47/52 - Marble

Marble

This week's shot is a bit late as I was away over the long weekend. I decided to photograph a marble and I wanted the colour to drop off towards the left of frame. I picked a "Sangria" coloured gel to create the background colour. If I were to shoot this photograph again, I would try and get a bit more colour on the right hand side of the marble.

Lighting setup inside.

Lighting Setup - Marble

I used a snooted Canon 430 EX II fired at 1/8 to light the image. I tried firing the stobe in a number of positions, including straight down at the marble, before I settled on firing it straight into the background. I'm not sure how to expose the right hand side of the marble. Should I use another flash or should I just re-position the snooted strobe?

I'll probably end up experimenting with this one after the project finishes. The setup, as you can see, is quite straight forward.

The Roman Forum - Rome, Italy

The Temple of Saturn and the Forum - Rome, Italy

While in Rome, we joined a walking tour of the Roman Forum, the Palatine Hill and the Colosseum with the hope of getting to know a bit more about the history of the area. We joined a tour which was recommended by the people running the B&B we stayed at. We got off to a bad start as the guide got half an hour late and unfortunately things didn't get any better. The whole tour felt as though the guide was just regurgitating a script which she had memorised.

More photographs after the jump.

The Forum with the Colosseum in the Background - Rome, Italy

Since the tour was a massive disappointment, we bought a book which documented the forum and, using it as a guide, walked around the Forum again the next day. It was a bit like walking around in Anuradhapura but with a hell of a lot more people!

The Temple of Antoninus & Faustina - Rome, Italy

Walking around the forum on our own gave me the opportunity to take a bit more time to do a bit of photography. We were there close to midday so the light wasn't the best. I had a circular polariser on the camera which let me capture deeper shades of blues and greens. Although I lost 2 stops using the polariser, I didn't need to use the tripod. The hardest part of photographing the Forum, in my opinion, was getting photographs without people being included in the frames.

A Marble Carving in the Forum - Rome, Italy

I'm planning on heading back to Sri Lanka for a holiday in July. I'm hoping to do a fair bit of wildlife photography while I'm there. I am also planning on heading back to Anuradhapura and probably traveling in the hills as  well. I'm sure the photographs will find their way onto the blog eventually!

Taj Mahal Complex

This shot was taken fairly early in the morning before the majority of visitors had arrived. See it in colour here.

 I prefer the black and white version as I feel the rays of sun light and the misty haze are more pronounced.

This is a part of the wall which surrounds the Taj Mahal and the gardens around it. The wall is built out of red sand stone and encloses three sides of the Taj Mahal. The fourth side faces the river Yamuna and is left open. The wall is interspersed with small buildings and domed watch towers. The garden facing inner sides of the wall is fronted by columned arcades. This is a feature of hindu temples which was later incorporated into Mughal mosques.

Although the white domed mausoleum of Mumtaz Mahal is the most familiar component, the Taj Mahal consists of an integrated complex of structures. These structures included mosques, other mausoleums and guest houses.

The Taj Mahal was commissioned by Shah Jehan after the death of his third wife in 1631. Construction of the complex started in 1632. The mausoleum was complete in 1648 and the surrounding buildings and gardens were completed in 1653.

Unfortunately, due to air polution, the white marble, which was used to construct the main maausoleum, is getting discoloured.