Sfanta Treime, Sighisoara, a photo from Mures, West

Photographer's Note

The Sfanta Treime (Holy Trinity) Orthodox Cathedral in Sighişoara in Central Romania is a relatively modern addition to the skyline of this ancient town whose other churches date back as far as the 12th century.

The cathedral was built in Byzantine style between 1934 and 1937 on the banks of the Tarnava Mare and provides an interesting contrast to the medieval fortified city on the other side of the river which is a UNESCO designated World Heritage Site (I will post a photograph from there later).

About 85 per cent of Romanians belong to the Romanian Orthodox church, which is one of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches.

When I was driving into Sighişoara from the south, I saw some aircraft trails radiating up from the horizon in the blue sky behind this cathedral. I thought it would make a great shot so quickly looked for somewhere to park the car. I couldn’t immediately find anywhere to park, but recalled reading in my guidebook that it was common practice in Romania to park on the sidewalk. So that’s what I did. However, by the time I found the right POV for this shot, most of the aircraft trails had dissipated, so this shot doesn’t have the same impact as what I saw ten minutes before. And when I returned to my car I found there was a parking ticket on the windscreen. So don’t believe everything that you read in guidebooks!

I’ve also posted to the Workshop an alternative view of the cathedral taken from a slightly different POV and including a modern police station that is located to the right hand side of the cathedral. The proximity to the police station probably explains how I got the parking ticket so quickly.

ChrisJ, vincz, vizion, thea0211, cunejo200, delkoo, Charo, siolaw, capthaddock, pboehringer, teutza, plimrn, ktanska, elmec, carper, salvator, John_F_Kennedy, riclopes, richwm, vinicio, Standa, yogi32 has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

ChrisJ (171252) 2007-05-12 3:42

Hi David

Good sharpness & graphism, of the symmetrical white towers of the old church, against the marvellous blue sky. Tfs!

vincz (19113) 2007-05-12 3:54

What a beautiful shot. Quality is top, both for colours and details. The polarizer did marvel here. Your composition with the church on the right and the sky with this clouds in "V" on the left is very spectacular. Excellent work!

vizion (729) 2007-05-12 4:32

Hi David,
Nice clarity and proportions. Your point of view is great and I'm glad you kept this to post, instead of your workshop.
Great details and light.
Thanks,
Christian

rbcy1974 (20758) 2007-05-12 4:38

Hello David
Great light
well captured,
and very nicely placed in the frame
Regards
Daniel

Kirych (2716) 2007-05-12 6:05

Excellent architecture and composition. Wonderful sunny weather and mood.
Best regards, Tanya.

thea0211 (1365) 2007-05-12 6:07

hi david, your beautiful photograph does justice to the beautiful place. good colors and details, well seen and crafted image!
tfs,
dora

cunejo200 (7281) 2007-05-12 9:18

Hello David,
This is a classic example of a good composition. The cathedral looks regal in this well exposed image. Details suroounding it including the blue sky and railings are pleasant. Well done and with cordial greetings - Danilo

delkoo (68) 2007-05-12 10:34

bonjour david,
this white church is a gem in that green countryside, contrast and sharpness are perfect , you have achieved a very nice result.

best regards
didier

Charo (51290) 2007-05-12 21:11

Hola David,
Preciosa arquitectura y fantástica foto.
La nitidez, el color y el punto de vista son excelentes.
Felicitaciones.
Saludos cordiales
Charo

siolaw (38294) 2007-05-13 4:09

Hi David,
A well composed image with the cathedral on the side, giving space for some view on the surroundings, nice light and colors with polarizer, perfect sharpness.... a clear, noiseless picture!
Laurent

capthaddock (28790) 2007-05-13 8:45

Greetings from Tbilisi David, the upper left part is a tad empty, but the wispy aircraft trails do a good enough job of filling it, I'm not having any luck wiyh good skies on this trip so far.

pboehringer (770) 2007-05-13 10:45

Hi David,
quite "amusing" story that you tell us to this shot. I wonder if someone found your Loof Lirpa boots and gave it back to you ...
The clouds are still interesting enough to make it worthwhile to be posted. It seems that the romanians are still capabel to build a church in the old fashion. I wish they would also be able to build more beautiful bridges. This one here irritates the composition, IMHO.
Regards, Peter

teutza (10590) 2007-05-13 16:51

HY David,
this is a real good image from a beautiful place..
it seems very peacefull and cosy...
hugs
teo

plimrn (21344) 2007-05-14 4:19

Hi David
The faint jet trails, provide a good foil for the beautiful church. Then I read your note and found that you had meant to get them more clearly so it was seredipity that you got them so perfectly. The willow and the bridge help provide balance to this lovely compo. HLJ, Pat

ktanska (44484) 2007-05-14 5:17

Hi David,
Pleasant composition giving room for both the church and environment. I like the round architecture and strong contrasts of white and dark grey. Yes, condense trails have almost disappeared but still manage to give something extra to sky.
Kari

elmec (12210) 2007-05-14 9:56

Hello David!
Amazing scene!
Just for the postcard!
Perfect light and sharpness.
Great polarized sky!
Congratulations!
Best regards!

carper (96) 2007-05-14 11:50

I like this photo David,
a fantastic shot, the quality is high and I like the pov with the church on the right side of the photo and on the other side the fantastic sky, good low horizon, good photojob here.
gr. jaap

sothy81 (9646) 2007-05-15 14:47

Hi David,

This is a very beautiful photo. The architecture is amazing. Nice technical shot with great exposure and sharpness. The sky is also amazing. Well done

Sothy

John_F_Kennedy (43797) 2007-05-21 7:40

This looks like a beautiful place. I love your colours and the POV of this photo. Wonderful shot.
Best wishes,
Achim

riclopes (35577) 2007-05-21 13:16

I don't know how I miss this one, David. And I love it, for more than one reason. Sighisoara and Brasov (your today's post) are the only two places I know in Romania, but I don't remember well this wonderful architecture. Very funny story with the parking ticket and interesting contrast of colors and architecture, in WS. But this image is the best one. A very attractive postcard, with superb quality. I can imagine that it would be even better, 10min ago :)
Ricardo

stego (24132) 2007-05-21 14:59

Hi David,
I am sorry for the ticket. :-) And also for having missed the smoke trails on the sky, but I find what was left of them still very nice. In fact, perhaps like that it is even better than if they were more clear, as they look more like natural high clouds than with artificial jet smoke. The black and white church looks very charming surrounded by all that green and under that fabulous sky. A clever and beautiful compo.
Regards, José.

salvator (19110) 2007-05-22 3:28

Hi David,
Very nice composition. The clarity of the photo is impressive. The blue sky is wonderful, and the sharpness and colors are superb. I wşsh you a great week. Best regards. Salvator.

jaywalker (16105) 2007-05-23 13:12

Hi David, What can I say 'stunning', the sharp focus, the colours, the light & the amazing architecture, you have composed the photo very well & a great POV, kind regards Wilson.

devimeuxbe (58557) 2007-05-25 7:45

Hi david
This picture is also beautifull with a great light and a nice contrast with the blue sky.
Excellent comoposition.
Bertrand

richwm (1215) 2007-05-26 7:16

Lovely photo, David.

The cathedral stands out elegantly against the lush, green countryside. It's a pity the aircraft tails have almost disappeared, they would have complimented the two white spires beautifully otherwise. Nice sharpness and details and a strong composition. Also a very informative note to accompany, as always.

Best regards and a nice weekend,

Rich

vinicio (23423) 2007-05-26 17:41

Wonderful Cathedral that have wonderful architecture, beautiful indeed, and excellent image from you Davis, high quality, POV and composition for this great view, another beautiful addiction is the beautiful sky, compliments.
have a nice sunday
Ciao
Vinicio

Bianconeri78 (701) 2007-05-28 7:40

Hi David,
Very nice composition and colours. I love orthodox churches and this one is quite impressive even though it's young.
Best wishes,
Jeremy

Stepan (27210) 2007-06-03 13:38

There is something about the light here. It's really beautiful and the church looks impressive thanks to it. Sharpness is perfect and enhances the visual impact of the building.
Really effective.
Stéphane

prumod (8300) 2007-06-07 12:24

hi david....
wonderful exposure in this with very attractive contrast... depth of sky blue is very nice....
classic shot!
greetings...

Standa (1877) 2007-06-10 13:17

Hi David,
I like how you composed this cathedral - look like a postcard with nice framing. Always I wait to have sky without plane tracks (sometimes is sky worse then highway) but your idea is not bad at all.
Best regards,
Stanislav

Kenny10pin (19301) 2007-06-16 4:47

very nice blue skies, really nice shot and good pov of the structure, well done

Greg1949 (9011) 2007-07-01 2:50

David,

What a beautiful sky you had to balance the church in the shot, well seen. Detail is crisp and the color is nicwly saturated, great capture.

Greg

placombe (7715) 2007-07-19 19:27

Hi David
Superb contrasted photo in an equally superb composition.
Regards from Canada
Pierre Lacombe