Iconostasis St Spas, a photo from Skopje, West

Photographer's Note

2 of 6 main paintings adorning the marvellous walnut iconostasis within the Church of St Spas. I went straight inside and took a few photos without flash. When I exited the church, the lady caretaker told me that absolutely no photography was allowed in there. Far too many people use flash indoors on priceless, irreplaceable paintings which are damaged over time by the UV rays in the flash. I don't even like flash most of the time. It creates hard shadows and reflected highlights, unless bounced or diffused. Anyway, these paintings and the ornately decorated Iconostasis date from 1819-1824 AD and were created by three brothers from Galichnik; Petre Filipovski 揋arka,� his brother Marko, and Makarie (Macarius) Frckovski. They have left their 'copyright' on the wooden engravings with carvings of themselves.

https://travelswithsheila.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Skopje-church-St.-Spas-carvers-300x201.jpg

The church itself dates from the late Seventeenth or early Eighteenth Century, after a fire in 1689 AD destroyed much of Skopje. More info and pics here:

https://travelswithsheila.com/the-astonishing-church-of-st-spas-in-skopje-macedonia.html

Oh, and here's a shot I found on the net showing a wide angled view of the entire iconostasis. The shooting angle has resulted in the lamps hanging in front of the paintings. I went for a lower pov without the lamps by crouching up closer.

https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/10/54/48/1f/the-walnut-frescoes.jpg

COSTANTINO, Fis2, ikeharel, holmertz, pierrefonds, jhm, clic has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Silvio1953 (221729) 2021-09-25 22:09

Ciao Chris, great view of fantastic artwork of fruits, wonderful colors, fine details and splendid sharpness, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

COSTANTINO (116580) 2021-09-25 22:52

Hello dear Chris and have a pleasant
Sunday
thanks for sharing this religious photo
with us concerning the work Icinostassis...
there is the same word in greek language...
.....εικονοστάσι....
regards
Costantino

ifege (48159) 2021-09-25 23:05

Hi Chris
You are doing a Silvio today. Very few places ban photos taking these days because of the difficulty of enforcing the rules. No flash though is understandable in old settings and my Pentax camera does even have a built in flash.
You managed excellent well lit no-flash photos of these good old works.
cheers
Ian

jemaflor (147224) 2021-09-25 23:27

Hi Chris,
well photographed these paintings, perfect rendering, sharpness, light and colors, well made, interesting, tfs.

Fis2 (170861) 2021-09-26 0:33

Witaj Chris!
Beautiful ikonostasis, I love it.
Good POV, colors Nd sharpness.
Excellent presentation.
Good work.
Good evening.
Krzysztof

holmertz (102774) 2021-09-26 0:44

Hello Chris,
The colours and sharpness of this photo are just amazing. It really looks like a flash photo, minus hard shadows. I also dislike flashes and have rarely used one.
Regards,
Gert

lousat (139332) 2021-09-26 2:15

Hi Chris,beautiful memory from Skopije,2 iconostasis very typical of orthodox style, the quality of pic is wonderful considering made without flash and tripod! Have a nice Sunday and thanks,Luciano

pierrefonds (114536) 2021-09-26 4:49

Bonjour Chris,

Le cadrage serr� met les oeuvres d'art en 関idence. La prise de vue permet de voir les d閠ails des icones. La lumi鑢e fait ressortir la beaut� des couleurs. Bonne journ閑.

Pierre

jhm (211736) 2021-09-26 9:26

Hello Chris,

I like the two paintings
Both pictures are pleasant to look at
Excellent sharp and clear.
An excellent composition, also a best presentation.
Very well done, TFS.

Best regards,
John.

Tue (92470) 2021-09-26 12:22

Hello Chris,
An excellent and very clear photo of these two wonderful works of art, displayed in beautiful frame. Their colours are so beautiful as well and illuminated very nicely.
Lars

mkamionka (74535) 2021-09-27 1:36

Hi Chris,
Excellent quality here.
So clear and sharp. I am also impressed that you managed so well with the polarizing filter inside. I noticed that polarizing filter too often interferes with autofocus when I take photos in dark interiors or even in the evening when the sun is low already.
Even though I am following rules, I thing no photography rule is a terrible one.
Shops don't want to be photographed, Parents don't want their children to be photographed, borders cannot be photographed, interiors too often cannot be photographed, etc
But occasionally I see places which advertise now that you can take photos and they encourage you to share your photos to advertise their place.
Great reportage here,
M

pajaran (115989) 2021-09-27 10:47

Pozdrav.

Lep pogled, interesantan i dobar tekst ...
Lepe ikone, dobro pokazane sa lepim bojama i kontrastom.
Dobar rad, lepa fotografija.

Zelim vam sve najbolje u novoj nedelji koja je pocela.
Paja

clic (76) 2021-09-28 10:20

Hello Chris
Your cleverness to avoid the trap of undesirable reflects and hanging votive artefacts is quite rewarded in this perfect capture of the icons.
Thanks for showing so beautifully.
Cheers

jmdias (115252) 2021-10-16 5:49

chris

Very beautiful photo of artwork. The Saint John with his head is amazing. Excellent artwork.
Tc
Jorge