Europe Meets Africa, a photo from Khomas, South

Photographer's Note

Another shot from central Windhoek. I have visited this site several times to try and get a balanced shot as the light is quite tricky. Quite a bit of PP work was done to deal with the wide dynamic range.
This is the Franco-Namibian Cultural Centre created in 1991 by an agreement between the Governments of France and Namibia. In 2000, it moved to its current permanent location, a newly-constructed building financed by the French government and representing one of the most original and outstanding architectural landmarks of the Namibian capital . Namibian architect Jaco Wasserfall and French architect Charles Delamy won an architectural competition and their design now graces the site assigned to the FNCC by the Namibian Government.
Visitors to the FNCC will be struck by the contrast between the 1908 classified villa and the slick glass box which now serve the public though film, theatre, exhibitions, language courses, a library and a French Cafe. As you can see the corrugated steel gates have been painted by local artists, a true amalgamation between Europe and Africa, traditional and modern

This photograph is copyright of Rosemary Walden - ｩ Rosemary Walden 2013. All rights reserved. Any redistribution or reproduction of the image in any form is prohibited. You may not, except with my express written permission, copy, reproduce, download, distribute or exploit the content. Nor may you transmit it or store it in any other website or other form of electronic retrieval system

Royaldevon, siudzi, Romano46, papagolf21, tyro, jjcordier, krzychu30, Kofman, maloutim, timecapturer, williewhistler, snunney, chanteuse, abmdsudi, annjackman, bayno has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

carlo62 (81265) 2013-05-12 9:01

Ciao Rosemary
bella foto colorata e curiosa.
Hai unito i graffiti con la bella architettura ed il suo meraviglioso riflesso.
La data riportata sull'edificio � l'anno prima della nascita di mio nonno.
Saluti
Carlo

Royaldevon (85932) 2013-05-12 9:47

Hello Rosemary,

I can see some strong contrasts in your photograph. The lines help to differentiate between the two. It is delightful how one is linearly textured with pastel shades, whilst the other is smooth, with rich, reflected colours.
The real building is almost a backstop, to the play of figures and images in the shot.

Have a lovely day,
Bev :-)

Nicou (193806) 2013-05-12 9:47

Hello

quels reflets et captage sueprbe image et compo avec ce dessins en premier plan ces belle couleurs grandiose compo.
Bravo et amiti�
Nicou

rogerl (1632) 2013-05-12 10:05

Rosemary, what struck me first about this shot was the cartoon art on the fence against the beautiful old building in the background. I find it interesting that this place should have chosen a corrugated gate, and one that is not transparent. In any case, I can see what you mean about the light, and you did a great job on both sides of the shot. Thanks, have a great weekend.

Roger

JFS (32459) 2013-05-12 11:30

Fantastic POV, so stunning and clever! Colors and colors...very graphical, veru good Rosemary!

siudzi (34141) 2013-05-12 11:32

Hi Rosemary,
This is extremely interesting composition fully filled with great details, colors, graphical shapes. Like it a lot! Impressive work perfectly executed and well observed.

Best,
Gosia

ChrisJ (171878) 2013-05-12 11:38

Ciao Rosemary

I like the symmetry of the reflection of the red, 1908 topped structure which also sets up a superb warm vs cold colour contrast against the blue sky. Good sharpness and the stylised wall paintings on the fg corrugated iron add interest. Tfs!

rbassin (27472) 2013-05-12 11:43

bonjour Rosemary
Une tr鑚 bellel photo avec plein de couleurs, c'est bien vu!
Bonne int馮ration du reflet.
Bonne soir馥
Roland

Silvio1953 (221695) 2013-05-12 11:57

Ciao Rosemary, lovely composition with fantastic colors, excellent clarity and splendid light, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

Romano46 (18472) 2013-05-12 12:11

Ciao Rosemary
un ottimo incontro di architetture che si intrecciano in vari piani e oltretutto ricchi di colore ti ha dato l'occasione per fare una bella foto nella quale la composizione � la parte che eccelle.
Molto belli anche i colori ed in particolare il riflesso sulla vetrata. Eccellente anche la nitidezza e la saturazione .
Un lavoro eccellente! Complimenti
Ciao e buona serata
Romano

papagolf21 (152607) 2013-05-12 14:15

Bonsoir, Rosemary,
J'aime beaucoup le contraste entre la clure faite de fresques originales et l'arri鑽e-plan dont le modernisme cr馥 un choc. L'ensemble ressort magnifiquement avec ce ciel d'un bleu tr鑚 pur.
Tr鑚 int駻essante note d'accompagnement 馮alement.
Amiti駸.
Philippe

tyro (30513) 2013-05-12 16:07

Hello Rosemary,

I'm just imagining you, having traded in your safari gear and D700 for town clothes and a pocketable camera, wandering the streets of Windhoek snapping away merrily in all directions. And your little new Sony camera certainly seems to be coming up with the goods.

This is a delightful picture, especially when viewed after reading your interesting note. The colours are wonderfully vibrant, the composition is strong and the depth of field and sharpness are exquisite. Although I see that you still tend to use small apertures (f/20 in this case) I am sure that you will have noticed that the small-sensor camera gives much more depth of field at a given aperture than does your full-frame Nikon.

Fabulous!

Kind Regards,

John.

jjcordier (79299) 2013-05-12 23:24

Rosemary
Tr鑚 bonne exploitation photographique de ce centre culturel franco-namibien. Ta photo attir� le regard par ses couleurs bien satur馥s. L凋il parcourt avec plaisir tous ces d騁ails, des reflets aux peintures de l'artiste.
Amicalement
JJ

Cricri (176) 2013-05-12 23:57

Hi Rosemary
Int駻essante composition ou ce m駘ange l'art, les reflets et l'architecture, sublime lumi鑽e et un superbe ciel azur, belle r饌lisation
Belle journ馥
cricri

krzychu30 (15512) 2013-05-12 23:59

Hello Rosemary,
indeed,a very interesting and excellently composed picture,which juxtapose so well different types of architecture and even street art.I like it!Especially because of so strong and expressive graphical effect you achieved here.Amazing shapes,forms and of course delightful,vivid colors.
Magnificent composition!

Have a nice day
Krzysztof

timecapturer (49288) 2013-05-13 3:24

Hi Rosemary
a colourful mix here and very original image. It is a striking blend of lines and shapes and I must say perfectly executed. Your PP has worked wonders here in this creative and spectacular shot. Well done!

Have a great week - Brian.

williewhistler (16606) 2013-05-13 4:12

Hello Rosemary,there is certainly a lot to take in,with the bright light you`ve had to choose your view point carefully,there is so much to enjoy in a shot that has that little bit of something different.
I might just have cropped off the end section on the left of the frame.
Have a lovely week,
Les.

snunney (130967) 2013-05-13 4:47

Hello Rosemary,
The splashes of contrasting saturated colour make for a most interesting graphical composition. The reflections in the modern glass building on the left introduce another contrasting element to the scene. Excellent technical presentation.

abmdsudi (95869) 2013-05-13 8:13

Hi Rosemary
The title is befitting ... this shot does give one the impression of Europe meets Africa jam packed with bold colours especially the building on the right as well as the powerful composition and subject matter. Intriguing, a moment in time and eclectic collection of artwork very well put together, i think you've given us the full flavour of the place superbly. Love your ideas as this shot informs and pleases the eye. What more could any street photographer ask!! Very well done, TFS
Warm regards

ACL1978 (7511) 2013-05-13 14:42

The PP effort was well spent, Rosemary - the result is a well balanced and well composed image of this colorful mural and the colonial building behind it. The reflection in the glass is perfectly framed, making use of the lines well. Great job tying together so many different styles and subjects into a cohesive whole here.

Andrew

annjackman (23019) 2013-05-13 23:25

Hello Rosemary,
There is an interesting contrast in style and building materials that I enjoy. Very well managed light conditions. The more I look at this the more I like it as you have taken what could have been a cluttered subject and produced a clean and very well balanced composition. I think the cloudless blue sky helps this very much.
Superb work!
Kind Regards, Ann

bayno (18348) 2013-05-14 9:03

Ciao Rosemary,
a millimeter and accurate composition, excellent choice of POV and nice mix of architecture and graphites, beautiful sunny day with clear and wonderful skies, excellent light and fantastic colors, always at the top photo quality...best regards,
Valter

mesutilgim (0) 2013-05-14 13:19

Hello Rosemary,
Very nice capture with great graphism and many interesting notes.
TFS and best regards
MESUT ILGIM

mjw364 (1466) 2013-05-15 10:15

Hi Rosemary

I am so annoyed with myself - I just wrote a critique on this shot and it seems I forgot to press the add button before I navigated away form the page! Annoying!

Anyway - I did say something along the lines of I like this shot which is structured by shapes, colours and reflection - it's my kind of shot!

In particular I like the feeling of a compressed perspective despite the obvious depth of the image because it adds an underlying abstract quality to it.

There - got there in the end!

TFS

Mike