billemills

Golden Arches

The beautiful light at the bath of Dona Maria de Padilla built in the 14th century in the Real Alcazar in Seville, Spain

The beautiful light at the bath of Dona Maria de Padilla built in the 14th century in the Real Alcazar in Seville, Spain
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Canon EOS 5D Mark II

settings

Aperture 8/1 ISO 1000 Focal Length 24/1

location

Seville, Andalucia, ES

upload_date

Sep, 2019

Views

Likes

Awards

Zenith Award

Top Shot Award 22

Creative Winter Award

Hidden Gem Award

Spring 21 Award

9Teen Award

Top Choice

Outstanding Creativity

Superb Composition

Absolute Masterpiece

Peer Award

Emotions

Impressed

Top Ranks

Top 10 rank

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Top 20 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

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Behind The Lens

Location

This picture is taken at the Real Alcazar in Seville, Spain. The building of the royal residence commenced in 1364 by craftsmen from Granada and Toledo. This is the underground swimming baths that were built for Dona Maria de Padilla.

Time

The toughest part of this shoot was finding the baths. I had to ask three guards where they were and we eventually found them beneath the Patio del Crucero. This problem turned into an opportunity as there were only two other people in the area and could I absorb the tranquil atmosphere and was not waiting for hundreds of tourists to move out of the shot.

Lighting

This was not a hand held shot opportunity. These are baths are underground with the orange glow being supplied by small windows. I did not have my tripod so had to sit my camera on the small wall surrounding the baths.

Equipment

I used my Canon 5DMk2 with a 24-105 F4 lens at 24mm. I set my camera on the wall with a 2 second timer, set my ISO to 1000 and took 3 pictures at -2,0 and +2 exposure at F8 with timing intervals between 1/6 sec to 2.5 seconds.

Inspiration

I had always wanted to travel to Seville to capture the Moorish architectural influences that are prevalent in Southern Spain. I saw a poor copy of this picture in a travel book but was in awe at the potential in the image. In all my time as photographer this is the one you dream about taking.

Editing

I merged the 3 pictures in into one to capture the highlights and darkness and made a few minor tweaks in Adobe Camera Raw. The biggest change was in the stone work at the bottom of the baths. It was artificially lit and was too grey so I warmed both the stone and its reflection to add more warmth and to complement the tones.

In my camera bag

I was packing light as I was doing my tourist thing in Seville with other friends. They were getting really tired in the heat of me lagging and asking them to 'do this and that!' So when we got to the cool of the baths they were glad to sit on the wall out of shot and cool down. The whole shoot took less than 10 minutes with 6 pictures - 3 from the side and 3 down the center. My normal bag has Canon 5DMk4, Canon 24-105 my go to lens, Canon 70-200 f 2.8 and Canon 100-400. I carry the 66ex RT flash and use a black rapid shoulder harness.

Feedback

The next time I would lower the ISO and use the same 3 picture strategy with longer timer intervals.

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billemills

Golden Arches

The beautiful light at the bath of Dona Maria de Padilla built in the 14th century in the Real Alcazar in Seville, Spain

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow billemills

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