wide lens. Maybe you could try to correct perspective by software edition, but sometimes it doesn't produce good results. I've tried some panoramic stitched photos, but not from architecture pictures, only for landscapes. I bet that joining two or three pictures would be quite a trouble here.

Only as a suggestion, maybe a composition a little closer to the cathedral could work, I mean, maybe you needn't shot at 10mm. I think that a small vertical stripe from both sides could be cut off. Well, just an opinion...

dvlazar (6662) 2009-03-29 19:10

NIce light work in this shot - the sky is sure looking enhanced but it works. A well framed photo of this scene.

Cheers,
Dave

shevchenko (20560) 2009-03-29 20:33

Hello Jose,
Single shoot also present very well the feature of an old corner, fantastic stormy sky against yellowish walls, what a silent corner before raining, thanks for sharing the impressive view.
Ally

Wanda1 (15142) 2009-03-29 20:44

Hi Jose,
The walls on either side in diagonal really draw us into the scene and towards the beautiful cathedral which is the focal point. Great textures and detail all round.
Regards
Wanda

besnard (59196) 2009-03-29 21:38

Bonjour Jose
Un tr鋊 joli clich� de cette tr鋊 belle 嶲lise bien cadr嶪 avec des couleurs bien satur嶪s qui la mettent en valeur.
Merci pour cette belle image et bonne journ嶪.
Nicole

jusninasirun (17529) 2009-03-29 22:42

Hi Jos�.

The sky is threatening and attractive in the composition. I like the architecture so well framed in the composition. The details and contrast is so well established. Beautiful work and thanks so much for sharing.

Best regards,
Jusni

aadilj (18102) 2009-03-29 22:46

HiJose, this is beautifully nuanced and very well composed image with dynamic hues and vibrant patterns. the pov and the eprspective are superb as well

HimalAnda (10671) 2009-03-29 23:32

Bonjour Jose,

J'aime ce point de vue avec l'appareil photo plac� assez bas. La cath嶮rale est ainsi plus imposante, impressionnante. Et le contraste fait avec ces nuages gris et mena蓷nts est superbe.

St廧hane

Valerka (8171) 2009-03-29 23:40

Hi,Jose,
A very good take of this cathedral.
I like how it leads to the cathedral.Thank you for the supplied detailed information, too.
Nice week.
Valerka:)
TFS

smarcell (19965) 2009-03-30 0:00

Very good sharpness and colors.
A nice picture
Regards Stefano

pauloog (11751) 2009-03-30 0:41

Hello Jose,
A fine view in beautiful ochre colours under a dark sculpted sky.
Good clarity despite the lack of sun, demonstrating that shadow photos are often a good choice.
In workshop I have provided a straigtened version, in case you are worried about the perspective distortion.
Regards,
Paul

[workshop] [compare] +

jmdias (114278) 2009-03-30 2:59

z�

fui expulso desta catedral quando l� estava, iam fazer uma missa e as beatas me puseram para fora sem gentilezas.hahaha. linda vista, eu j� nem me lembrava mais de como ela era. gosto da sobriedade das paredes e o cotraste forte com os or=namentos, as edifica誽o ao redor nos encaminham para a catedral. bela a suavidade da luz e o enquadramento e pov

abra蔞s

jorge

coco (30439) 2009-03-30 4:37

Hola Jos�.

I appear in one of the links!!
Well, I know this place and I can say you made a good work. And it was not easy, cause the light and the exposure, and also cause the distorsion.
Well, it's true this is a good photo but... next time carry on the tripod.

Regards.

BennyV (34742) 2009-03-30 5:37

Ola Jose,
I like this picture, especially the light on the cathedral facade, but I like even more your personal note. Thanks a lot for your comments and open-ness in sharing your experience, that's much appreciated.

Benny

danos (110407) 2009-03-30 7:26

Ol� Jose,
what a great perspective and POV is this! I like the extraordinary fa蓷de of the Cathedral,with the upper construction of it, to outline against the blue sky.The old buildings in both sides of the scene, create a Medieval atmosphere.Well done.

Have a nice afternoon,Danos

oriolm (1142) 2009-03-30 8:58

really beuatiful! lovely atmosphere and colors!

ifanik (21679) 2009-03-30 10:09

Woawwwwwww
Excellent photo my friend
Wonderful colours and nice POV
Best regards
Nick

vincz (19113) 2009-03-30 13:06

Elle est magnifique celle la Jose ! La lumiere est extraordinaire, la precision remarquable et quel beaux nuages dans ce ciel bleu pour couronner le tout. Une tres belle image.

sagar (2410) 2009-03-30 13:09

Hi Jose,
The sky has given a very dramatic feel to the nice geometric composition. Nice work in color.
Regards,
Sagarneel.

guitianmiranda (22) 2009-03-30 13:10

Fant嫳tica fotograf燰 con un encuadre perfecto. La forma en la que has gestionado el color y el contraste es simplemente de 10. Adem嫳 disfrutar de este espacio limpio de gente y elementos contaminantes es todo un placer.

Un saludo Jose.

bostankorkulugu (42866) 2009-03-30 14:45

what are you talking about, this is a great shot man... loved the sky, loved the light, loved the architectural details around... and loved the way you show them all mister... cheers... korkut

adores (46979) 2009-03-30 15:48

Ol� Jos�!
Olha que a foto n緌 est� nada m�! N緌 sei quais eram as tuas expectativas, mas ficou muito bem. Gosto do pov, da luz, da nitidez e at� do c徼. At� as lojas de souvenirs deram um bom detalhe! Ficou alguma igreja por fotografar l� em Espanha:)))?

Bluejeans (64251) 2009-03-30 16:14

Oi amigo ,
Esta tua foto est� de grande qualidade fizeste um bom trabalho , gostei muito dos tons das pedras , a igreja tem uma arquitectura muito bonita , o c徼 estava fant嫳tico ,perante as outras fotos a tua � a melhor , parab幯s!!
Um abra蔞 Gon蓷lo

paura (25802) 2009-03-30 19:43

Lind疄sima, amigo. Trabalho de mestre tanto nos aspecto art疄tico como no t嶰nico. Parece-me que vc consegue tirar tudo de sua E-300.

Abra蔞

PAulo

hispic (9658) 2009-03-30 19:49

Ol� Jos�!
What an amazing three-dimensional feeling despite flat light! especially on the facade of the cathedral. Vertical perspective is very natural, and the white cloud works truly effectively. I like this shot with a superlative image quality.
Regards, Hisashi

danyy (0) 2009-03-30 22:12

Bonjour Jose,
cette photo est vraiment l'exemple d'exposition parfaite. Celle qui permet de partout, voir le moindre d彋ail. Le ciel est vraiment magnifique et coiffe cette place aux couleurs chaudes.
Amicalement.
Daniel.

Giorgio (11279) 2009-03-30 23:30

- Bel endroit Jos� m瘱e si les marchands de souvenirs comme souvent, obstruent un peu le paysage, c'est un 嶮ifice superbe et tu en tires le meilleur parti, si en bonus 蓷 t'as permis de faire des essais, 蓷 passe le temps, en tout cas bravo !
giorgio

rodgerg (55767) 2009-03-31 2:46

Bonjour Jos�,

Un superbe 嶮ifice dont tu as tr鋊 bien capt� les d彋ails. Le POV est tr鋊 bien choisi et donne une belle impressiion de profondeur � l'iamge. La couleur des mat廨iaux ressort tr鋊 bien sous ce ciel nuageux. Tr鋊 bien r嶧lis�, tr鋊 int廨essant.
Amiti廥,
Roger

delkoo (68) 2009-03-31 3:44

bonjour jos�
ta pr廥entation, est particuli鋨ement r徼ssi, les maisons qui bordent l'image am鋝ent le regard droit vers l'entr嶪 de la cath嶮rale, le ciel est tres r徼ssi et compl鋈e parfaitement la composition.

didier

carper (96) 2009-03-31 3:48

marvelous shot here Jose,
I like the low point of view, good lines, fine depth, great quality job, fantastic... have a nice day
regard jaap

lucasgalodoido (27698) 2009-03-31 5:19

Ol� Jos�,
bem interessante mesmo essa igreja, e melhor que ela foi essa captura do c徼. Gosto de imagens com as nuvens assim, embora as vezes devido ao forte contraste e sombras sejam bem dif獳eis de se fotografar, mas saiu-se bem aqui, com um bela foto.
Parab幯s e Abra蔞

jlbrthnn (76043) 2009-03-31 7:07

Bom-dia Jos�,
A cor do c徼 p髊 em valor as cores ocre da fachada da catedral. O seu aspeto moyennageux � quase intato. O enquadramento em contramergulhado ligeiro � excelente. Boa luz, perfeita clareza. Bravo.
Passa um bom dia
Cordialmente
Jo螔

Docarmo (9767) 2009-03-31 8:07

Ol� Jos�,
Tenho a impress緌 de que a localiza誽o desta catedral n緌 facilita em nada para o fot鏬rafo - o acesso visual � estreito em compara誽o com a ampla fachada do edif獳io. E fizeste um excelente trabalho! Dei uma olhada em outras fotos desta catedral e a tua � a melhor, na minha opini緌. Impressionante como conseguiste um momento sem nenhum turista no campo visual!
Parab幯s!
MCV

ilDottore (5252) 2009-03-31 12:31

Hi Jose,
With this Sigma lens results are just SPECTACULAR!
Wonderful colours and composition, unique atmosphere.
Congratulations!
Chris

Gerrit (62042) 2009-03-31 13:20

Wow, Jose,
what a beautiful church in a fantastic setting. Great light and colors.
Regards, Gerrit

meltemi (0) 2009-03-31 14:19

Hello Jose,
what an imposing building that stands well out against the sky, impressive sharpness in the architectural details, attractive colour palette in the fine light. Bravo.
All the best.
Stella

gracious (20025) 2009-03-31 18:06

Ola Jose,
A really strong medieval atmosphere with the two old blocks included in this best pov!
excellent quality in sharpness, the beautiful lighting and great details in this image!
I loved this shot a long with thanks
take care
Tony

AiresSantos (56155) 2009-04-01 0:04

Ola Jose
Magnifica foto da Catedral de Tarragona. As cores estao estupendas e o controlo de luz muito bom.
Um abraco Amigo
Aires

Emile (20352) 2009-04-01 13:09

Hola Jose.
Creo que tu has hecho una buena critica de tu propia foto en tu excelente nota, no hay mucho mas que decir, es una toma muy dif獳il y quiz嫳 lo 𠒇ico que veo es un poco desviada a la derecha, pero esto es insignificante. Me gusta mucho tu trabajo. Estupenda composici鏮.
Un fuerte abrazo y cari隳s a la familia.

sunamoon (10) 2009-04-02 13:00

Ol� Jose,

La arquitectura gotica es muy bonita, los colores y el dise隳 de esta catedral es realmente bella, el ambiente con el cielo tormentoso hace un buen contraste, excelente calidad!

Saludos,
Elena

Didi (61589) 2009-04-02 15:44

Salut Jos�
Quand-m瘱e la composition est bien prise et la lumi鋨e 彋ait bien g廨嶪, un bon braketing sans surexposition.
Je garde toujours mon tripode dans le coffre de ma voiture :)
Amiti廥

adramad (72562) 2009-04-03 10:00

Hola Jose.
Un buen trabajo el de esta preciosa composion. Preciosa luz y color, bonito cielo y un marco que la engrandece aun mas. Mis felicitaciones.
Un abrazo de Luis.

JCG (35153) 2009-04-05 2:27

Bonjour Jos�,

Ce ciel fabuleux offre un tr鋊 bon relief � l'image et fait bien ressortir les belle couleurs chaudes de cette architecture de premier plan. J'aime beaucoup la finesse de l'image qui permet une agr嶧ble lecture des d彋ails. Pas beaucoup de monde sur la place en cette p廨iode !!! La menace du ciel peut-皻re, mais bien pour la photo... Belle photo et merci pour la note toujours int廨essante.

Avec toutes mes amiti廥 et un tr鋊 bon dimanche,

Jean-Charles

parbo (11092) 2009-04-07 10:32

Ol� Jose,

I'm admire your creative skill capturing historical facades and buildings too. Here your photo perfectly detailed and sharpened with excellent usage of light. Gray sky increases its beauty and creates splendid contrasts. Great usage of buildings at sides, especially with right one... its amazingly old textured facade.

Parab幯s e Abra蔞!

Ertugrul

riclopes (35577) 2009-05-11 1:50

Ol� Jos�, a tua nota diz-me mais uma vez que 廥 demasiado t嶰nico e exigente contigo pr鏕rio. A meu ver isto est� fabuloso. A fachada � super interessante e fotog幯ica o enquadramento com os outros edif獳ios igualmente interessantes � perfeito e aquele c徼 ajuda ao show. Ver as bancas de postais tur疄ticos e n緌 ver ningu幦 � vista � quase assustador (como o teu 萖timo post ;-) mas esta fachada g鏒ica dispensa bem a presen蓷 de pessoas e provavelmente at� ficou melhor assim. Quanto ao contraste com as sombras, por mim at� podia estar mais.
um abra蔞,
ricardo

jackart (6702) 2009-05-14 11:35

hello Jose!

Very good shot. Beautiful light amazing architecture great sky and magnificent POV. Very good composition. I like it a lot.

Regards
Jacek