Avila city walls II, a photo from Avila, Castilla y Leon

Photographer's Note

Here you have the 羦ila City Walls again, this time from a closer POV beside Puerta del Puente (gate of the bridge). I have shown this face of the walls twice: the part behind the POV appears on this post and this same part appears on this WS from a distant POV about 120 degrees to the left of this one. The San Segundo church and yellow water mill that I have shown in earlier posts also lie to the left.

WS's: A view of the yellow water mill and the river from the bridge that lies to the left of the POV, in front of the gate. I posted them for two reasons: I can't decide about the quality of the compo and I liked your opinion about the fake sky I used in #2. The #1 features a natural (OE) sky.

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The rest of the note is a copy of what I wrote in the earlier post of the city walls.

To my eyes, nearly all Spanish towns manage to have very interesting old parts that seem to not having changed much since the 16th century, at least - stone houses, mazing narrow streets, lots of old churches, sometimes with rough exterior walls, but often with rich interior decorations dating from the 12th to the 18th centuries, palaces, you named it... As amazing as the preserved architecture, it's the life that perspires in nearly every corner, Spaniards seem to spend much more time in the street than they do elsewhere, specially at evening, when everybody seems to come out and those who don't go the the balconies and windows of their homes.

That said, maybe in the context of Spain 羦ila isn't that special, but as its "rivals" also do, it has its own appealing character, even for those less religious who associate the town with its most famous children and long time residents, Saint Teresa of 羦ila and Saint John of the Cross.

However, the city has at least one thing that is obviously unique even for those who don't know about the other unique things of the city (for instance: oldest Gothic cathedral and highest province capital in Spain) and just pass by it: the city walls that surround all the medieval nucleus. In most of the towns that once had great walls, all that remains are just some parts, that more often than not were rebuilt as early as the 18th century, so no matter how impressive or long they are, they don't look "very medieval" because of the shapes of the fortifications changed much with the advent of artillery and its evolution. That didn't happen in 羦ila, where the city walls haven't a single break (the only ways in and out of the old city are the original gates) and the last reconstruction (at least for military reasons) occurred in the 16th century (according to Spanish Wikipedia). Not surprisingly, they are classified by UNESCO as World Heritage Site since 1985. They are said to be the the best kept city walls in Europe and the longest ones in the world after the Great Wall of China.

The walls were built between 1090 and 1099, soon after the conquest of the city from the Muslim rulers that occupied it since the 8th century, apparently using the remains of the older fortifications, namely from Romans and Visigoths times.

Link to all my posts of Avila: *

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Location (latitude, longitude): 40.65755,-4.70735

Docarmo, jusninasirun, ElAprendiz, gracious, ribeiroantonio, parbo, patshoo, shevchenko, ellelloo, lucasgalodoido, paura, mydrjoe, danos, AiresSantos, Jardim, adores, Wanda1, Charo, trekks, asajernigan, jaywalker, ilDottore, robertosalguero has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Docarmo (9767) 2008-09-16 18:32

Ol� Jos�,
Intenso efeito de profundidade que se destaca aqui! As diagonais que acompanham a profundidade est鉶 impec醰eis. Os ve韈ulos vindo em sentido contr醨io ao do nosso olhar d鉶 um efeito de contra-corrente muito interessante que d� din鈓ica � imagem.
A nota � simplesmente excelente! Prende a aten玢o e nos faz viajar em links util韘simos.
Parab閚s e obrigada!
MCV
Ah, j� ia me esquecendo, os WS s鉶 fant醩ticos, mostram como vale a pena fazer novo c閡 em velha terra ;-) Mudar o c閡 n鉶 atrapalha nada, se pode ajudar. E ajudou muito! Uma foto para ser um post principal, bel韘sima!

jusninasirun (17529) 2008-09-16 18:40

Hello Jose. Very good shot at this city wall. I like the detail and perspective captured here. Unique rock on the ground with the grass very well manicured. Well framed against the blue sky and I like the composition. Best regards. Jusni

gracious (20025) 2008-09-16 18:59

Ola Jose,
Excellent pov to capture this beautiful city wall with the best colour contrast between the wall, lawns and the blue sky!
the street lights and the path makes a good dividing line!
many thanks for the sharing
best regards
Tony

ElAprendiz (30) 2008-09-16 19:00

Hola de nuevo, mi amigo:

Aqui sin duda que la iluminaci髇 jug� un papel muy importante para captar con tu lente, una toma n韙ida y llena de perfecto alineamiento.

Los rasgos de la fachada se aprecian claramente, y la lateral de la toma, manifiesta la majestuosidad de esta obra antiqu韘ima.

Buen trabajo,

Saludos desde Colombia, John

parbo (11092) 2008-09-16 19:29

Ol� Jos�,

Rounded castle towers creates interesting view with their shortly repeats. I like their history and amazingly detailed textures on facades. Your skill full way already added a live model for helping us to scale your frame.

Parab閚s e Abra鏾!

Ertugrul

ribeiroantonio (22730) 2008-09-16 19:32

Pelo que nos mostras, os espanhois s鉶 muito melhores do que n髎 no que diz respeito a monumentos. Este parece estar extremamente bem arranjado. E por dentro, est� tamb閙 assim?
A foto est� perfeita, tanto em compo como em cores e luz.
Quanto ao WS, gosto do que fizeste no WS2 e j� por v醨ias vezes estive tentado em fazer o mesmo. Na realidade, o c閡 do WS1 est� um bocado sobre-exposto, apesar de ser mais interessante sob o ponto de vista de nuvens.
Antonio

patshoo (952) 2008-09-16 20:13

beautiful scenery,Well placing POV with well position of wall and rock element to made a repetitive order,Clear and crisp sharpness with well control of light and color too.Good work,TFS.

shevchenko (20560) 2008-09-16 20:22

Hi Jose,
Detail to show the structure of an historical wall built with stones, nice color between green field and blue sky, good pov to show perspective effect, this protection wall seem very high with compare to the walking people, thanks for sharing.
Ally

ellelloo (6572) 2008-09-17 1:23

Hi Jos�,
Another great shot from this impressive old wall. This has a excellent POV and composition with good perspective. The textures of the walls are beautiful and clear in this photo with superb clarity and sharpness. The colours are beautiful and natural. Well done!
The WS is a beautiful shot. If you had not mentioned, I would not know #2 has a fake sky. :-)
Greetings, Lasse

UnTrained (0) 2008-09-17 2:20

Ol� Jos�,
with the pedestrian walk at the left and the lamps it is like passing the wall and towers ourselves. I like the textures and contrast to the blue sky. The natural workshop has also a nice view.
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

zeynepe (0) 2008-09-17 5:41

Ola Jose,
Thanks to you , I learnt a lot of things about
羦ila :)
The architectural details and the perspective are great. The place looks like Rumelihisari in Turkey.
Congrats and have a nice day,
Warm regards,
Zeynep

lucasgalodoido (27698) 2008-09-17 13:54

Ola Jose,
muito bonita mesmo essas muralhas, e parecem bem preservadas tambem, alem de toda a contrucao. Gostei das cores e do contraste aqui. Achei a paisagem do WS muito bonito e bom o trabalho de PP feito no ceu do WS#2, apesar de que sou contra esse tipo de tecnica, mas admiro o trabalho.
Parabens e Abraco

paura (25802) 2008-09-17 17:08

Jos�,
Os detalhes s鉶 lindos e est鉶 muito bem mostrados. A nota est� tamb閙 muito boa. Beleza de post, amigo.

Abra鏾

Paulo

mydrjoe (1240) 2008-09-18 3:15

Ol� Jose,

Preciosa vista de estos antiqu韘imos muros y muy acertado punto de vista, con gran profundidad y extraordinaria nitidez y m鷏tiples detalles. Me gusta el contraste con el precioso azul del cielo. Por lo que se refiere a los WS 1 y 2, yo me quedar韆 con el 2. Preferir韆 el uno si no fuera porque parece que la toma fue hecha para las sombras y no para las luces. En fin, eres un artista y la nota esta tambi閚 muy bien documentada y escrita. Enhorabuena!

Abra鏾,
JR

danos (110407) 2008-09-18 3:39

Ola Jose,
nice composition with great perspective and depth that created from the 羦ila city walls.The two towers and the contrasted colors make the scene so attractive.I like the complementary photos as the splendid sharpness and clarity of the image.Well done.

Have a nice day,Danos

fkokol (1636) 2008-09-18 7:37

wonderful composition and perspective. beautiful blue sky and great detail.
greetings,

figen

Jardim (3243) 2008-09-18 12:56

Ol� Jos�,

H� que reconhecer que os espanh骾s t阭 a casa arrumada como muito bem se pode ver nesta tua foto.O passeio conduz o nosso olhar atrav閟 da foto e produz profundidade.
Quanto � quest鉶 que colocas eu pessoalmente gosto do c閡 mais natural embora possa esta sobrexposto.A minha Canon tem v醨ias formas para medir: a exposi玢o a matricial, a parcial, a pontual e a medi玢o ponderada com predomin鈔cia ao centro. Normalmente uso a matricial mas em casos como este talvez com a medi玢o pontual, � uma quest鉶 a experimentar

batalay (41261) 2008-09-18 14:38

Hello dear Jos�,

A first class note informs this superb photo. It must have been shot on your trip down to Barcelona. The composition is simple, but elegant, the colors, light management and resolution are all flawless. I hope your family members are all well.

Warmest regards,Jos�,
Bulent

adores (46979) 2008-09-18 18:10

Ol� Jos�!
Essas muralhas s鉶 mesmo enormes! Gosto deste pov e da composi玢o com os carros e a pessoa a caminhar pelo passeio. Boas cores e nitidez! O espa鏾 parece bem arranjado e o castelo muito bem preservado, acho que ainda t阭 que aprender umas coisas com a gente:)!

Wanda1 (15142) 2008-09-18 22:19

Hi Jose,
You have a good perspective here looking down the curves of the old walls and including a bit of the modern street. Good details and colours are nice and natural. Vertical format together with the person works well to show us the hugeness of teh walls.
Regards
Wanda

AiresSantos (56155) 2008-09-19 1:35

Ola Jose
Um belissimo postal de Avila com cores magnificas. Os carros estao a mais mas nao ha nada a fazer.
Excelente enquadramento, definicao e lunimosidade
Um abra鏾 Amigo
Aires

Charo (51290) 2008-09-19 9:01

Ol� Jose,
Uma boa tomada de baldes do muro com grande detalhe e profundidade.
O WS2 � muito bom para voc� eo c閡 era brilhante, a n鉶 ser que tenha ido um pouco de uma 醨vore no fundo, n鉶 seria significativo se not'd colocar a foto original.
Um Abra鏾,
Charo

trekks (14348) 2008-09-19 9:08

hi Jose

The blue sky helps a lot in this POV to contrast strongly on the grey walls showing the texture and the tone is pleasant with the green lawn as FG. It goes from green, grey and blue, with a nice inclusion of the path at left side.

The composition is giving me the impression of a massive wall structure and that effect is good.

tfs, bill

asajernigan (21427) 2008-09-21 6:03

Jose,
This is a well chosen POV! The sidewalk and fence lead the eye through the scene nicely creating a nice sense of direction. The repeating pattern created by the stones is great. The vertical format is fine here showing the height and depth of the scene with closeup clarity. The lighting and colors are great with excellent sharpness and DOF.
TFS,
Asa

jaywalker (16105) 2008-09-24 14:47

Hi Jose, A beautifully composed photo of the castle, the light is very good & your POV was well thought-out to create good depth, the texture of the stone shows up brilliantly, great picture, kind regards Wilson.

Bluejeans (64251) 2008-10-03 11:23

Oi amigo ,
Estas muralhas de Avila s鉶 magnificas quando fui l� estava de chuva :( s� vi do carro e andei um pouco dentro da cidade , o profundidade da foto ficou muito boa , gostei muito dos desenhos das pedras nas muralhas e do relvado em voltas das paredes ,boas cores, parab閚s!!
Um abra鏾 Gon鏰lo

ilDottore (5252) 2008-10-05 8:33

Hi Jose,
Indeed, great photography with spotless composition, beautiful natural colours and fantastic perspective.
Also good contrast between the wall and the sky.
Kindest Regards!
Chris

robertosalguero (292) 2008-10-15 1:20

Ola Jose,

Interesting contrast of old and new. The torreones make for an interesting subject in this composition. They give the impression of a massive and thick wall. Good light and sharpness with just the right balance of modern city on the left. This city seem precious form what I have seen in your images. Thanks Jose :-)

Roberto