Photographer's Note
Grand Harbour atmosphere & Valletta in the background
A photo from the Grand harbour from Senglea promenade. I focused on the city in the background. The photo is more effective in this way according to me. I hope you like it.
Grand Harbour
Grand Harbour (in Maltese: Il-Port il-Kbir) is a natural harbour on the island of Malta. It has been used as a harbour since at least Phoenician times. The natural harbour has been greatly improved with extensive docks and wharves, and has been massively fortified.
The harbour mouth faces north east and is bounded to the north by St Elmo's Point and further sheltered by an isolated breakwater and is bounded to the south by Ricasoli Point. Its north west shore is formed by the Scebarras peninsula, which is largely covered by the city of Valletta and its suburb Floriana. This peninsula also divides Grand Harbour from a second parallel natural harbour, Marsamxett Harbour. The main waterway of Grand Harbour continues inland almost to Marsa. The south eastern shore of the harbour is formed by a number of inlets and headlands, principally Rinella Creek, Kalkara Creek, Dockyard Creek, and French Creek, which are covered by Kalkara and the Three Cities: Cospicua, Vittoriosa, and Senglea.
With its partner harbour of Marsamxett, Grand Harbour lies at the centre of gently rising ground. Development has grown up all around the twin harbours and up the slopes so that the whole bowl is effectively one large conurbation. Much of Malta's population lives within a three kilometer radius of Floriana. This is now one of the most densely populated areas in Europe.
Grand Harbour was the base for the Knights of St John for 268 years, and after their departure became a strategic base for the British for a further 170 years. It was the site in the late 16th century of a devastating tornado that killed 600 people and destroyed a shipping armada. The area was the scene of much of the fighting in the First Siege of Malta when the Turks attempted to eject the Knights of St John. The whole area was savagely bombed during the Second Siege of Malta during World War II, as the docks and military installations around the port were legitimate targets for Axis bombers. However collateral damage wrecked much of Valletta and The Three Cities, and caused large numbers of civilian casualties.
The harbours and docks are still active but with the departure of the British Military the harbour lost much of its military significance. A considerable part of Malta's commercial shipping is now handled by the new free port at Kalafrana, so the harbour is much quieter than it was in the first half of the 20th century.
Valletta (in the background)
Valletta, The Fortress City, Citta' Umilissima, “a city built by gentlemen for gentlemen” is Malta's capital city: a living, working city, the administrative and commercial heart of the Islands. Valletta is named after its founder, the respected Grand Master of the Order of St John, Jean Parisot de la Valette. The magnificent fortress city grew on the arid rock of Mount Sceberras peninsula, which rises steeply from two deep harbours, Marsamxett and Grand Harbour. Started in 1566, Valletta was completed, with its impressive bastions, forts and cathedral, in the astonishingly short time of 15 years.
Valletta has many titles, all recalling its rich historical past. It is the “modern” city built by the Knights of St John; a masterpiece of the Baroque; a European Art City and a World Heritage City. Ruled successively by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs and the Order of the Knights of St John, it is one of the most concentrated historic areas in the world.
The city is busy by day, yet retains a timeless atmosphere. The grid of narrow streets boasts some of Europe's finest art works, churches and palaces.
Hosting a vast cultural programme, walking around Valletta you’ll come across an intriguing historical site around every corner: votive statues, niches, fountains and coats of arms high up on parapets. Narrow side streets are full of tiny quaint shops and cafés, while Valletta’s main streets are lined with larger international branded shops for fashion, music, jewellery and much more. (Source: visitmalta.com)
kordinator, snunney, asajernigan, yeln, bema, mortijo, Fante, Fante, jlbrthnn ha contrassegnato questa nota come utile
Critiques | Translate
kordinator
(15775) 2010-08-18 1:24
Hello György
Nice vertical seascape composition.
Great idea,excelent atmosphere.
Nice point of view.
Nice colors and sharpness.
Perfect framed.
Very well done.
Regards
Saša
snunney
(130965) 2010-08-18 1:47
Hello George,
The man in his boat contributes much to the mood of the composition and adds a splash of colour to the foreground. The vertical frame is well chosen and I like the large amount of detail to be seen. I have never been to Malta, your pictures make me very envious.
ines8
(6128) 2010-08-18 2:06
Hi, George,
Very nice and original composition, i like it very much.
Best regards,
ines
asajernigan
(21427) 2010-08-18 2:07
George,
This is a nicely composed shot of this port city with the boats leading the eye into the shot. The fisherman in the foreground adds depth and color for the shot. The lighting and colors are great and the photo has nice sharpness.
TFS,
Asa
ValS
(92) 2010-08-18 2:08
Hello György,
The title exactly matches the picture. You have managed to reflect the atmosphere very good.The man in boat is key element, and absolutely correct that it's out of focus - otherwise the picture would be disbalanced.
Only thing I don't like here is very long note, but the picture is great!
Regards,
Valentyn
lousat
(120975) 2010-08-18 2:38
Hi Gyorgy,maybe today the pic isn't at the top,the fisherman and the boat are out of focus..eheh..but no problems,nobody is perfect and i like a lot the rest,a beautiful seascape whit the city in background in an impressive sharpness.Thanks for share,have a nice day,Luciano.
Suppiluliuma
(3931) 2010-08-18 2:50
The choice of focus point provided us with a stong sense of depth and details of the city. It's a rich composition.
I would love to see also a verison with the rich-coloured boatman and its boat in focus.
Regards,
Erdem
JFS
(32459) 2010-08-18 3:17
Hi George,
You are really skilful, as you always capture the atmosphere of the places. Good vertical POV, giving some protagonism to the boats. Good work!
Regards,Juan
yeln
(11516) 2010-08-18 3:32
hello George
i am spechless!!! just FANTASTIC!!!
Sharpness, exposure, pov, dof, colors, contrasts and composition are all excellent here!
congratulations
Regards
Vojko
carlosmarin
(11954) 2010-08-18 4:16
Hello George,
beautiful setting of the harbour with Valletta in the background.
Very balanced picture, with good composition, beautiful colors and sharpness.
Well done.
Regards,
Carlos
bema
(26591) 2010-08-18 4:18
Hello György,
fanatstiv depth ithis splendid composition, like how you have managed the sharpness to the background ot picture.. very good effect, my compliments for this one!
have a nice day, see you, Bernd
npecanhuk
(79319) 2010-08-18 4:25
Hi György!
Your pictures of Malta are all wonderful!
Again, here, exposure, pov, colors, pp, contrasts, vertical format, black & white borders and composition are all excellent!!! As for sharpness and depth of field, maybe you wanted like that, to create a different effect... well, it worked... I liked.. but maybe, as someone has already said, it'd be nice to have the man and his boat in the fg with more sharpness!
TFS - congrats!
Best regards,
Neyvan
Leconte
(5795) 2010-08-18 5:19
Hello György,
fantastic composition and vertical format, nice foreground and lovely perspective on this great architecture, beautiful light,
best regards,
Valerie.
mortijo
(12828) 2010-08-18 5:20
An excellent composition! The vertica format is well chosen here and focussing on the city in the background was the right decision. Congratulations,
John
COSTANTINO
(93422) 2010-08-18 7:35
Hello
we really like a hot like this one
I always love shot like this one and
Grand HARBOUR is a natural harbour
on the island of Malta,the houses in the
background the boats in the foreground
with the man add life to the whole scenery
nice point of view
regards
Costantino
mauarg
(1758) 2010-08-18 7:41
Hi George,
Beaultiful vertical composition. One of the most beaultiful I have seen here... Congratulations !
Cheers, Maurício
Fante
(5429) 2010-08-18 11:10
Hi George,
beautiful photo with extraordinary composition. Amazing colorful boats in foreground and interesting and dynamic town in background. Nice vivid colors, perfect sharpness with many details and excellent view. Bravo
TFS
Regards, Sasko
hay_kes
(31439) 2010-08-18 13:04
Hi George,
A wonderful postcard from Valetta.Great POV and perspective.TFS.
Cheers,
hAyAti
Cricri
(176) 2010-08-18 14:43
Bonjour George
Vous avec trouver un bon POV avec une belle ambiance des bateaux, (un peu moins de netteté sur le premier, mais cela arrive a tout le monde) la vue intéressante et belle de la ville, un mois super comme quand j'y suis allée au mois de juin, je me suis permise de faire un lien sur " le canon de midi"
Amitiés
cricri
jlbrthnn
(76041) 2010-08-18 14:50
Good evening George,
Beautiful outline of Malta and this very old port. I like the composition and the impression of depth. Beautiful realization in spite of a small lack of clearness on the boat.
Have a good evening
Cordially
Joel
ifege
(20891) 2010-08-18 20:30
Works fine for me George and suggests even a bit of movement by the man in the boat. A great clear view of the city.
cheers
Ian
danyy
(0) 2010-08-18 23:16
Bonjour George,
beaucoup de bleu et de qualité, la chaleur de la teinte des pierres contratse bien d'ailleurs ainsi que tous les éléments intensément colorés. Un format vertical efficace et une bonne profondeur de scène.
Amicalement.
Daniel.
Graal
(103038) 2010-08-19 0:10
Jó napot George,
another nice image from Valetta. Good vertical composition. Here's a few themes in one. Well presentation and done photo.
Have a nice day.
Aleksander
Bluejeans
(64251) 2010-08-19 1:53
Ola George ,
Gostei do ponto de focagem na cidade e não no homem do barco , a cidade tem belos detalhes de riqueza , mas o homem o e barco deram bastante colorido a foto, bom uso da foto na vertical ,parabéns!!
Um abraço Gonçalo
Photo Information
-
Copyright: George Rumpler (Budapestman)
(82620)
- Genre: Luoghi
- Medium: Colore
- Date Taken: 2010-07-23
- Categories: Castelli, Vita quotidiana, Transporti, Architettura
- Camera: Pentax K10D, Pentax DA 50-200 f4-5.6 ED
- Esposizione: f/6.7, 1/250 secondi
- More Photo Info: view
- Versione Foto: Versione Originale, Workshop
- Date Submitted: 2010-08-18 0:59
Discussions
- To Suppiluliuma: solution (1)
by Budapestman, last updated 2010-08-18 03:07