View allAll Photos Tagged intuos
Another attemp on hand coloring with the wacom. I kind of like it, and it gives things an old feel to it.
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Holga 120N
Arista EDU400
Developed in Caffenol (homebrewed mix of coffee and washing soda)
Scanned with V700
Colored in photoshop CS4 with Wacom Intuos 4
I've seen a few interesting looking sunrises in Dubai in my days, but this one was very much unique. I was particularly intrigued by the strange low clouds and the fog which seems to have divided the sky into the night and day like an invisible membrane. What an incredible feast for the eyes!
This is a handheld panorama, assembled from 2 individual, single exposures, captured from the rooftop of the Shangri-La Hotel on the Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai.
The light was so amazing and the contrast was well controlled, so I didn't feel it was needed to work on the Dynamic Image Blending or any other advanced post-processing technique, other than colour grading.
I used the ever-reliable Canon 5D MK III and Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L Tilt-Shift Lens lens. Processed with Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom and Nik Software on a custom built, Windows 10 powered PC.
As usual, I worked on the Wacom Intuos Pro pressure sensitive tablet.
Still waters of Mudeford harbour with this image I had to wade out to position myself to try and get some sort of symmetry.
PASO 4: Le agregué más detalles, textura de la piel, textura de metal a la armadura, textura de tela, más brillos y sombras, y organicé un poco la composición, como no encontré la fuente de Lost Odyssey, la simulé con Trazos de un pincel de Photoshop.
Lo hice llorando, pero igual tiene esa misma mirada inexpresiva que lo caracteriza, el la historia del juego no hace otra cosa sino llorar, creo que nunca sonríe...
Está subido al 50% del original, calidad 12 de Photoshop CS4 JPEG 1600x1612 pxl.
Espero que les guste, ya mañana inicio la colorización!!
Lost Odyssey es un RPG desarrollado por Mistwalker, junto con Feelplus, para la Xbox 360.
Diseño de personaje: por el Mangaka 井上 雄彦 Inoue Takehiko.
Historia por: el "padre" de la prestigiosa saga Final Fantasy, 坂口 博信Hironobu Sakaguchi.
Ilustración Digital (Fanart) por: Juan Camilo Bedoya Vargas.
Photoshop CS4. Tableta Wacom Intuos 3.
Enero de 2010
I never ever do these tagged memes, but since Nathan asked, I guess I can't refuse.
Stuff about me:
1. My first job was at a photo store, and yes, we had an epic "Wall of Shame".
2. My worst job as a model was a bikini calendar shoot in a duck pond in the middle of November... in CANADA. Yeah, I had to kneel in duck crap. It was sexy.
2. When I was 8, I got detention from computer class for refusing to use a PC. I stand by my decision.
3. I was, and still am a rubbish speller. I blame my early french immersion education and my later dependence on Spell Check.
4. I own 11 seasons of ER. I love listening to the medical banter while I retouch photos. I always wanted to be a doctor. In fact, I nearly went into medicine, but I hate hospitals and sick people, so it was kind of a wash.
5. I can pretty much fix anything with duct tape.
6. I am a night owl. It physically hurts me to get up before noon.
7. I can only fall asleep if a movie is playing. It's horrible "sleep hygiene", as my doc would say, but dang it, I just can't stop.
8. I hate romantic comedies. The only thing that could possibly save a romantic comedy in my eyes is if both lead characters were eaten by zombies in the end.
9. I don't care where I am or what I'm doing, 4pm is tea time.
10. Currently on my desk is a Wacom Intuos4, a 4GB Wicket Mimobot, a 4GB Eye-fi SD card, a Griffin PowerDock (currently charging my iPhone and my iPod Classic), and a small chipmunk named Snacktooth.
Captured the other Friday when the Aurora alarm went off giving some higher than normal conditions with an almost a 9kp giving some spectacular images for this far south.
Having never ventured out to capture the Aurora this was certainly an experimental time I roughly knew what settings to use even so you had to alter them depending how much of the Aurora was present at any one time.
Could not believe how busy it got at this location I will have to find a quieter location nearby if the opportunity arises.
Use the new Sony f.28 16-35mm G2 lens which seemed to work well...
That time of year with this autumnal image captured yesterday with a couple of Pheasants in mist seen in the distance.
This is one of my favourite driveways to photograph when the opportunity arises.
Cromer Pier during rain and sunset. One of my favourite times to capture images on a pier is when it's raining to get the clean reflections.
Capturing the moment when no one else was crazy enough to venture outside.
Shot with Kees Smans in the province of Zeeland in Holland.
Please don't invite me for groups that require me to post 1 and comment 100 with a sweeper that happens to be active and will ban me if I don't do so.
I mean, that's like inviting me for dinner then say that I have to bring my own food, cook for the guests and host and clean up all the mess and if I don't do so, I will be kicked out of the house and even get a restraining order. Please, don't invite me for such groups, it's insulting.
This one's processed in Silver Efex Pro 2 using almost all new features. See the promotional video for Nik Software's Silver Efex Pro 2 and other videos Click here for the video
Technical info:
ND110 - 10 stops.
f/10
ISO100
13 mm
240s (4min0sec) exposure
Software:
Lightroom 3.0
PS CS5 - Silver Efex Pro 2
Other Post processing equipment:
Wacom Intuos 4 tablet for some accurate editing.
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3 Deer on a pathway through the new forest captured in autumn.
Full use of the 400mm zoom and fingers crossed the deer stayed still long enough.
Sunrise captured a few weeks back on the River Frome in which the mist had a nice orange glow.
I did enjoy the duck swimming through heading towards the mist and boats. Virtually no wind and had no use of filters with the sun well up at this time not quite burning it's way through the mist yet!!!
Battersea Power station using the railway as a leading line...
A subject I have wanted to capture for a while now and on this occasion wind and rain was not my friend and managing to capture this one in between.
Kase 6 stop ne filter used.
Captured blue hour sunset times.
Explored on October 8, 2013
Torre Iberdrola (2007-2011).
Architect: César Pelli, Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects.
Plaza de Euskadi.
Bilbao, Biscay, Basque Country, Spain.
Technical data: Nikon D800 | Nikkor AF-S 14-24 mm f/2.8G ED at 16mm | Hitech Pro Stop 10 IR + Hitech Pro
Stop 6 IR | Lucroit filter holder | Induro AT213 tripod + BHL2 ballhead.
359s (5min 59s) | f/8 | ISO 100.
Processing: Lightroom 5 | Photoshop CS6 | Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.
Wacom Intuos 5 pen tablet.
"The desire to reach for the sky runs very deep in our human psyche."
César Pelli.
Being the focal point of the master plan for the redevelopment of Abandibarra, a former industrial area next to Nervión river in Bilbao, the Torre Iberdrola is a 41-story glass skyscraper designed by Argentinian architect César Pelli, who is best known for his project for the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). This building is with 165 meters the highest building in the Basque Country and is also the first tower in Europe to achieve the US Green Building Council's highest level in sustainable design: LEED Platinum certification.
The triangular shape of the Torre Iberdrola is derived from the intersection of three cylinder segments slightly tilted to each other, which results in a prismatic volume that tapers toward the sky. In contrast to the clear lines of this imposing, obelisk-shaped glass structure, the building meets the ground by means of a sculptural, glass-and-steel curved surface that gently wraps the tower and, at the same time, opens the building to the city.
When looking at the building from both sides, the tower seems to emerge from within the delicate wrapper at its base. It is the sensuality of this gesture, which mitigates the sharpness of the prow-like façade the tower meets the city with, that captivated me and hence motivated this photograph.
In processing this image, I wanted to emphasize the dichotomy between these two volumes by playing with two different tonal ranges on them. The mid part of the spectrum was better suited to the soft curves at the base of the building, whereas tones at both extremes were only used to put the accent on the acute edges of the prismatic tower.
Photo taken in Rotterdam, the Netherlands with Kees Smans. Check his version from another side of this building.
This one's processed in Silver Efex Pro 2 using almost all new features, and I just received news that Silver Efex Pro 2 has just been officially released to the rest of the world! See the promotional video for Nik Software's Silver Efex Pro 2 and other videos Click here for the video
Gradually switching over to portraiture and still life work and working in series with a special theme. That will take some time though…
Technical info:
ND110 - 10 stops.
f/16
ISO100
11 mm
49s (0min49sec) exposure
Software:
Lightroom 3.0
PS CS5 - Silver Efex Pro 2
Other Post processing equipment:
Wacom Intuos 4 tablet for some accurate editing.
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PASO 1: Boceto a líneas en Photoshop, calcular proporciones y definir límites // Kaim Argonar, personaje principal de Lost Odyssey, un RPG de Xbox 360...
Pronto subo el sombreado y con la versión a color hago una pequeña reseña y evaluación personal de este juego que jamás, (creo), volveré a pasarme en la Vida... 4 DVDs, DL, más de 100 horas de juego...
Lost Odyssey es un RPG desarrollado por Mistwalker, junto con Feelplus, para la Xbox 360.
Diseño de personaje: por el Mangaka 井上 雄彦 Inoue Takehiko.
Historia por: el "padre" de la prestigiosa saga Final Fantasy, 坂口 博信Hironobu Sakaguchi.
Ilustración Digital (Fanart) por: Juan Camilo Bedoya Vargas.
Photoshop CS4. Tableta Wacom Intuos 3.
Enero de 2010
Sunrise from Swanage pier, capturing the moody sky and epic colour as the sun cleared the lower clouds for the second time. Also giving me an incredibly lit horizon.
Surprisingly a quiet morning with the occasional dog or metal detectorist.
Single exposure used purely for the brightest part of the scene. Usually at the back end of the pier here deciding for something different and incorporating the metal bars at the front of the pier.
This is a character that I drew with photoshop (CS6), using a digital pen (Wacom Intuos pro M).
The character I created is inspired by the art from the MMO RPG, World of Warcraft.
The digital painting was finished during early 2016.
Captured in early November, this image was my fourth and this time, some great conditions. A lone white cottage sits nestled at the foot of towering, rugged mountains, epitomizing solitude and tranquillity.
The icy mirror in the foreground caught my eye as I was heading back to the car. Although I usually prefer horizontal images, this one to me worked as a portrait because it had nice layers of interest throughout: the crystalline pond, the golden grasslands, the majestic mountains, and the blue-fluffy clouds in the sky, echoing the harsh yet beautiful Scottish landscape.
Only a Firecrest Polariser used here; taken at its widest 24-mm, managing to focus where a single image without bracketing was all that was needed.
This is another shot from the archives, the reason being i spent probably more hours than i'd like to admit in trying to process it. It was the shot i used to try and develop my Wacom Intuos 5 skills and i have to admit i ended up infuriated at times. The reason being i spent hours and hours trying to learn how to make accurate selections and in this shot it was mainly the wires that i was trying to add highlights to. I managed to get the selections down but failed miserably in highlighting them so ive decided i would leave it as is. I have done other selections and selective adjustments in the shot so the time wasnt wasted but i just couldnt get the wires to look right. It was great practice though for drawing straight lines though i'll say!
Strobist info :
- 1 Mainlight : 1 godox AD600 through octabox (zoom at 50mm Power at +0.3 in TTL mode).
- 2 bare speedlight. One on the back of the model (zoom at 24mm and power at -0.7 in TTL) and one on the right side to simulate the sun (zoom at 105mm and power at +0.3 in TTL).
Post-processing : a big work in photoshop. I made notably the background in a small HRD. The model is not in HDR but the lighting makes the 3D effect alone. I added shadows on the fingers on the building.
Feel free to comment please.
(see it Full Screen mode for maximum effect)
Abu Dhabi's skyline, processed with my own Time-Dilation technique in which several exposures, captured at various times of the day are fused seamlessly into a surreal image like this one. It took more than 5 hours on a freezing windy night and morning to capture all images which make this composite.
It's very interesting to see the effect of the artificial as well as natural light interact with the scene in this manner. This kind of visualization would not have been possible before the era of digital image processing. It's really awesome to explore the new horizons of creative possibilities.
RAW files were captured with Canon 5dmk3 and Canon 50mm f1.2L lens. Base image was fused with Oloneo PhotoEngine HDR application.
Time-Dilation effect was processed with Photoshop CC 2015 and NIK Suite on a custom built PC running Windows 10 Pro 64-bit.
As usual, I used a pressure sensitive Wacom Intuos Pro tablet for image manipulation and layering.
Even Flow.
You can find me on Google+ these days...
Technical info:
ND110 - 10 stops.
f/22
ISO100
13 mm
75s (1min15sec) exposure
Software:
Lightroom 3.0
PS CS5 - Silver Efex Pro 2
Other Post processing equipment:
Wacom Intuos 4 tablet for some accurate editing.
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Thought I would go Monochrome with this one of an image captured on my visit back from Isle of Skye and thought I would head over to the Kelpies and my previous image the Falkirk wheel. This image a normal exposure positioning myself so as to not see the electricity cables which there seems to be much of...
Firecrest Polariser filter used, not long after this changed to a Kase magnetic set.
A photo-shoot of modern industrial architecture. No long exposure.
Gradually moving over to shooting architecture exclusively instead of seascapes, at least for the time being.
For a typical long exposure photographer like I am, you have to continuously ask yourself: "does a long exposure add to the impact and intention of the shot?". In this case, I don't think it would add.
Technical info:
No filters
f/7.1
ISO100
200 mm
1/500s exposure
Software:
Lightroom 3.0
PS CS5 - Silver Efex Pro 2
Other Post processing equipment:
Wacom Intuos 4 tablet for some accurate editing.
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Update This image received an Honorable Mention at the 2011 International Photography Awards.
Just an in between shot just to let you know I'm still alive, more of California, my newer work, coming up soon.
It was a bad day. My new camera and lens are destroyed due to a sudden wind gust that smacked all of my gear to the ground: camera broken, lens broken. Damage: over 2,000 euro. It all happened in a time-frame of less than 10 seconds. So for the time being no more new work…
On top of that my cat died today, all of a sudden. He was a strong and healthy 1 year old cat, and he just dropped dead totally unexpected. It all happened in a time-frame of less than 10 seconds…
The irony of this all was that I named my cat Kenna, after my favorite photographer Michael Kenna. Some strange and invisible forces trying to stop me from photography, it seems…
Anyway, I'm gutted.
Technical info:
ND110 - 10 stops.
f/16
ISO100
17 mm
181s (3min1sec) exposure
Software:
Lightroom 3.0
PS CS5 - Silver Efex Pro
Other Post processing equipment:
Wacom Intuos 4 tablet for some accurate editing.
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I wanted to test my new Godox T865S speedlight in TTL mode through a square softbox. It worked really well and above all, WITHOUT the flashmeter ! Therefore, I can do now without the flashmeter.
For the shot I added another speedlight to illuminate the background.
Moreover, i have tested the foldable background. It is really nice and enable me to shoot quickly.
PP : first PP through LR then PS, with a frequency separation to soften the skin and eliminate highlights. Final touch is a personnal setup in Topaz Texture software.
Strobist info :
2 rim lights on each side and back of the model in strip modifier with 2 Godox TT685 speedlights.
Main light with my lover, the Godox AD600 in fornt of the model and just above me. All was triggered with my Godox X1-T.
Post-Processing :
Background is self-mde + white vignet. Dodge and Burn and contrast to improve the final image + Grain.
Visit my new website : nicobert.com
Strobist info :
One cross light on the right side, a GODOX QT600ii through an octabox 90 cm (1/2 Power) - One rim light on the left side, a little behind the model, a GODOX QT600ii in a strip box. All was triggered with a GODOX X1-T.
Post processing :
Add a bigger frame / skin soft retouch / Eyes work / Dodge and Burn / frequency separation / Color search / Add a white back light behind the model, on the wall.
A composite I just made. The model is a friend of mine and we tried to make a sport shoot.
Strobist info :
2 rim lights on each side and back of the model in strip modifier with 2 Godox TT685 speedlights.
Main light with my lover, the Godox AD600 in fornt of the model and just above me. All was triggered with my Godox X1-T.
Post-Processing :
Contrast and color search / Dodge and Burn (the light is of course the base to improve the contrast) / small skin work / vignetting / Grain and a VSCO tweak.
Maschinen Krieger Series - LUM-168 Camel
Wacom tablet - intuos pro
Corel Painter
Composite - Ps
The machine swooped down to a halt, right in front of me, it's voice spoke inside my mind, saying;
"The power that governs the destiny of all living beings is called the Eagle, not because it is an eagle or has anything to do with an eagle, but because it appears to the seer as an immeasurable jet-black eagle, standing erect as an eagle stands, its height reaching to infinity.
As the seer gazes on the blackness that the Eagle is, four blazes of light reveal what the Eagle is like. The first blaze, which is like a bolt of lightning, helps the seer make out the contours of the Eagle's body. There are patches of whiteness that look like an eagle's feathers and talons.
A second blaze of lightning reveals the flapping, wind-creating blackness that looks like an eagle's wings. With the third blaze of lightning the seer beholds a piercing, inhuman eye. And the fourth and last blaze discloses what the Eagle is doing.
The Eagle is devouring the awareness of all the creatures that, alive on earth a moment before and now dead, have floated to the Eagle's beak, like a ceaseless swarm of fireflies, to meet their owner, their reason for having had life. The Eagle disentangles these tiny flames, lays them flat, as a tanner stretches out a hide, and then consumes them; for awareness is the Eagle's food.
The Eagle, that power that governs the destinies of all living things, reflects equally and at once all those living things. There is no way, therefore, for man to pray to the Eagle, to ask favors, to hope for grace, The human part of the Eagle is too insignificant to move the whole.
It is only from the Eagle's actions that a seer can tell what it wants. The Eagle, although it is not moved by the circumstances of any living thing, has granted a gift to each of those beings. In its own way and right, any one of them, if it so desires, has the power to keep the flame of awareness, the power to disobey the summons to die and be consumed.
Every living thing has been granted the power, if it so desires, to seek an opening to freedom and to go through it. It is evident to the seer who sees the opening, and to the creatures that go through it, that the Eagle has granted that gift in order to perpetuate awareness.
For the purpose of guiding living things to that opening, the Eagle created the Nagual. The Nagual is a double being to whom the rule has been revealed. Whether it be in the form of a human being, an animal, a plant, or anything else that lives, the Nagual by virtue of its doubleness is drawn to seek that hidden passageway.
The Nagual comes in pairs, male and female. A double man and a double woman become the Nagual only after the rule has been told to each of them, and each of them has understood it and accepted it in full.
To the eye of the seer, a Nagual man or Nagual woman appears as a luminous egg with four compartments. Unlike the average human being, who has two sides only, a left and a right, the Nagual has a left side divided into two long sections, and a right side equally divided in two.
The Eagle created the first Nagual man and Nagual woman as seers and immediately put them in the world to see. It provided them with four female warriors who were stalkers, three male warriors, and one male courier, whom they were to nourish, enhance, and lead to freedom.
The female warriors are called the four directions, the four corners of a square, the four moods, the four winds, the four different female personalities that exist in the human race.
The first is the east. She is called order. She is optimistic, light- hearted, smooth, persistent like a steady breeze.
The second is the north. She is called strength. She is resourceful, blunt, direct, tenacious like a hard wind.
The third is the west. She is called feeling. She is introspective, remorseful, cunning, sly, like a cold gust of wind.
The fourth is the south. She is called growth, She is nurturing, loud, shy, warm, like a hot wind.
The three male warriors and the courier are representative of the four types of male activity and temperament.
The first type is the knowledgeable man, the scholar; a noble, dependable, serene man, fully dedicated to accomplishing his task, whatever it may be.
The second type is the man of action, highly volatile, a great humorous fickle companion.
The third type is the organizer behind the scenes, the mysterious, unknowable man. Nothing can be said about him because he allows nothing about himself to slip out.
The courier is the fourth type, He is the assistant, a taciturn, somber man who does very well if properly directed but who cannot stand on his own.
In order to make things easier, the Eagle showed the Nagual man and Nagual woman that each of these types among men and women of the earth has specific features in its luminous body.
The scholar has a sort of shallow dent, a bright depression at his solar plexus. In some men it appears as a pool of intense luminosity, sometimes smooth and shiny like a mirror without a reflection.
The man of action has some fibers emanating from the area of the will. The number of fibers varies from one to five, their size ranging from a mere string to a thick, whiplike tentacle up to eight feet long. Some have as many as three of these fibers developed into tentacles.
The man behind the scenes is recognized not by a feature but by his ability to create, quite involuntarily, a burst of power that effectively blocks the attention of seers. When in the presence of this type of man, seers find themselves immersed in extraneous detail rather than seeing.
The assistant has no obvious configuration. To seers he appears as a clear glow in a flawless shell of luminosity.
In the female realm, the east is recognized by the almost imperceptible blotches in her luminosity, something like small areas of discoloration.
The north has an overall radiation; she exudes a reddish glow, almost like heat.
The west has a tenuous film enveloping her, a film which makes her appear darker than the others.
The south has an intermittent glow; she shines for a moment and then gets dull, only to shine again.
The Nagual man and the Nagual woman have two different movements in their luminous bodies. Their right sides wave, while their left sides whirl.
In terms of personality, the Nagual man is supportive, steady, unchangeable. The Nagual woman is a being at war and yet relaxed, ever aware but without strain. Both of them reflect the four types of their sex, as four ways of behaving.
The first command that the Eagle gave the Nagual man and Nagual woman was to find, on their own, another set of four female warriors, four directions, who were the exact replicas of the stalkers but who were dreamers.
Dreamers appear to a seer as having an apron of hairlike fibers at their midsections. Stalkers have a similar apronlike feature, but instead of fibers the apron consists of countless small, round protuberances.
The eight female warriors are divided into two bands, which are called the right and left planets. The right planet is made up of four stalkers, the left of four dreamers. The warriors of each planet were taught by the Eagle the rule of their specific task: stalkers were taught stalking; dreamers were taught dreaming.
The two female warriors of each direction live together. They are so alike that they mirror each other, and only through impeccability can they find solace and challenge in each other's reflection.
The only time when the four dreamers or four stalkers get together is when they have to accomplish a strenuous task; but only under special circumstances should the four of them join hands, for their touch fuses them into one being and should be used only in cases of dire need, or at the moment of leaving this world.
The two female warriors of each direction are attached to one of the males, in any combination that is necessary. Thus they make a set of four households, which are capable of incorporating as many warriors as needed.
The male warriors and the courier can also form an independent unit of four men, or each can function as a solitary being, as dictated by necessity.
Next the Nagual and his party were commanded to find three more couriers. These could be all males or all females or a mixed set, but the male couriers had to be of the fourth type of man, the assistant, and the females had to be from the south.
In order to make sure that the first Nagual man would lead his party to freedom and not deviate from that path or become corrupted, the Eagle took the Nagual woman to the other world to serve as a beacon, guiding the party to the opening.
The Nagual and his warriors were then commanded to forget.
They were plunged into darkness and were given new tasks: the task of remembering themselves, and the task of remembering the Eagle.
The command to forget was so great that everyone was separated. They did not remember who they were. The Eagle intended that if they were capable of remembering themselves again, they would find the totality of themselves. Only then would they have the strength and forebearance necessary to seek and face their definitive journey.
Their last task, after they had regained the totality of themselves, was to get a new pair of double beings and transform them into a new Nagual man and a new Nagual woman by virtue of revealing the rule to them. And just as the first Nagual man and Nagual woman had been provided with a minimal party, they had to supply the new pair of Naguals with four female warriors who were stalkers, three male warriors, and one male courier.
When the first Nagual and his party were ready to go through the passageway, the first Nagual woman was waiting to guide them. They were ordered then to take the new Nagual woman with them to the other world to serve as a beacon for her people, leaving the new Nagual man in the world to repeat the cycle.
While in the world, the minimal number under a Nagual's leadership is sixteen: eight female warriors, four male warriors, counting the Nagual, and four couriers. At the moment of leaving the world, when the new Nagual woman is with them, the Nagual's number is seventeen. If his personal power permits him to have more warriors, then more must be added in multiples of four."
Explored on September 27, 2013
Hall of the Two Sisters / Sala de las Dos Hermanas.
Palace of the Lions (ca. 1370-1391), The Alhambra.
Granada, Andalusia, Spain.
Technical data: Nikon D800 | Nikkor AF-S 14-24 mm f/2.8G ED at 14mm.
1/25s | f/5.6 | ISO 400.
Processing: Lightroom 5.
Wacom Intuos 5 pen tablet.
The Hall of the Abencerrages and the Hall of the Two Sisters, located on the South and North side of the Court of the Lions respectively, are two of the most beautiful spaces created in the history of Islamic Architecture.
Three basic elements constitute the structural core of these vaulted spaces: the squared hall; the circular or polygonal dome; and the drum, and intermediate element that enables the transition the transition from the square shape to the circular base of the dome. In order to support the diagonal sides of the drum, squinches are usually added. This passage from the square to the circle symbolizes the journey from the Earth to the Sky.
The principle behind the extremely complex appearance of these structures is the use of a prismatic modular element known as muqarna. The more than 5,000 pieces that conform the visible part of the dome of the Hall of the Two Sisters -the biggest structure of its kind in the world- were originally prisms made of plaster that were then carved at an extremity. The modules were then assembled in the form of an immense puzzle to create a continuous surface. Each one of the individual pieces was finally sculpted and painted.
The masterful work of the Moorish artisans who once crafted these domes shines with alluring detail and geometrical perfection still to this day. In the Alhambra, however, nothing is as simple as it seems. The geometrical solution actually adopted in both cases purposely breaks the octagonal symmetry of the ceiling in an almost invisible way precisely under the chechia, at the very vertex of the dome. As we already know, perception and reality are not always aligned.