Castel Sant' Angelo - Rome, Italy

Castel Sant' Angelo - Rome, Italy

Castel Sant' Angelo was built to be used as Emperor Hadrian's family mausoleum between 135 AD and 139 AD. It has since been used as a fortress, Papal residence and a military prison. The building is cylindrical in shape and a wide stone ramp winds its way from the ground floor to the upper terraces. The building consists of a number of passageways and Papal apartments as well as old dungeons.

Read on for more images and info.

Castel Sant Angelo across the Tiber - Rome, Italy

The highest point of the building, the Terrazza dell'Angelo, is crowned by a statue of the archangel Michael shielding his sword. The statue is supposed to be protecting Rome from the plague. The Terrazza is also where Floria Tosca throws herself off the ramparts in Puccini opera Tosca. An escape passage, named Il Passetto, leads to Castel Sant' Angelo from St Peter's Basilica and was used by Popes when they needed to make an escape from the Basilica.

Castel Sant' Angelo across the Tiber - Rome, Italy

Castel Sant' Angelo also features in a number of films including Dan Brown's Angels and Demons where it was the last existing church of the Illumnati.

We stayed close to Castel Sant' Angelo  and St Peters Basilica while we were in Rome. I made a couple of trips to both St Peters and Castel Sant' Angelo in the night to get a few images of the buildings lit up. I thought it was the best time to head out with the camera as there weren't too many people around and I was able to photograph both buildings without people walking into the frame.

Castel Sant' Angelo - Rome, Italy

All the images on this post were captured with a Canon 7D and a 24-105mm Lens.

4/52 - Asics

Asics 

To be honest, I found it a bit hard to come up with an idea for this weeks shot.... and I'm only in week 4! God knows how the guys who are doing 365s manage.... The process of actually taking a photograph isn't hard but coming up with a half decent idea isn't as easy as it seems. I had just come back home after a game of Tennis and figured my shoes were as good a subject as any. I decided to go for warm colours with the lighting. Maybe I'll try cooler colours next week.

Setup shot and lighting info inside.

Lighting setup shot for the Asics image above

The lighting was pretty straight forward for this one. I used a collapsed reflective umbrella again (without a flash in the setup shot) and placed it slightly behind the shoes on the left of the camera. The flash zoomed at 24mm and was fired at 1/8th into the umbrella. I used a full CTO Gel on the flash to warm up the foreground.

A white cardboard box was placed just out of frame on camera right and used to bounce the light from the umbrella and fill the shadow areas on the right hand side of the shoes.

A snooted flash was fired at 1/16th at the chair to light up the background. I used the chair to add a bit of interest to the background of the image as I felt the white wall was a bit boring. The spaces on the back of the chair created some light patterns on the wall which worked pretty well. A light Red gel was used on this flash.

Gondolas and Gondoliers

A Gondolier waiting for a hire - Venice, Italy 

No trip to Venice is complete without a Gondola ride. The traditional flat bottomed rowing boat has been used on the Venetian lagoon for centuries. Although they were once the main mode of transport along the canals, they are now used for tourist rides. The earliest references to the Gondola were made in 1094 when a venetian public official referred to it in a letter. They started appearing in Italian paintings in the 1490's in works by Carpaccio and Bellini. The boat has evolved over the last 1000 years into the sleek familiar shape that it is today.

More info after the jump.

A Gondola parked along a canal - Venice, Italy

Gondolas were fitted with a small cabin, named the felce, until the early 20th century. Its windows could be closed with louvered shutters, the original venetian blinds. Gondolas were originally symmetric in design but at the end of the 1800's an asymmetric design which allowed a single oarsman was adopted. The boats are made out of 8 different types of wood and consist of 280 pieces.

At the peak of its popularity in the 17th and 18th century there were between eight and ten thousand Gondolas navigating the canals of Venice.

Tourists on one of the Venetian Canals - Venice, Italy

Contrary to popular belief the Gondola is not poled like a punt. Instead, the Oarsman propels the boat with a forward stroke and a compensating backward stroke. The oar, which is made out of beech wood, and is held in place by an oarlock known as a forcola. The forcola is a complicated shape as it has to allow for different speeds and directions of strokes. The ornament at the front of the Gondola is referred to as the ferro and is serves as a counter weight for the Oarsman. The ferro is generally made out of iron, brass, stainless steel or aluminium.

A Gondoliers hat - Venice, Italy

The profession of "Gondolier" is controlled by a guild which issues a limited number of licenses. In order to obtain a license, the Gondolier must complete training and an apprenticeship as well as pass a comprehensive exam. During this exam the applicants  knowledge of Venetian history, landmarks and foreign languages and practical skills in handling a Gondola are tested.

A Gondola navigating a canal - Venice, Italy

Gondola rides are available on almost every canal in Venice. We decided to take a ride along a few of the smaller canals as we wanted to avoid the Grand Canal which is constantly busy. The trip lasted around 40 minutes and we passed a number of famous landmarks on the way. These included Vivaldi's Palazzo as well as the Palazzo belonging to Marco Polo's family.

A Gondoliers hat - Venice, Italy

All images on this post were captured with the Canon 7D and the 24-105mm combo.

A Gondola navigates a Canal - Venice, Italy

3/52 - Grand Marnier

A Bottle of Grand Marnier 

This shot of a bottle of Grand Marnier (Orange and Cognac liqueur) has probably been the most challenging shot, from a lighting point of view, that I've captured to date. I got the idea for this image after seeing a photograph of a bottle of Hennessy taken by Atton Conrad. Since I had only 2 lights to work with, I had to capture 5 separate images and merge them during post processing.

For those of you who are interested in the lighting, read on.
Unfortunately I didn't capture any of the setup shots as there were too many! Instead I'll describe the lighting I've used for each of the shots and upload the individual images.

Shot 1 - Contents of the bottle and the label

Shot 1 - Contents of the bottle and the label

The Grand Marnier bottle is dark brown in colour. In order to light the contents of the bottle, I placed a Canon 430 EX II directly behind it and fired it towards the camera at 1/2 power. To light the label, I used a snooted Canon 430 EX II fired from camera left at 1/16th. The snooted strobe was gelled with a 1/2 CTO. In order to control the light I played around with the aperture and finally settled on f18.0. I could have got the same effect by controlling the output of the flashes but it was easier to change the aperture instead.

Shot 2 - Defining the left edge of the bottle

Shot 2 - Defining the left edge of the bottle

The effect of this shot is subtle in the final image. To light just the edge of the bottle I fired a Canon 430 EX II zoomed to 105 mm through two sheets of white foam core board. The space between the foam core boards narrowed down to about a 1cm gap. This controlled the spill and only defined the edge of the bottle. the strobe was not gelled for this shot.

Shot 3 - Defining the right edge of the bottle

Shot 3 - Defining the right edge of the bottle

The setup for this shot was identical to the shot above but on the right hand side of the camera.

Shot 4 - Background

Shot 4 - Background

I wanted to light the background of the image a little to give it some depth. I placed a candle just behind the bottle and had the shutter opened for 5 seconds at f4.0 to capture the image above. The light from the candle was soft and warm and I felt it suited this shot.

Shot 5 - Light Painting

Shot 5 - Light Painting

This shot was the hardest to capture. I used a clear glass lined with an Orange and Red gel, filled with clear marbles and a tea light as the light source. The glass was also wrapped with dark tape to allow only a section of it to be exposed to the camera. I had the shutter opened for 3.2 seconds at f4.0. During the exposure I moved the glass around until I captured a light trail I was happy with. This took a while as it was not easy to create a decent light trail.

The image above is a composite of these 5 images.

Le Sainte-Chapelle - Paris, France

The interior of Sainte-Chapelle - Paris, France 

The Sainte-Chapelle, also known as the Holy Chapel, is a gothic Chapel on Ile de la Cite in Paris. The Chapel, built during the reign of King Louis IX in the courtyard of the royal palace , was consecrated on the 26th of April 1248. It was built to house Christ's crown of thorns, the image of Edessa and 30 other relics of Christ. King Louis purchased the relics from a Latin Emperor named Baldwin II in Constantinople.

Read on for more images and info

The interior of Sainte-Chapelle - Paris, France

The chapel is famous for it's stained glass and rose windows which were added to the chapel in the 15th century. Two-thirds of the windows in the church today are authentic. The church suffered during the French revolution as the steeple and "the canopy of state"were removed, the relics dispersed and other melted down. The few relics which remain are in the treasury at Notre-Dame. The chapel was then requisitioned in 1803 and used as an archival depository. In order to allow more light into the building, two meters of glass were removed. This glass was either destroyed or sold.

The interior of Sainte-Chapelle - Paris, France

The stonework has been kept to a bare minimum and the walls are covered by 6458 square feet of stained glass which is considered the best in the world. The windows are dominated by Reds and Blues and illustrate 1130 figures form the bible. Sainte-Chapelle stands directly above the lower chapel which serves asa parish church for the inhabitants of the palace. A souvenir shop can now be found in the lower church.

The interior of Sainte-Chapelle - Paris, France

Photographing the chapel was not easy due to the varying light conditions. It was almost impossible to capture an image where the stained glass and the interior were both exposed correctly. The first shot on this post was actually produced using two separate exposure of the same image. I ended up exposing the images based on exposure readings off the stained glass windows as the windows were main feature of the Chapel.

The interior of Sainte-Chapelle - Paris, France

All images on this post were captured with a Canon 7D and 24-105mm lens.

The interior of Sainte-Chapelle - Paris, France

2/52 - Layered Coffee Liqueur

Layered Coffee Liqueur 

I'm not really sure how people set about doing a project 365. I'm 2 weeks into a project 52 and I'm already finding it hard to come up with ideas for images. A lot of people do self portraits which makes things a bit easier but I'm not going to get into that. This weeks image is a glass of  layered coffee liqueur from Sheridan's in Dublin. Let me know what you think of it in the comments below.

Lighting info after the jump.

Setup shot - Layered Coffee Liqueur

The setup for this shot was similar to the Ganesh shot but I used more direct light as opposed to feathered light. I created a bit of Bokeh, to balance out the image, by using a few coloured tea light holders. The flash was gelled with a 1/2 CTO and fired at 1/16th into a reflective umbrella.

Piazza Novona - Rome, Italy

A Balcony looking out onto Piazza Novona - Rome, Italy  

Piazza Novona, a ten minute walk from the pantheon, is probably Rome's most famous square. It actually sits on top of an ancient stadium built by Emperor Domitian in the first century AD. The track and field are said to have been used for competitions similar to the Greek olympics and during the Renaissance the stadium was often flooded for mock sea battles. 

More info and images after the jump.

Bernini's Fontana Quattro Fiumi in Piazza Novona - Rome, Italy

The square is also home to three famous fountains. The largest of these is Bernini's Fontana Quattro Fiumui (Fountain of the four rivers), shown above. The fountain is said to depict the four major rivers of the known continents: the Nile, the Ganges, the Plate and the Danube. Legend has it that the Bernini designed one of the statues (image below), facing the church of Saint Agnes (in the background of the image above), shielding his eyes from the "horror of the church" which was designed by his rival Borromini. In actual fact the church was built after the fountain.

Bernini's Fontana Quattro Fiumi in Piazza Novona - Rome, Italy

The solitary statue of Saint Agnes, above the facade of the church, turning away from Bernini's fountain when it would have normally faced the fountain. A small skull in the reliquary of the church is said to be that of Saint Agnes, who was beheaded in the stadium of Emperor Domitian in the 3rd century AD. 

Detail of Bernini's Fontana Quattro Fiumi in Piazza Novona - Rome, Italy

The other two fountains in the square are Fontana del Nettuno (Fountain of Neptune)  on the northern end of the piazza and Fontana del Moro (Fountain of the Moor) on the southern end. The Fontana del Moro, shown below, was designed by Giacomo della Porta consisted of a basin and four Tritons. In 1673 Bernini added a Moor (African) wrestling with a dolphin. 

Fontana della Moro in Piazza Novona - Rome, Italy

The basin of the Fontana della Nettuno was also designed by Giacomo della Porta in 1574 and is said to have been sponsored by Pope Gregory XIII.  For 300 years the fountain survived without any statues. The fountain we see today, with the statue of Neptune (shown below) was completed by Antonio della Bitta in 1878. 

Fontana della Nettuno in Piazza Novona - Rome, Italy

A number of restaurants open out onto the piazza which is also full of artist's stalls, street performers and tourists. Needless to say, it is quite crowded during the day. A Christmas market is held at the piazza  every year. The markets run well into the night and are said to be worth a visit. 

Tourists and the Church if Saint Agnes at Piazza Novona - Rome, Italy

All images on this post were captured with a Canon 7D and the 24 - 105mm lens.

A View of Piazza Novona - Rome, Italy

1/52 - Ganesh

A statue of Ganesh 

I finally got around to starting a photography project. I had been thinking about doing a 365 for a while but wasn't sure if I could commit myself to taking a photograph and doing the required processing, daily. I've decided to start off with a project 52 instead. God knows how long it will go for but I am starting with the best of intentions! I'll continue to upload other images from trips etc too. I'm expecting to update the blog around three times a week. In regards to the project, if I do use additional lighting for any of the images, setup shots and brief descriptions will be included in my posts. If you guys want any more info about the shots, just drop a question in the comments below.

The first image of this project is a small statue of the Hindu god Ganesh which we picked this up on one of our trips.

Lighting info after the jump.

Setup shot for the image of Lord Ganesh

I used a collapsed reflective umbrella and a Canon 430 EX II from camera right to light this image. I gelled the strobe with a 1/2 CTO to warm up the light a bit. I wanted one part of the statue to appear a bit darker than the other so I didn't use any reflectors. If I did want to brighten up the other side of the statue, I would have placed a piece of white A4 paper on the left of the subject, just outside the frame.

Basilique du Sacre Coeur - Paris, France

Sacre Coeur - Paris, France

The Basilique du Sacre Coeur (Basilica of the Sacred Heart) is a Roman Catholic church and one of the more famous landmarks of Paris. It's located in Montmartre, the highest point of the city. The church was built in 1875 on a site which has been associated with the beheading of Saint Denis, the patron of the city, in the 3rd century.  It is believed that the Basilica was dedicated to the 58,000 soldiers who lost their lives in the Franco-Prussian war. 

Read on for more images and info.

Sacre Coeur - Paris, France

The project was declared a "National Vow" by the church and was funded by Parishes throughout France.  An architect named Paul Abadie designed the basilica after winning a competition in which 77 other architects took part. The foundation stone is said to have been laid on the 16th of June 1875. Several attempts were made to stop the construction of the Basilica and it was once described as an "incessant provocation to civil war". One of these attempts led to the law passed in 1873 to acquire land for the site, being rescinded in 1882. Fortunately the church was saved by a technicality and the law was not reintroduced. 

Sacre Coeur - Paris, France

Abadie died soon after the foundation stone was laid and the work on the Basilica was carried out by 5 other architects. It was completed in 1914 but was not formally dedicated until 1919, after World War I. 

The Basilica is built out of Travertine stone quarried in Chateau-Landon in France. The stone constantly exudes calcite which ensures the Basilica remains white despite pollution and weathering. The two bronze statues at the entrance are of Joan of Arc and King Saint Louis IX.

A view of Paris from Sacre Coeur - Paris, France

The views of Paris from the forecourt and the tower are stunning. The view alone makes the climb to the top of the tower (around 300 steps) worthwhile. As with most of these monuments, it is not advisable to attempt the climb if you are claustrophobic.   

A panoramic view of Sacre Coeur - Paris, France

The first, third and fifth images on this post were on my shot list for Paris. I had to do a fair bit of research to identify a suitable and accessible location to photograph the Basilica from. It wasn't the easiest thing to do from Australia but with the help of a couple of photographers I was able to find a place. In order to get these shots, I carried the 100-400mm lens around Europe for a month! This was the only location I used it in.

Sacre Coeur - Paris, France

These images were captured with a Canon 7D and a combination of the 100-400mm and 24-105mm lenses.