Sé Velha (Old Cathedral) of Coimbra, a photo from Coimbra, Nord

Photographer's Note

Here is another icon of one of the most beautiful and romantic cities of Portugal, Sé Velha (Old Cathedral), a big Romanesque church built on the 12th century by the first Portuguese King, who made Coimbra his capital. Here you see the cloister, which shows already signs of Gothic (thank's for pointing me that, Korkut 'bostankorkulugu'), the top of the apse (on the alignment of the fountain) and an old building of the University on the top right.

It is called 'old' because on the 18th century the role of 'cathedral' was given to a 16th century church that since then it's called Sé Nova (New Cathedral).

I have posted two WS's with complementary shots, one with another pov of the cloister and another one with a view of the cathedral and its surroundings seen from above.

Today I am too lazy to write much, so I won't bother you with my usual long notes. If you want to know a bit more of the city and the cathedral, please read the note on my first post of the city or follow these Wikipedia links: Coimbra, Old Cathedral of Coimbra.

You can browse my other posts of Coimbra on this page.

Location (latitude, longitude): 40.20856,-8.42693

marjan, Wanda1, AnaRita, Loic_bzh, danos, riclopes, vonp, xuaxo, atus, siolaw, jmcl, jhm, Paolo, adores, Photo65Net, pboehringer, robertosalguero trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

RADEEH (2802) 2007-05-31 20:20

Wonderful composition of the magnificent architect. The details of the architect are very sharp and clear. The lights are perfect to enjoy the structure.The dome looks marvelous. Great work TFS

marjan (7) 2007-06-01 1:06

hi Jose, wonderful shot from beautiful place. good sharp shot , excelent coloure and POV
Marjan

Wanda1 (15142) 2007-06-01 1:23

Hi Jose,
This is a beautiful architectural shot, with nice sharp details. I enjoyed your workshop versions too especially the view from above looking over all the roofs of the city. Well photographed.
Regards
Wanda

UnTrained (0) 2007-06-01 3:36

Olá José,
lazy -> two workshops, one origin and some sentences about a place partly described in other notes before. And you call yourself lazy! Thanks for this! It is a nice view into the inner garden, lovely textures on the walls and good contrasts. The workshop with the other view in not giving a lot of new impressions (as the newer upper part and the antenna are already included here - but the WS shows how a building can be hit by additions), the WS of the surrounding gives information about this.
Por o preguiçoso José um bom fim de semana.
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

Bluejeans (64251) 2007-06-01 8:22

Ola Jose fantastica esta arquitectura desta Sé , gostei dos detalhes e das cores , o ceu ficou com um azul muito bonito !!!!
Um abraço amigo
Bom fim de semana

Loic_bzh (7646) 2007-06-01 8:52

Hello Jose,

Nice POV in the middle of this cloister... TFS and thanx for the note.

Cheers,

Loïc

riclopes (35577) 2007-06-01 14:10

Boas noites José, já estou como o Ulf, de preguiçoso não tens nada, pelo menos aqui no TE. Experimenta postar com uma nota de uma linha e sem WSs e depois falamos :) A qualidade destas imagens está suberba e aquele céu está um espanto, para contrastar com esta pedra. Escolheste bem esta pela cúpula lá atrás, mas confesso que a distorção da perspectiva me está a fazer um bocado de confusão. A zona principal da imagem parece estar a cair para o lado direito. Ou corrigia a perspectiva, ou rodava um bocadinho para o lado esquerdo, para equilibrar mais. Tirando este pormenor, não tenho mais nada a apontar. O trio complementa-se bem, em especial a vista geral.
Um abraço,
ricardo

vonp (2235) 2007-06-01 15:27

Ciao Jose!
Super POV: good compo of this wonderful building. Very well captured.
See you soon...
Paolo

xuaxo (6854) 2007-06-01 17:21

Olá José,
É sempre bom voltar a ver imagens de Coimbra.
Esta não é excepção. Gosto dessa luz contra o céu escuro (talvez um pouco escuro demais).
Parece-me também que a imagem está um pouco inclinada.
Gosto muito também do WS "another pov of the cloister".
Um abraço,
F

Zelanda (5692) 2007-06-01 19:17

Hola Jose,
Bonita foto con una nitidez, encuadre, luz y color, excelentes.
Algún día iré a conocer Coimbra, por lo que veo en tus fotos, tiene que ser un lugar bello e interesante.
Buen fin de semana.
Cordialmente
Ros

atus (15878) 2007-06-01 20:40

hello José,
well captured and composed shot of a good perspective. The light and the colours are very well managed with the filter. The deep blue of the sky is really fantastic. Well done!
Tfs and have a nice weekend.
Attila

danos (110407) 2007-06-02 3:43

Ola Jose,
impressive the perspective and the POV of the Cathedral) of Coimbra.Excellent the lights and the shadows of your shot.The view of the WS adds a better knowledge of the whole district.The contrast betwen the Cathedral and the deep blue of the sky is superb.You have captured this remarkable view with as much majesty as one could imagine.Well done.
Have a nice weekend,Danos

siolaw (38294) 2007-06-02 10:16

Hi Jose
Excellent view of this Cathedral under a perfect light and good colors with polirizer working well... Good framing and POV
Cheers
Laurent

bostankorkulugu (42832) 2007-06-02 18:24

it looks more like some kinda gothic to me rather than romanesque but still great architecture... the shadow is a bit disturbing but the rest is superb both light and colourwise...

have a great sunday my friend...

korkut:)

jmcl (14535) 2007-06-02 20:25

Hi José,

Let me start with the fact that overall I like it .. especially the feel of the late day color palette on the old building .. that said .. I think the shadow has crept in to make it a bit too dark .. but it is the angles in the sky that bother me more .. there are some strange lines here .. the steeple seems tilted but the line on the grey building is straight .. I think I would rather see the steeple straight (even if it isn't really). but maybe that would tilt the other lines too much?

take care,

John

jhm (202939) 2007-06-03 7:01

Hello Jose,

Fine architecture picture, excellent detailed fronts, you play excellent with shadows and the light, real colours and very wel composition. TFS.

Best regards,
John.

Paolo (41258) 2007-06-03 11:15

Hi Josè, beautiful image of the cloister with a wonderful deep blue sky on the back.
high quality and excellent POV.
thanks, ciao

clnaef (6289) 2007-06-03 12:17

Bonjour,
En voyant les barreaux à droite, on dirait une prison.
Bonne journée.
clnaef

guillaumejm (0) 2007-06-03 13:00

Bonsoir José,
La lumière ici est vraiment magnifiquement gérée. le ciel est d'un bleu sombre extraordinaire et la lumière sur les pierres est exquise.
Amicalement
JMarc

adores (46979) 2007-06-03 18:42

Olá José!
Vejo que continuas com a tua série sobre Coimbra. Esta foto da Sé Velha ficou bonita! Gosto da perspectiva mostrando o claustro, que é sem dúvida muito bonito. As cores também ficaram muito bem.
Anabela

Stepan (27210) 2007-06-04 14:33

La lumière est très belle, très "mat" dans un certain sens et le bâtiment en devient vraiment très impressionnant. Très fort.
Stéphane

Tango7174 (0) 2007-06-04 21:34

Very attractive contrast in colours from the different buildings, sky, garden and shadow on the left. I like the other POV in workshop as well.
Well done José!

Thành.

Photo65Net (43144) 2007-06-05 13:56

Jose,
Very nice job. I like how you caught this magnificent architecture, and you worked perfectly with such an hard light.
Beautiful colors and tones too.
Regards,
JB.

pboehringer (770) 2007-06-06 10:16

Jose, don't bother about your laziness. The text is just fine to give enough info regarding this quite interesting and beautiful place. Nice to see the different adorns on the arches.
I guess you must have used a wide angle approach. The distortion gives a weird impression of being tilted and yet not being tilted. I'm sure that Photoshop could correct that, but I don't know how. Didn't learn it myself, so I can only critique it and suggest, but not instruct how to do it ;-)
The lights are extremely well balanced and managed. Something quite challenging in such moment were you have direct sunlight entering the scene and at the same time shadow. The diagonal light/shadow play looks very good.

rl245267 (845) 2007-06-09 19:11

Hi Jose,

I like the architecture that exists in this building. The towers, domes, arched doorways etc. In my opinion this shows much more imagination than most buildings of our time. The photo is exceptionally sharp and the blue sky is exquisite. I wish the shadow that covers part of the court yard did not exist but I still like the photo. It looks like a beautiful place.

Thanks for sharing,
Rob

danyy (0) 2007-06-17 17:41

Bonjour Jose,
ce sont les couleurs qui sdéduisent ici, les bleus intenses du ciel et les belles teintes réchauffées dégagées par les pierres.
Un cadrage difficile mais pas mal réussi.

Best regards.
Daniel.

capthaddock (28790) 2007-06-25 11:25

Hi Jose - you chose the better pov as the main posting, I also like the view from above, puts the location in a better context, the building to the right is somewhat out of architectural harmony, and it dominates in the WS version, so this is clearly the better one, I like the dark sky resulting from the polariser.

robertosalguero (292) 2008-01-19 0:39

Olá Jose,

This building is beautiful and it does remind me a bit of the Alhambra in Spain. The sky look awesome and create a beautiful contrast against the warm colours of the building. This place is fit for a King :-)

Roberto