jerrygrasso

Glazings 5

NIKON D800E

settings

Aperture f/11 ISO 2200 Shutter 1/1500 Focal Length 580/10

upload_date

Oct, 2020

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Fall Award 2020

Absolute Masterpiece

Superb Composition

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Behind The Lens

Location

Moorish architecture reached its peak with the construction of the Alhambra, the magnificent palace/fortress of Granada, with its open and breezy interior spaces. The walls are decorated with stylized foliage motifs, Arabic inscriptions, and arabesque design work, with walls covered in glazed tile. This photo was taken within one of its interior courtyards.

Time

I took this photo in late morning in the beginning of June 2014, shortly after the facility opened for the day to the public. My wife and I drove up from where we were staying near Malaga. I had originally visited the Alhambra when I was there with my high school field trip in the 1970's. I was so impressed with the ordered repetition, radiating structures, and rhythmic, metric patterns of the architecture that I vowed to return there one day and explore it in greater detail.

Lighting

There is not much you can do with the lighting of mid day at a location as exotic as this was. Mostly it was about seeking out the shadows which I try to use to create a sense of mystery with my history.

Equipment

I used a Nikon D800e with a Nikkor 28-300mm f3.5-5.6 lens mounted on a Gitzo tripod with a Really Right Stuff ballhead and cable release. At the beginning of the year in 2014, I fractured my spine in three places due to severe osteoporosis. Our trip had already been planned and I was determined not to miss the opportunity to revisit locations from my travels in the 1970's. My challenge was I had to limit what I could carry, or should I say, what my wife (my sherpa!) was willing to carry for me. Wearing a back brace and walking around a lot tired me out and I had to sit frequently. But I feel that this challenged me to maintain my concentration, which allowed me to become lost in the moment of capturing a piece of amazing history.

Inspiration

This image is simply my attempt to celebrate the the Moorish architectural influences. Islamic art, the arabesque, was an elaborate application of repeating geometric forms that often echo the shapes of plants, and sometimes animals, such as birds, instead of using pictures of humans which is forbidden in Islam. The choice of which geometric forms were to be used and how they were to be formatted was based upon the Islamic view of the world. These symbolize the infinite nature of the creation of the one God.

Editing

My workflow essentially starts in Adobe Lightroom. This image required only minor color and contrast modifications to enhance the shadows and coax the mystery to reveal itself. Noise reduction and sharpening were applied to finish the result.

In my camera bag

For this trip, due to my health issues, I had: Nikon D800e camera, Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 Nikon SB-910 Speedlight

Feedback

Shoot from your heart. If you do not "feel" something, your image will never be able to capture the true emotion of what you see in your view finder. "Driveby" shooting rarely works. You must take some time first, if possible, to allow your eyes to adjust to the compositional elements of the scene and allow the pieces to coagulate into a portrayal of what you felt at the moment you pressed the shutter. This image is part of a black and white project series of mine which can be found at https://jerrygrasso.com/moorish-influences/. You can read about my Andalusian Chronicles in the travel series on my website at https://jerrygrasso.com/travel/.

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jerrygrasso

Glazings 5

Behind The Lens

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