The Lisbon Sentinel, a photo from Lisboa, South

Photographer's Note

Today I am posting another B&W conversion essay. The original photo was taken on a clear winter day prior to sunset. All your critiques/comments are welcome. I hope you like it.

===================================================

The Torre de Belém is a beautiful and original monument, unrivalled in the whole world. Its harmonious and distinctive shape is sharply outlined against the sky and the water of the River Tagus, and the delicate decoration of its stone suggests to those who feast their eyes upon it the appearance of a finely carved jewel. It was, however, seen differently by those living at the time of its construction, for whom the tower was a formidable and fearsome defensive fortress at the entrance to the river estuary, which was the function that its founder D. Manuel I had intended for it.

The Torre de Belém was an essential part of the defensive system for the mouth of the River Tagus, providing crossfire with the fortress of São Sebastião da Caparica on the south bank. It consists of a quadrangular tower reminiscent of the keeps of mediaeval castles and a polygonal bastion, itself a fine example of the period's advanced defensive technology, being designed to support heavy artillery, with embrasures shaped rather like hatchways reaching almost to sea level.

The sentry posts on each corner of the bastion are crowned by melon domes, denoting the influence of the style that was used in fortifications in Morocco, where Francisco de Arruda worked and certainly sought inspiration. Apart from these oriental features, the predominant decoration used in the tower is Manueline, as seen in the stone rope that encircles it, the heraldic motifs and even the famous rhinoceros, the first sculpted stone representation of this animal in Europe. The tower's most decorative side is the one facing south. Along this runs the loggia, with its finely carved limestone balustrade. Above the loggia are the shield of D. Manuel I and the armillary spheres.

Text by the Portuguese Tourist Office

Construction began in 1515 under the supervision of the architect Francisco de Arruda and it was completed in 1521. It remained ever since as one of the world's most beautiful examples of military architecture. In 1983 UNESCO classified it as a World Heritage Site.

berseph, sabyasachi1212, P-S-I-G, Vinsachi, brevbrev14, Floydian, bach37, dmarizz, Photo65Net, VeeJayCee, bostankorkulugu, Vato_Law, plimrn, stego, siolaw, AiresSantos, Pitoncle, vincz, Donald, jwmunro, maltese, ChrisJ, riclopes, Rosa_d_MonteLua, xuaxo, rmcfa63, adores, syd1946, TeresaT, luisafonso, cam, Philippe, bakes888, prezntime, anavazao, designsoul, isa, emjleclercq ha contrassegnato questa nota come utile

Critiques | Translate

berseph (1758) 2006-11-18 1:06

Interesting monument. I like how you were able to capture quite a few different post styles. Great sharpness, which brings out the detail. My only critique would be that it is cropped just a tad too much on the top. I would like to see a little room above the front post.

P-S-I-G (25536) 2006-11-18 3:30

Hello Antonio,
I really like this black and white photo. Excellent contraste. I enjoy the graphism. Very welle composed.
Best regards,
Fabrice

sabyasachi1212 (19779) 2006-11-18 3:33

Hi Antonio,
I am impressed with your recent B&W conversions. Excellent tones and very good clarity. An exhaustive note complements a very good picture.
With Greetings from India
Sabyasachi

brevbrev14 (140) 2006-11-18 4:05

Hi Antonio, i like your composition here and how you menaged the lights!I like also the strong contrast!
ciao!
Valeria

Floydian (30970) 2006-11-18 4:21

Hello Antonio,
You know i like deep saturated colours with high contrast. Images must blow out of my screen so to speak. And that doesn't matter if it is colour or b&w, it has to be strong in highlights and shadows. And what you show here is exactly what i mean byt that. A very strong and powerful image full with highlights and shadows to create edges in light and depth.
A truly wonderful image and really perfect converted to b&w.
A real beauty...perfect..!!!
Regards, Henk

dmarizz (2796) 2006-11-18 5:39

Hi Antonio,
interesting shot and note. I would be curious to see also the colour version. You could post it as a WS of this one. Have a nice Sunday, Dario

bach37 (193) 2006-11-18 6:05

Olá António.
Na sua eterna busca pela melhor conversão para preto e branco encontrou uma das que eu prefiro! Forte no contraste e na sombra e luminosidade. Gosto muito desta foto, se tiver mais da torre de belém coloque-as também a preto e branco para vermos o resultado!

Cumprimentos,
Márcio Costa

Photo65Net (43144) 2006-11-18 7:08

Hi Antonio,
Your BW treatment alone deserves the smiley.
The result is amazingly pleasant.
So is the way you framed these sentries.
A great job,
JB.

VeeJayCee (2410) 2006-11-18 14:06

As a fellow lover of the B+W genre I applaude your use of B+W for this strong image. The relatively high contrast works well as doe the composition. I would perhaps like a little more space above the highest spire but this may not have been possible.

bostankorkulugu (42866) 2006-11-18 16:08

Beautiful shot antonio... isnt it a bit like gaudi's work in barcelona... like his chimneys of la pedrera or park güell... great compo and B&W works really well in here...
cheers
korkut

rbcy1974 (20758) 2006-11-18 17:32

Hello Antonio
Very nice combination of veritcal towers here,
the tones and contrast are excellent and bring out the details very well.
Regards
Daniel

Bluejeans (64251) 2006-11-18 17:46

Ola Antonio e uma foto bastante diferente das habituais da Torre de Belem , com bonitos detalhes , so e pena algumas partes terem ficado um pouco escuras , mas gostei muito .
Um abraço Gonçalo

Vato_Law (12732) 2006-11-18 18:54

Olá Antonio.
Comsposição criativa com estes 'guardiões do tempo' bem detalhados e destacados pela qualidade da tua conversão.
As texturas e a forma como a luz incide cria uma excelente composição ao nivel grafico.
Fica bem.
Paulo

plimrn (21344) 2006-11-18 19:12

Ola Antonia,
The graphism of the shot seems to be enhanced by the black and white. It looks like a giant chess board in t's intricate detail. The note is interesting and well written.
Regards, Pat

stego (24132) 2006-11-18 22:04

Olá António.
Está estupenda! Que me lembre, acho que é a tua melhor P&B. A compo está deslumbrante, dinâmica com todos aqueles pináculos a diferentes alturas. O céu tb. está excelente.
Só acho que as sombras estão ligeiramente subexpostas, mas suspeito que os nossos gostos divergem neste ponto, pelo que 'não insisto', até porque o alto contraste funciona muito bem na foto.
Não dou pontos porque hoje já não tenho quota. 8-)
TFS

siolaw (38294) 2006-11-19 0:35

Hi Antonio,
A nice POV on that majestic monument, goood B&W quality conversion, nice contrast and stone texture
TFS
Laurent

AiresSantos (56155) 2006-11-19 1:16

Olá Antonio,
Um excelente grafismo nesta composição a P&B. Gosto muito do contraste e do POV.
Um abraço Amigo e BFS,
Aires

leo61 (0) 2006-11-19 2:57

Hi Antonio!
Great B&W shot.I like your good composition with the low horizon and the nice details of architecture.Good light and sharpness and excellent contrast.
Regards,Leo

Pitoncle (3745) 2006-11-19 4:44

Bonjour Antonio,
J'ai pris une photo similaire que je n'ai pas eu l'idée de traiter en noir et blanc.
Ta composition est très originale et donne une autre vision de la tour bien en rapport avec son affectation lors de sa création car c'est vrai que ces colonade rappelle des sentinelles.
Sur le plan technique n'aurait-il pas été judicieux d'avoir un peu plus de luminosité par faire ressortir les détails ?
A bientôt sur TE pour de nouvelles aventures.

vincz (19113) 2006-11-19 5:25

Great shot Antonio. Extremely well composed and very smart use of black & white. i like it a lot.

Donald (136) 2006-11-19 6:46

Hi Antonio, I look at your photo and I can only see perfection, the POV the DOF the composition but most of all is how sharp and strong it is, I love Black and white photos and I try to convert some of my colour one to black and white, but 8 times out of ten they just dont look good.
thank you for sharing this photo.
Kindest rergards
Donald

tabora (0) 2006-11-19 6:58

Bonjour Antonio,
Je trouve que le noir et blanc lui va très bien, il donne un aspect rétro aux sculptures et fait mieux ressortir leurs détails.
Un beau travail.
Amitiés Jospeh

jwmunro (286) 2006-11-19 11:02

Hello Antonio -

This B&W conversion is stunning. When you look at it you see these strong graphical elements perfectly exposed with sharp detail against a featureless sky. The lack of any competing detail in the sky makes the shapes just jump off the screen. My only comment would be that front and center pillar is just a bit too close to the edge of the image. I know this is picking nits but it just feels like there should be a bit more room. Outstanding image!

Thank you for sharing

John

maltese (22909) 2006-11-19 16:51

Bonsoir Antonio
Superbe cette utilisation du N&B. La composition est très graphique et fait penser à un jeu d'échecs.
Du beau travail
Amicalement
Hervé

riclopes (35577) 2006-11-20 3:20

Olá António, está espectacular! A composição está fantástica e adoro este 1º pináculo à frente, que me faz lembrar um pouco Gaudi, se bem que este belo monumento não tenha nada a haver com o artísta Catalão. Eu que trabalho mesmo aqui em frente, nunca me senti suficientemente motivado para tentar uma aproximação mais original, tal é a quantidade de fotografias repetidas deste monumento. E eis que tu me mostras esta linda imagem, com uma excelente conversão para preto e branco, com fortes contrastes e um cinza muito bonito, num céu limpo. Parabéns!
Um abraço,
Ricardo
p.s.- pela data da foto, presumo que talvez venhas cá agora outra vez...

ChrisJ (171340) 2006-11-20 4:29

Ola Antonio

Fantastic tonal range, contrast, sharpness, & lighting in this superb b&w, with excellent repetition of the unusual spires. Obrigado!

efigesta (12188) 2006-11-20 5:22

Ola AMigo
interessante foto, quando abrimos a foto temos uma ideia diferente daquela que vemos em pequena, bom pormenor e boa escolha a preto e branco
abraço
manuel

Rosa_d_MonteLua (1508) 2006-11-20 6:03

Olá António!
Excelente gama de tons nesta foto em B&W.
Bons detalhes e interessante POV que justifica o título escolhido. Boa luminosidade.
Obrigada pela partilha e uma boa semana,
Rosa

Marcelo_Almeida (1044) 2006-11-20 11:42

Oi Antonio,
Excelente composição e nitidez, essa foto ficou realmente muito boa em Preto e Branco.
Parabéns,
Marcelo Almeida

xavshot (69835) 2006-11-20 14:57

Bonsoir Antonio
ce qui est important dans une photo n&vb c'est le contraste et le jeu de lumière qui en ressort : et moi j'aime beaucoup le résultat de cette compo : le graphisme est excellent et cette photo possède beaucoup de relief. Bravo, beau travail
Xavier

xuaxo (6854) 2006-11-20 16:45

Olá António
Em termos de P&B gosto mais desta do que da anterior, se bem que à direita acho um pouco escura.
Independentemente da cor, gosto desta vista diferente da Torre de Belém.
F

rmcfa63 (358) 2006-11-20 17:52

Viva, António

Maravilhosa esta perspectiva, destacando um dos nossos grandes monumentos, marco da nossa História.

A fotografia em si está muito bem conseguida pelas opções feitas sobretudo ao nível dos contrastes... encanta-me particularmente a subtileza daquele céu que imagino de um azul de inverno!

adores (46979) 2006-11-20 19:46

Alô António!
Perspectiva muito bonita e original da Torre de Belém. Daqueles detalhes em que normalmente ninguém repara.Ficou muito bem!
Anabela

khafes (303) 2006-11-21 4:14

Bom Dia António,
Esta foto esta bastante interessante pois mostra uma coisa que ninquem liga, que é são os mastros em volta do centro do terraço do monumento, sendo assim tenho a dizer que gosto bastante do enquadramento. Relativamente ao contraste penso que está demasiado contrastado perdendo-se assim os pormenores existente em cada um destes mastros.
Boas Fotos,
Paulo Monteiro

syd1946 (1167) 2006-11-21 8:37

Hello Antonio,
A very fine and interesting composition.The light makes a great work with the subjects creates a nice graphism.An original work!

Thomas

TeresaT (10806) 2006-11-21 18:31

Olá antónio, è sem dúvida uma abordagem diferente da que estamos habituados a ver da Torre de Belém, e quanto a mim bastante mais interessante e original.
A conversão para P&B está perfeita e esta luz forte e dura confere um certo dramatismo à composição.
um abraço
teresa

lele74 (39) 2006-11-22 2:49 [Comment]

Show Comment

luisafonso (862) 2006-11-22 4:13

Bom, parece que esta me escapou só a mim! ;))) Bom p&b, sim senhor! Gosto do contraste e do jogo de luz que se nota perfeitamente aqui. Há pretos carregados a brancos fortes. Gosto disso! A composição é bonita, um pouco apertada para o meu gosto, mas está muito bonita. Grande foto António.

MIG13 (0) 2006-11-22 6:22

Caro amigo António, ao observar a miniatura dessa foto fiquei a matutar sobre que lugar seria esse! Foi difícil descobrir a Torre de Belém rs! Pois este é um dos jogos mais interessantes da fotografia (que eu ainda não aprendi a jogar com competência): criar o novo a partir do já conhecido (e muito, como é o caso da Torre)! A composição é primorosa e o tratamento em B&P excelente! Muito bom trabalho! Grande abraço! Miguel.

cam (9043) 2006-11-22 23:09

Hello Antonio
I see that you are working on your B&W conversion and you are quite succesfull.The contrast is good as is the range of gray between black and white.
The place lends itself quite well for this essay,with the predominance of architectural details.
The composition is well thought.
I enjoy looking at it.
Have a good evening.
Charles

Philippe (11836) 2006-11-23 10:20

Hi, Antonio. You show us some very interesting architectural details of the Torre de Belém. They are very sharp. The inclusion of the spire in the foreground gives a very good depth to the picture and the fact that you were standing so close when you took the picture gives us the imprssion to be there too. the contrast is excellent.

bakes888 (18499) 2006-11-24 0:22

Hi Antonio. Nice photo and great conversion. I love the tonal graduations across the sky. Nice composition and POV also. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers, Paul.

prezntime (3946) 2006-11-28 8:32

Greetings Antonio.
What contrasts here. The gradiation in the sky is awesome. The B&W format really brings out all of the subtle detail in the spires. I also like the effect your perspective has of making all of the spires come in at different heights in your photo. Grand idea to convert this to B&W, it looks great.
Regards,
Chris.

:) be back.

anavazao (5592) 2006-12-01 14:24

Olá meu amigo,
outra foto simples mas que ficou um espetáculo muito boa mesma .....
Bonita cor, perspectiva e composição!
Fica bem Ana:)

designsoul (17843) 2006-12-02 20:18

Dear Antonio,
A wonderful shot! The bw conversion is superb. This Torre de Belém immediately reminded me of Gaudi...any connection, would you know? There is a beautiful light here that I admire and the composition is also verging on the abstract. Really lovely!
take care,
sasa

Click3 (1886) 2006-12-09 6:38

Hola Antonio...que gran captura y el trabajo en B&N sobresaliente !
Qué usaste para traspasar ? No sé como tienes TODAS las gradaciones.
Felicitaciones !
saludos desde Chile,
Robert

isa (1986) 2006-12-09 18:52

Excelente em todos os aspectos, a esclha do B&W está soberba e o o céu está lindíssimo, com as gradações dos cinzentos.
Perfeito, parabéns pelo trabalho,
Isa

Angshu (56760) 2006-12-25 23:02

Hello Antonio
This is spectacular in B&W...I can imagine the deep colours in the original coloured version, but the conversion is excellent. The work of light & shade on the sculptures is excellent. I like the low POV, which increases the majesty of this superb sculpture
Regards
Angshu

emjleclercq (15778) 2007-04-15 2:38

This view is very original since you managed to show us a detail of a very famous monument (the crenelled wall of the upper terrace) rather than the whole building. B& W is very well suited and the picture is vey well composed.

All the best,

Emmanuel

chrisnet (23062) 2007-05-11 4:39

Hello Antonio,
Good choice of black and white here, I like this interesting monument, original framing too. Well done.
Regards
Christian