Stone lion guarding the cathedral, a photo from Avila, Castilla y Leon

Photographer's Note

Do you remeber the lions on the mailbox? Now I present you another lion sitting on the same square, guarding the cathedral that lies on the right. The tower in the background is from the Pal醕io de los Velada, a construction more than 400 years old that it is now turned into a hotel.

Link to all my posts of Avila: *

Location (latitude, longitude): 40.6558188,-4.697948

phwall, Atousa, zeca, robertosalguero, bakes888, gracious, riclopes, Charo, lucasgalodoido, adores, jaywalker, ellelloo, Docarmo, danos, pboehringer, paura, JCG, xuaxo, parbo, Angelillo, maloutim has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

phwall (6787) 2008-10-08 20:41

Hello Jose,
He looks majestic sitting there, I like the colour the light has given him.
Very interesting composition, the low POV accentuates the lion and still introduces the hotel in the background.
Good balance too, many people shooting this scene would have tried to fill the frame with buildings or whatever. Leaving so much dark sky allows the loin to dominate the shot.
I like it very much.
Regards
Peter

Atousa (7131) 2008-10-08 21:32

Salam Jose,

Seems so elegant as the real lions are..the color contrast is good as well in this shot .. lions are a kind of symbol in Iran too n we had lots of them in past n now not even a single one except in form of statues n paintings !..
a magnificent shot..thank you
Greetings, A

robertosalguero (292) 2008-10-08 22:05

Ola Jose,

Very nice shot! The lion is an excellent subject in this composition. The colours stand out well to give the composition more contrast. Interesting point of view to capture the blue sky above the yellow tones. This seem like a nice place to visit Jose! Cheers.

Roberto

UnTrained (0) 2008-10-08 22:42

Ol� Jos�,
the view from below so close makes the lion strong and powerful even being only of stone. The dark sky and the light around help here a lot to give good and effective contrasts and also well presented textures. I just wait for it to lower the view and have a look on me.
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

pablominto (53746) 2008-10-08 23:25

Hello Jose,

This point of view is very effective in creating depth and dynamics in the composition!
The special light adds a golden touch to the granite lion, and the deep blue sky makes a great background...
A well balanced composition with fine lines!

Greetings,
Pablo -

devimeuxbe (58557) 2008-10-08 23:57

Hi Jose
tr鑣 belle lumi鑢e et tr鑣 belle nettet� sur ce Lyon qui semble veiller sur le lieu avec application.
Bon choix de la perspective
Amicalement
Bertrand

colibriav (2208) 2008-10-09 0:33

Hola:
Has aprovechado muy bien tu estancia en Avila. Hace a駉s estos leones estaban atados con cadenas. Un accidente a unos excursionistas hizo que tuvieran que quitarlos las cadenas y dejarlos sin ellas.
(Las cadenas iban desde la boca del leon hasta la farola a la que miran)

Un saludo desde Avila:

Pablo

gracious (20025) 2008-10-09 0:39

Ola Jose,
I compliment for this truly fine and beautiful image with high standard!
you had achieved the best exposure and focus with beautiful lighting over it!
the pov is awesome with the best result
well done
take care and sincere regards
Tony

bakes888 (18499) 2008-10-09 0:39

Hi Jose. Great photo. Dramatic composition and POV. Excellent colours also. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers, Paul.

John_F_Kennedy (43797) 2008-10-09 1:01

An interesting night perspective with nice lights to be seen on the lion. Well done.
Best wishes,
Achim

riclopes (35577) 2008-10-09 3:31

Vais fazer uma colec玢o de le鮡s? Gosto da ideia :) Bom dia Jos�, o que me salta logo � vista � o gr鉶/textura da pedra que me faz lembrar mais um bolo do que uma est醫ua. Seria engra鏰do ver um bolo comest韛el deste tamanho. A composi玢o dram醫ica est� espectacular assim como a exposi玢o no conjunto e em especial na est醫ua. O contraste entre o le鉶 amarelado e o c閡 azul鉶 � fabuloso.
Um abra鏾,
ricardo

rodgerg (55767) 2008-10-09 5:39

Ol� Jos�,

A very nice and intersting night vew. This photo have many qualities: good use of light, original POV well selected, composition well balanced with a beautiful diagonal, yellow color whic arise very well in the black sky, ....
Congratulations for this very good photowork,
Roger

Charo (51290) 2008-10-09 6:40

Hola Jose,
Un encuadre muy singular y una diferente toma de Avila. Me gusta mucho la luz proyectada sobre el le髇. Muy bien visto.
Abrazos,
Charo

zeynepe (0) 2008-10-09 7:06

Ola Jose,
I like your Lion serie:) What I noticed at first is that your note is too short:)
The architectural details ,especially the lion next to the tower look fantastic with your perfect POV and under the dark blue sky...
Congrats and have a nice day,
Zeynep

zmey (7335) 2008-10-09 8:37

hi Jose
another dark blue: golden composition from you :) excellent POV. makes the place look more like a Zikurat than a cathedral...

warm regards,
kristaps

Gerrit (62042) 2008-10-09 9:51

Hi Jose,
original photo to take the lion as a central point.
I like the colors a lot. It's also a very gpood composition.
Regards, Gerrit

zeca (19762) 2008-10-09 10:01

O ponto de vis鉶 � muito bom, tornando a foto mais impressionante. A luz foi muito bem administrada e a exposi玢o acertada, captando inclusive o azul do c閡, mesmo com o manto da noite j� cobrindo a cidade.
Abra鏾,
Zeca

lucasgalodoido (27698) 2008-10-09 11:52

Ol� Jos�,
bem interessante essa captura, e boa escolha pela noturna, pois a ilumina玢o real鏾u bem a est醫ua. Belo trabalho amigo.
Parab閚s e Abra鏾

adores (46979) 2008-10-09 15:51

Ol� Jos�!
Gosto deste pov e da forma original como captaste o le鉶. Uma foto diferente da catedral. Boa exposi玢o e cores. A textura do granito ficou muito bem!

jaywalker (16105) 2008-10-09 16:32

Hi Jose, Quite an interesting POV here, so low has given the dark blue sky the oppotunity to become the background & this has worked very well, there is truly great texture & slightly off set from centre the lion is well positioned, TFS, kind regards Wilson,

ellelloo (6572) 2008-10-09 23:59

Hello Jos�,
A very good POV and dynamic composition. The exposure is excellent and the contrast between the lion and the architecture to the dark sky is very good. I like the way all textures are visible and clear. Well done!
Greetings,
Lasse

ifanik (21679) 2008-10-10 0:49

Another beautiful night view from you my friend
Nice colours and wonderful pov
Best regards
Nick

Docarmo (9767) 2008-10-10 6:43

Ol� Jos�,
Tamb閙 nesta aqui, gosto do ponto de vista de baixo para cima, a dar mais impon阯cia a este le鉶 com patas que parecem m鉶s. As texturas e o c閡 de um azul l韒pido e profundo s鉶 pontos que chamam a aten玢o. Uma imagem muito bem executada.
Como conv閙, a impon阯cia e a for鏰 da imagem est鉶 bem representadas aqui.
Um abra鏾,
MCV

danos (110407) 2008-10-10 8:11

Ola Jose,
impressive this lion that is quarding the entrance of the Cathedral.I like the play of convergence of the buildings lines in the center,as the this specific artificial yellow light that floodlight the whole scene.Well done.

Regards,Danos

mark_mk (266) 2008-10-10 10:42

Hi Jose,
another great blue hour shot! I like your low POV, which is very interesting. The blue hour is captured perfectly with 2sec. exposure. Great details and excellent sharpness, a very well done shot!

Take care
Mark

COSTANTINO (117756) 2008-10-11 9:56

Hello Jose
What beautiful photo
What a beautiful lion sitting there..Nice composition with good balance
thanks for your useful notes
have a nice week end
Costantino

pboehringer (770) 2008-10-11 15:41

Jose,
I like this composition a lot! The lion really conveys that sense of power, mightyness, etc. The texture of the granite is fabulous with the light conditions, although I have my doubts if you really got the right WB for this image.
Peter

paura (25802) 2008-10-12 6:48

Jos�,
Exposi玢o muito interessante e bem executada, com manejo de luzes e cores executados com maestria. Beleza de fotografia.

Abra鏾

Paulo

JCG (35153) 2008-10-15 4:03

Bonjour Jos�,

On dirait presque du HDR cette photo, j'aime beaucoup la lumi鑢e sur le lion qui fait bien ressortir de grain de la pierre. Le point de vue en contre plong閑 sur la b阾e lui donne un c魌� plus imposant et ce ciel d'un bleu profond est magnifique, joli travail photographique, bravo Jos�.

Avec toutes mes amiti閟 et une tr鑣 bonne apr鑣 midi,

Jean-Charles

xuaxo (6854) 2008-10-16 12:00

Ol� Jos�,
Acho este POV demasiado baixo, demasiado "for鏰do" talvez. Mal se percebe o contorno superior da cabe鏰 do bicho.
Bonita luz incindido na pedra.
Um abra鏾,
F ..-. .-. .- -. -.-. .. ... -.-. ---

parbo (11092) 2008-10-17 7:09

Ol� Jos�,

Perfect usage of lights and great texture by splendid effect of lion statue. I like its isolated yellow color from scene that makes your photo an interesting one. Again very good look from bottom with excellent addition of high facades. Very good one.

Parab閚s e Abra鏾!

Ertugrul

Angelillo (9374) 2008-10-20 14:37

Hola Jose,

Un punto de vista verdaderamente 鷑ico. Desde abajo se siente m醩 la fuerza del le髇. El empuje vertical de la foto es incre韇le, y la luz es un lujo: el amarillo parece tener luz propia.

Un saludo,
Angel.

ilDottore (5252) 2008-10-25 11:36

Hello Jose,
Wonderful night shot with this proud lion.
Excellent mysterious atmosphere thanks moody colours and composition.
Perfect job!
Greetings from Dublin!
Chris