The castle of the knights templars

[Mr P]

#11


From this cloister you can also look out onto the upper floor of the ruin of the Royal Palace, long since abandoned. Through the empty windows of the palace you see the parade ground. The window seats are a common feature at Tomar.

Mr P

[Rense]

great depth of view here.

There also seem to be some spiral /shell like stairs in the castle. Any images of those?

[Mr P]

Originally Posted by Rense

There also seem to be some spiral /shell like stairs in the castle. Any images of those?

Watch this space.

Mr P

[Rense]

I'll will ...

[Mr P]

#12


The Order of Christ was transformed into an enclosed Benedictine Order in the mid-1500s and the Main Cloister was rebuilt in baroque style. Its location is behind that wall that you see to the left of the Charola in photo #3 and you don't see it when you enter the place. That's the thing about Tomar, you are constantly surprised - "there's more!"

Again I had difficulties with the harsh light. The trouble is that we have very few cloudy days.

I took this from the spiral staircase on the middle floor, identical to the one opposite. You can go up it on to the stone roof. Up there in mid-summer it is around 35ºC or more.

Mr P

[Mr P]

#13


I have not cropped the righthand side of this photo; I wanted to show it in context. Needless to say, I had to use fill-in flash to get anything at all.

Mr P

[Mr P]

#14


Looking up the steps, and in my anxiety to get the top of the spiral into view, I spoiled the composition of this one and will have to re-shoot on my next visit. I should have left a fraction more of the spiral visible on the right and have that distant rosette more like on a 1/3 line.

Mr P

[Rense]

I´m getting more and more impressed with building. Don´t you have a ND filter, seems worthwhile for just photographing this castle.

[Rense]

Originally Posted by Mr P

#14


Looking up the steps, and in my anxiety to get the top of the spiral into view, I spoiled the composition of this one and will have to re-shoot on my next visit. I should have left a fraction more of the spiral visible on the right and have that distant rosette more like on a 1/3 line.

Mr P

that was the kind of image I was waiting for. Well done.

[Mr P]

#15


This one descends into the murky depths under the "cloister of necessity".

Tomorrow we'll look at the Charola.

Mr P

[Mr P]

Originally Posted by Rense

I´m getting more and more impressed with building. Don´t you have a ND filter, seems worthwhile for just photographing this castle.

Explain 'ND' for a no-know.

Mr P

[Rense]

Mr P,
please take a look at this link that explains it all.

Personally I have a whole range of ND filters, including a 10/stop B+W filter that can give you 15 minute exposures like in this link.

[Mr P]

By the way, visitors, if you've got this far in my story, are still interested and impatient for the rest, in the meantime look up
Order of Christ (Portugal) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
You get a very informative article. Follow the Wikipedia 'see also' links in that article for more. (There is no point in my copying out into this thread.)

Mr P

[Rense]

Originally Posted by Mr P

#15


This one descends into the murky depths under the "cloister of necessity".

Tomorrow we'll look at the Charola.

Mr P

this one begs for conversion to B&W (hint hint)

[Mr P]

Originally Posted by Rense

Mr P,
please take a look at this link that explains it all.

Personally I have a whole range of ND filters, including a 10/stop B+W filter that can give you 15 minute exposures like in this link.

Rense, thanks for the links. I understand what and how about ND (I'm just not that good on abbreviations. Took me ages when working in NL to discover what a CvB was.)
I have to think about how such a filter can help with harsh contrasts here. When I wear sunglasses to handle brightness, I see nothing in the shadows. Thus I'm not sure how an ND filter would help. I certainly have a feeling that a Graduated ND wouldn't have helped any of the photos in this thread.
Following a hint from elsewhere, I did try a circular polarising filter on one or two shots when making image #12 but it seemed to have had little or no effect. The one I posted was done without it.
Maybe I simply have to go out early or late in the day when the light is softer (but then the castle is closed.)

Mr P

[Mr P]

Originally Posted by Rense

this one begs for conversion to B&W (hint hint)

Thanks for the hint. I think this might be considered as an improvement.
Mr P

[Mr P]

This one really has no place in my Tomar documentary but just for fun, I applied a radial blur with an interesting effect. That's what happens when you go down the steps too quickly.

Tomorrow, back to the story.

Mr P

[Mr P]

INSIDE THE CHAROLA

#16

The Charola dates more or less from the beginning of the fortress. The hollow centre-piece is a "WOW!" of statues, carving, gilding and paintings. It is plumb in the middle of the Rotunda.

Visitors are presently kept away by that railing which one can just see but I went inside some time ago. Hidden by the top of the railing is a white marble altar, right in the centre.

Mr P

[Mr P]

#17

I was quite some way away for this one, at the zoom limit of the EF 35-80 kit lens which was all I had with me that day. In between tourists standing in front of me, I managed it. Not that bad for a simple kit lens.

I couldn't do much about that old guy standing behind.

Mr P

[Mr P]

The walls of the Charola are covered in mid-level paintings of saints and apostles, done on wooden boards. Higher up and on the vaulting are murals. Pillars are also decorated. The whole thing is undergoing a process of restoration (which is why one is not allowed beyond the railing.)

There are notices everywhere to say that FLASH is not permitted but there is not always an attendant in the Charola to see that it is observed.

I dislike the stupidity of those bus-loads of selfish tourists who stand there holding up their cameras and peering into their LCD screens - flash, flash, flash! Totally ignoring the notices which are there for good reason. They should feel happy that photography is permitted; often it isn't.

I'm no busybody activist but I once felt so irritated that I pointed out the notices to one tourist (a fellow-countryman, I am ashamed to say) who simply said: "Do you work here?" "No?" "Then mind your own bl**dy business!" Flash, flash, flash!

So much for protecting our heritage!

Please excuse me while I get down from the pulpit.
Mr P