St. John's chapel

[RList]

One of the miracles attributed to the Christian saint John, the bishop of Trogir from the 11th century is related to Cape Planka. According to the legend, after the shipwreck by Cape Planka he walked on the waves and saved the lives of King Coleman and all the sailors. In memory of him and his miracles, at this place a votive church was built in 1324.

[Shadowman]

Very gritty capture.

[RList]

You are right, that is how I saw it that day.

[IzzieK]

I like the texture of the rocks but I think this shot is overprocessed...???

[RList]

Hi Izzie, agree to that, contrast should be a bit lower

[Sergio M.]

I like this, Robert.

It does have that gritty nature as John mentioned. In addition, I like the perspective and the mood which is very much in keeping with the medieval period.

The rocks and building to tend to blend in a bit but that might be due to the similarity in tones.

A well captured image.

Sergio

[bnnrcn]

Hi Robert , I like the image I agree with Sergio that the rocks and the building tend to blend with each other and the rocks are dominating the scene a bit. I would work on them selectively to lessen their effect. Reducing the structure and contrast on them might work.

[RList]

The chapel has been built of the stone seen below it and it actually does blend. You should see colour version where differences are even lesser.
But as for presentation it could be differenciated but wanted to show how it was done...with materials around you that blends nature and human living, as it once was.

[bnnrcn]

Oh, I didn't know that In this case I would lessen the effect of the sky and I would show the building and the rocks blended with each other. IMO this would really be a nice presentation

The chapel has been built of the stone seen below it and it actually does blend. You should see colour version where differences are even lesser.
But as for presentation it could be differenciated but wanted to show how it was done...with materials around you that blends nature and human living, as it once was.

[RList]

Thanks Binnur, good idea

[Manfred M]

+1 to what Binnur has written.

I've been thinking about this shot since I first looked at it yesterday and frankly it's not working all that well for me, mostly because everything is so textured and blended together, that there really isn't a subject to the shot, in spite of the title. It might be more aptly called "Rocks near St John's chapel", as this is what really dominates the scene. This shot is all textures; the rocks, the church and the sky. Perhaps too much of a good thing?

I suspect an aggressive crop that removes much of the foreground might work better compositionally. While I like negative space in an image, I'm not convinced that much of the material on the left hand side is adding anything to the image so perhaps more of a square crop? I think if this shot is about the church, it should stand out more and it isn't, so anything you do to improve that should give you a stronger image.

[RList]

Hi Manfred,
Excellent thoughts, had similar option in mind but wanted just this...basically, the name of the photo was given at the impulse just prior posting. What you said "This shot is all textures; the rocks, the church and the sky" is exactly what I had in mind taking it. But on the other hand, what you and other previously said, stand well in case of making a well composed and presentable photo.
Must say again, excellent thoughts, thanks.

[RList]

Just to add interesting story about this church and cape where it is situated....
It was known to Greek sailors under the name of Diomede’s Cape in the 6th century BC. Homerus in his work ‘Iliad’ reveals that after the Trojan war Diomedes himself, who was one of the greatest heroes of Greek mythology, sailed around it, and Timaeus, a Greek historian, already in 4 century BC described the unusual natural meteorological anomaly which it causes. His description of weather conditions over the Diomede’s Cape belongs to the oldest descriptions of a meteorology phenomena in the European culture. Also a Greek scholar, geographer, astronomer and mathematician Eratosthenes wrote about Diomede’s Cape in the 3rd century BC, an important epic poem about the Argonauts took place there, and in the 1st century it was mentioned by Pliny the Elder in ‘Natualis Historia’, the first encyclopedic work of European culture.

[Wavelength]

It is a really great angle to shoot this image; I think the image is a bit harsh and scratchy to my eyes, huh. a bit softening as a whole can help, not sure..... The image has an ominous spell, in spite of the fact it is centred around a Church.

[LePetomane]

I like how the chapel appears to grow out of the rocks. Very nice.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Robert,

It seems my initial thoughts, formed before reading the other responses are broadly in line with them, although I do have my own take on how to address the issues raised.

My first thought was 'the sky has too much contrast', but I would only reduce contrast 'up there' (if mine), as the rocks 'need' what is there now.

My second thought was that it might need an anti-clockwise rotation, but careful checking reveals the corners of the building to be vertical (well parallel to edge off frame), but the door frame is sloping - not unreasonable given its age - and obviously not something to alter. This thought discounted entirely.

My third thought was it is all the same tonality, but of course, if built in 1324 (and even if rebuilt entirely sometime later), they are obviously going to use the rocks at the site, so that is unavoidable and indeed; part of its charm. This thought also discounted entirely.

My fourth thought was 'too much foreground', but a severe crop from the bottom would just give way too much emphasis to the sky, so - again, if mine - I would crop just a slither off the lower edge to remove the brightest rock surfaces there, 'burning' to tone down any I couldn't crop without affecting the corner detail composition. However, I would also take around 10-15% off the top edge. This, combined with the reduced sky contrast, gives more compositional emphasis to the building, borne of its 'straight lines' and slightly increased size in frame, amongst all the other randomness and curves, despite being the same tone.

One last thought; because of its flat sides and grout/mortar, the building lacks micro contrast that naturally occurs in the more spherical and pitted rocks - it might be worth selectively applying to the building some local contrast enhancement and/or sharpening, but it would be easy to overstep the ideal.

Hope those thoughts are helpful - I certainly feel they have helped me consider and learn how to deal with such a subject in future.

Cheers, Dave

[RList]

Hi Dave,

This was quite an elaboration. Many thanks for your detailed thoughts. It appears through previous comments that the name of the photo diverted attention from the picture as a whole. My other photos were also kinda scrutinised because of the name (Seahorse).
What you are saying is basically 'by the book' and during PP cutting bottom was also my idea. But when I was watching these rocks and church on top (my tripod as well as my feet were just at the water level) and clouds above it looked as one. Place is also so scary when you see the water behind and rocks that are going as long as the eye could follow. Basically, I wanted to pass that feelings through photo and apparently I did just that. So, I do agree with what you are saying to emphasise the chapel but chapel is just a part of the image. Once again, enjoyed reading your thoughts.
Have a look below what was behind my back

[bnnrcn]

This is a great image Robert, I love the long exposure and the conversion And yes , you are right that the place looks scary.

Hi Dave,

This was quite an elaboration. Many thanks for your detailed thoughts. It appears through previous comments that the name of the photo diverted attention from the picture as a whole. My other photos were also kinda scrutinised because of the name (Seahorse).
What you are saying is basically 'by the book' and during PP cutting bottom was also my idea. But when I was watching these rocks and church on top (my tripod as well as my feet were just at the water level) and clouds above it looked as one. Place is also so scary when you see the water behind and rocks that are going as long as the eye could follow. Basically, I wanted to pass that feelings through photo and apparently I did just that. So, I do agree with what you are saying to emphasise the chapel but chapel is just a part of the image. Once again, enjoyed reading your thoughts.
Have a look below what was behind my back