As everyone is aware, most of the doors in Europe have stories waiting to be told. In Italy, many of the best doors or “le porte” are for access to “magazini” which are storehouses or warehouses. I couldn’t resist photographing dozens of them. This one was in Florence and had so much character that it has become one of my favorites. “Passo carrabile” is a warning that your vehicle will be towed if you’re foolish enough to park here.
Feedback Requests
Processing, etc. This was shot with my Canon 1D Mark II. It had only a bit over 8-megapixels but did a fantastic job of imaging in my opinion. I did have a lot of soft shots that I now attribute to camera shake. The lens did not have IS.
Pertinent Technical Details
Handheld with Canon 1D Mark II, EF 16-35 f/2.8 @ 16mm, f/4.5 @ 1/80, ISO 200. Processed in Dx0 PL9, ACR, Photoshop CC.
Well 8 MP is plenty for a web presentation, Fred. I really like the door and the walk and wall. The windows and shutters at the top don’t add a whole lot to the image for me and I’d probably just crop below them. I’m curious if you had a frame from a bit closer with just the door? It has so much character and detail that it would be a joy to see all in itself.
I love scenes like this, and this is an excellent one! Good to see that an older image can still stand up well. I like @Dennis_Plank 's idea of a crop to just the door. That would be an interesting place to use the Upright lens correction in LR/ACR – maybe with a generic lens correction before. And a wider view could also be interesting if you have one with more of the windows, and maybe the door off center.
@Dennis_Plank@Diane_Miller I have sold prints as large as 32x48 from this particular travel series and the amount of print detail is very good for the 8mp of resolution provided by this camera.
I left the windows and the linen curtains in the frame because of the contrast between the tidiness of the living space above and the weathered ancient doors of the storage area below. I did use lens correction on this shot but I now see that it is still a bit askew. Unfortunately, I failed to get a tighter framing on the subject. Since this was from 2005, I doubt I could even go back and try again. So much has changed now.
Fred: I really like this. Such rich light and colors. I do like the signs and what they bring to the comp and it would also be cool with the signs gone as well, not necessarily better but different. I kind of like the windows. I think they do add context and have some character of their own, Great find, great capture, great result. >=))>
Hi Fred,
Really great find with this doorway. I love roughness and textures in the panels. I bet they could tell a lot of stories from over the years. I quite like the pastel colors in the scene as well.
@Bill_Fach Thank you for the kind words. The signs sort of are the story to me. They seem rather silly in view of the ancient doors and the two missing light bulbs. I suppose the “magazina” could have been in regular usage. I would love to see it now, 21 years later. I have gone back to a couple of European scenes I photographed and they have changed significantly. Maybe I can find this one. I sort of remember where it was located from our hotel.
