� Postcard �, a photo from La Spezia, Liguria

Photographer's Note

Manarola is about a one hour train ride from Pisa. The train will go through La Spezia, then through Riomaggiore, the first town of Cinque Terre, Italia.

It's a beautiful, quiet town with joyful people. In the other towns of Cinque Terre, you will meet plenty of young travelers being there for the party. In Manarola, it's more relaxed, less tourists and more people from the place.

If you're traveling there on shoestring, my advice is to book a room at Ostello Cinque Terre. When you get out of the tunnel coming from the train station, get uphill until you reach the church, it's just behind it. Everything is clean, joyful in the evening, but quiet during the night. The cuisine is good, especially coming form your hike in Cinque Terre's hiking trails...the chef makes excellent walnut sauce pastas!:D

Marvel at the beautiful pastel houses precariously wedged between two steep hills. From the main drag, they seem to loom over the crowds as if trying to catch the best view of the people below. Locals purchasing fruit from the small Co-Op, tourists gobbling fresh seafood at one of the cozy restaurants, and sunbathers competing for a spot at the sun-soaked harbor. My fondest memory of Manarola is sitting on those white rocks on the right and watching the sea, then the town, then the sea...with the sun going down on us and on the houses, giving them this reddish color cast...

Have a nice day,

Marc

KLB, Aliine, Doraemon, leonorkuhn, Wandering_Dan, Didi, sleon, jean11-3, lilimih33, happypoppeye, mvdisco, alainh, mphotographies, zeca, cam, flory, PaulVDV, Karsten71, riclopes has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

KLB (23723) 2007-08-19 10:43

Hello Marc

This place is really amazing !
You've made a very nice composition. Shade and light work well to emphasize the colorful houses. Well done.

Thanks also for your complete note.

Regards,
Karine

Aliine (2669) 2007-08-19 10:51

Salut Marc,
Oh elles sont trop choues ces petites maisons color馥s toutes entass馥s les unes sur les autres ;) c'est f鳬rique ;)
Les couleurs sont tr鑚 belles, avec des teintes chaudes...
Bonne soir馥
Aline

Doraemon (577) 2007-08-19 11:05

Bonjour Marc,
Un magnifique village avec ces maisons, les unes sur les autres, qui s'accrochent � la falaise. Un festival de couleurs tr鑚 bien servi par les derniers rayons du soleil de la journ馥. J'aime bien les rochers rest駸 dans l'ombre et qui d駘imitent naturellement l'image. Belle composition avec joli point de vue.
Amicalement,
Fanny

kiks (12805) 2007-08-19 11:07

hi Marc, beautiful composition you have here with the village totally in the sun making the bright colours of the houses even stronger. Well done.
TFS
KIks

eshirey (325) 2007-08-19 11:11

Postcard indeed! Great color and light - nice work!

leonorkuhn (16237) 2007-08-19 11:23

Hi Marc,

Splendid panorama very well captured! Excellent POV, light, colors and sharpness. Nice white clouds in a great composition.

Well done!
Leonor

Wandering_Dan (3449) 2007-08-19 11:26

Wow! Definitely a postcard shot. Excellent use of light. Good travel suggestions, too. (Can we get the walnut sauce recipe?)

pat0500 (21561) 2007-08-19 11:36

Bonsoir Marc,
Une vrai carte postale en effet, j'aime beaucoup cette prise de vue..!
Tr鑚 bonne lumi鑽e et superbes couleurs, un excellent point de vue tr鑚 agr饌ble � regarder..!
Un tout bon clich�..!
Amicalement.
Patrick

sleon (9402) 2007-08-19 11:48

Hi Marc
This is a beautifully composed scene but it's the lighting which makes it a true winner. I love the way the light is on the coloured town while the rest of the scene is in shadow. It's incredible how the houses are built onto the steep rock, and your accompanying note make this view even more enjoyable, as you clearly loved the time you spent in this place! Thanks for sharing.
Susanna

jean11-3 (2799) 2007-08-19 12:03

Beautiful scene Marc,this place is impressive as it clings to the cliffs.
The colours are fantastic, highlighted by the sun.
I like everything about your shot, well done; and thanks for such a comprehensive note.
Regards Jean.

PJE (20758) 2007-08-19 12:49

Marc you captured this photo at the premium time of days end with the warmest of summer lighting on this town. An incredible photo well worth enlarging into a wall mounted frame. Excellent capture!

lilimih33 (9918) 2007-08-19 13:54

Hello Marc!
Yes! Wonderful postcard from Italy!
Fantastic colours and light!
Great perspective!
Excellent done!
Best regards!
Lili

mvdisco (17798) 2007-08-19 18:05

Bonsoir Marc,
WoW!!Tout un clich� ! les couleurs sont magnifiques au soleil couchant, la composition est superbe et l'endroit est tr鑚 jolie avec ces maisons entass馥s et color馥s sur un rocher, belle architecture et un excellent point de vu..Salutations Amicalement.
Michel

manada (6239) 2007-08-20 1:10

Ciao Marc
You're right, that's like a postcard.
I like your coloured compo from a good POV.
The Cinque Terre is a wonderful place on the Earth, very impressive and difficult to forget.
Tr鑚 belle journ馥
Freddy

mphotographies (1976) 2007-08-20 1:56

Hey Marc,

I like the way the houses 'compressed' into this magnifiscent view of this mountain-sea cliff. The gorgeuos high afternoon sun created deep yellow-orange hues to the landscape. The sharpness of the attractive town makes it all stand out, again the warm colours tend to advance and 'pop-out', giving a sense of depth to the entire image.

All the best!

Jom

Not sure if it's the same place: If you're going to Riomaggiore by night c/o Luan TRAN.

Didi (61589) 2007-08-20 3:22

Bonsoir Marc
Une image qui flashe aux yeux de par ses couleurs.
Int駻essante lueur spot sur le village perch�.
Je note aussi un bon contraste.
Cordialement.

PixelTerror (0) 2007-08-20 3:36

Salut Marc,
Ca c'est de la photo bien preparee, juste le rayon de soleil qu'il faut la ou il le faut au moment ou il le faut, peut tu STP donner aussi le numero de telephone de la meteo italienne pour commander le soleil, ca peut toujours servir ;-)
Meme si ta camera est restee a l'heure du Quebec cete lumiere du soir fait merveille sur les maisons dont elle rechauffe la pierre tres agreablement.
Bonne journee,
Jean-Yves

alainh (33209) 2007-08-20 13:31

bonsoir Marc
la lumiere mbrase les couleurs de ce pitoresque village cotier. un bonheur pour la photo.
une belle image
amicalement
alain

vinu (129) 2007-08-20 15:34

Amazing shot, and a good light.
Maybe some crop at the bottom will make this more pleasing...in my opinion :)
Well done, Marc, good composition.
Lucky eyes.
Regards,
vinushka

happypoppeye (4819) 2007-08-21 1:29

Nice looking shot Marc. Great lighting, exposure and resulting color. The colors of the town really "pop" and create a good focal point for the image. Good composition, with the blue sky, water and greenery surrounding the town. I also like the specks of color in the boats in the water and the dike coming in diagonally from the side.

Nice work.
John

zeca (19762) 2007-08-21 10:33

A postcard indeed, Marc! The sunlight is absolutely great and you did a nice picture! Amazing view!
Regards,
Zeca

batalay (41261) 2007-08-21 17:30

Hello Marc,

This is a spectacular view. You've photographed it exquisitiely, by the low angle of the sun when the colors are so intense. The perspective, composition and resolution are flawless. With a deep fondness for Italy, I am delighted to see one more beautiful place still that I have never seen before. I was in Portofino, not too far from here, in July.

Warm regards,

Bulent

cam (9043) 2007-08-21 18:18

Bonsoir MArc
Une ville qui fait souvent la page de Te, mais, en ce qui me concerne, c'est la premi鑽e fois que je la vois ainsi, sous la lumi鑽e du soleil couchant.L'effet est saisissant.
L'image est bien 駲uilibr�, je ne te suggerai pas de crop cette fois-ci..:-)
Il est tr鑚 agr饌ble de regarder cette image bien r饌lis�
Ce qui est plaisant de partager nos images de voyages, c'est que 鈞 nous fait revivre notre voyage � nouveau et 騁irer la magie encore quelque temps
Bonne soir馥
Charles

bigboroboy (1098) 2007-08-21 20:27

Great advice in your notes as I will be travelling here in the not too distant future. Thanks for the lovely shot as well, it could almost work at a postcard I think. The colours are wonderfully saturated without looking unnatural. Excellent work.

PHIL

jmcl (14535) 2007-08-22 17:16

Hi Marc,

A wonderful thought out and beautiful moment in light .. striking ... love the diffuse reflection as well. Wonderful image.

take care,

John

donluicu (24741) 2007-08-24 7:44

salut Marc
effectivement, Manarola au coucher, ca vaut le detour...
je n'ai pas pu attendre jusque l�!

super cadrage (encore que archi-classique), mais wonderful couleurs

ciao

InasiaJones (31566) 2007-08-24 21:47

Salut Marc,

Kiss� qui a dit k馳 avait pas fait beau en Europe?!!!... :-p)

Je pense que t誕s fait comme moi et que t誕s oubli� de changer l檀eure sur ta cam駻a, parce que cette photo ne semble pas avoir 騁� concoct� � 13h30...

Par contre, cette chaude couleur pourrait bien correspondre � 19h30, alors que le soleil diffuse ces derniers rayons avec intensit�. La lumi鑽e tombe � pic sur le village et vient mettre en valeur les maisonettes et leurs couleurs. C弾st tellement beau toutes ces tonalit駸 juxtapos馥s, que je soup輟nne ces villageois de travailler avec des consultants en couleurs qui 騁udient savamment l段nterposition entre celles-ci.

Excellent timming!

Bon week-end et mes condol饌nces pour la perte de votre mairesse.

Andr�

vincz (19113) 2007-08-26 1:28

Superbes couleurs, un vari feu d'artifice de couleurs si belles. La lumiere etait vraiment magnifique. Bravo!

sacavem (18620) 2007-08-31 6:46

Hello Marc,

Good postcard and good lightening.
Good work to capture this image. Good color and contrast.
Well done...
Best regards,
Filipe

gramma (3519) 2007-09-01 9:26

Salut Marc,

Une belle image ligurienne, bien compos馥 et pleine de couleurs. La lumi鑽e qui vient mourir sur les maisons est du plus bel effet. Mais au final, je suis partag� : "fallait-il attendre que le soleil soit aussi bas, au risque de devoir compos� avec des parties dans l'ombre, ou fallait-il profiter de d馗lencher lorsque le soleil 騁ait � peine plus haut dans le ciel ?". Bon week-end,

Christophe

mariaeva (55) 2007-09-03 17:06

WOW, elle est superbe cette photo!

Leilani (1385) 2007-09-19 16:29

Beautiful place Marc! I am very jealous! I love the sky as it's so much paler than the rest of the shot. Like a painting it adds just the right touch, but doesn't take the focus from those vibrant houses. I think you've got a good balance here too. :)

flory (4848) 2007-09-27 22:10

ciao Bello;)
Italy,Italy!beautiful Italy!
i'll try to make what you do there,mean setting on those rocks and look..

well,i'm still there;)and i'll go just because expecting these pastas;)
Marc,you come here with an image clear,reddish,love that light reddish..must be impressive to live in these pastel buildings and wake up in the morning with the sea,hm.
wish you a nice weekend!
Flory;)

Henryk_Bilor (20803) 2008-01-04 2:45

Hi Marc
Wow, excellent light. Impressive place with the houses above the abyss. Lovely composition and colours.
Regards

PaulVDV (62804) 2008-08-20 6:52

Hello Marc,
Thanks for this postcard of Manarola. The light is very good and the warm colours of these beautiful houses are fantastic. The picture has also a very good composition. Glad to hear that this place is a little quiter than the more visited villages.
Best regards, Paul

sunamoon (10) 2008-08-28 15:35

Hola Marc:

Perspectiva muy atractiva, el pueblo en esa monta esta impresionante, los colores son magnificos, las sombras y luces le dan mucho encanto a la foto, es una foto de postal!, buen trabajo...

Un saludo,
Elena

Karsten71 (359) 2008-11-22 6:40

Marc, great story... I have not been to Cinque Terre yet, but your note makes me want to go there...
the light in your shot is fantastic... I wonder whether I would crop both the bottom and top a tiny bit, but that may be a matter of opinion.
TFS, Karsten

Hellas (7123) 2008-12-10 5:25

A beautiful place! A town on the rocks!
The light management is very good as well as the frame you chose. The light on the town is fantastic thanks to the timing. The walls at the left add to the whole scene and probably were useful for the safety of the town in the past.

Wonderful postcard, indeed!

yquem46 (38752) 2009-03-10 10:26

Hello Marc
Je viens de faire un petit tour dans ta gallerie que je trouve d'une qualit� remarquable et constante
Je choisis celle-ci entre autres pour le spot de lumi鑽e braqu� sur le village
Bien amicalement
Patrick

riclopes (35577) 2009-11-01 2:35

Ol� Marc, I was about to write a critic on your last upload from this wonderful place and made the mistake of opening this one...And now I'm stuck to this imense beauty and can't go back. By the way, I like that dangerous POV with the boats sliding down and you trying not to get hit by one ;-) Anyway, I remember this excellent series in Flickr. Those colorful perched houses are enough to make me dream with a visit in the future, but you also have that sky and a perfect lighting painting this view. This is a hell of a great POV. Thanks to you, now I want to sit on those white rocks too...
Have a great Sunday,
ricardo