Different perspectives

Sunday, December 16, 2007 - ,

A couple of years ago I noted along the highway from Dijon to Auxerre the touristic signal about the Butte de Thil, a hill where - as I later discovered on my Michelin guide - an ancient castle and a gothic church were built. This year I was able to make a detour to visit this place.

Collégiale de Thil. Nikon D200 + AF 180 f/2.8N, 1/320 sec @ f / 4, -1/3 EV, Auto ISO @ ISO 140, handheld.

I made many shots as the above one, which are good but didn't satisfy me. The church, a gothic jewel, is a ruin and the hill is lonely and with a mistery mood, an atmosphere that isn't properly rendered by the “standard” perspective. So I looked at the map and drove around the hill, searching for a better idea. While I was about to give up and drive again towards the highway, I saw the church silhouette in backlight - it was what I was searching for. I searched for a view with some trees in the foreground - the winter look of trees adds to the gloomy atmosphere of the shot.

The photo was postprocessed adjusting curves so trees in the foreground appear black and an intermediate layer of vegetation is just a bit brighter; at last, the church is in silhouette, but I recovered a bit of details to recall its once-majestic architecture.

I was lucky as I found some pasturing sheeps on a meadow, a further detail recalling a desolated land.

Collégiale de Thil. Nikon D200 + AF 180 f/2.8N, 1/320 sec @ f / 7.1, -1/3 EV, Auto ISO @ ISO 200, handheld.