Merry Christmas to All

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141225_2014 Jensen Ornament by Karl Graf. 2014 Georg Jensen Christmas Ornament

Canon 5D MkIII, EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro @ 100mm, f/2.8, 1/13 sec, ISO 200

Merry Christmas to All!  Since 1983, we have been collecting a Georg Jensen Christmas Ornament every year.  I discovered these ornaments walking around the Copenhagen Airport waiting for a flight home many, many years ago.

I pulled the ornament away from the tree and used a wide open aperture to get the light bokeh in the background.  After a lot of playing around with focus distances, distances between the ornament and tree, and aperture settings, I came up with this one.  Enjoy, and have a wonderful Christmas Day!

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Longwood Christmas #2

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141222_Longwood Main Consrevatory by . Longwood Gardens Conservatory

Fuji XT-1, XF18-55mm @ 34mm, f/22, 1/3 sec, ISO 400

The bright light from the ceiling skylight made capturing this photo taken with a small aperture possible.  People were everywhere.  Patience paid off again while I waited for the scene to clear.  I waited over 10 minutes to catch this break.  If I would have had a long exposure there would have been people entering the scene.  Lessons learned:  do not photograph Longwood on a Friday.

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It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

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141222_Longwood Center Consrevatory by © 2014 Karl Graf. Longwood Gardens Conservatory

Fuji XT-1, XF18-55mm @ 26.5mm, f/11, 1/10 sec, ISO 400

Now that I have finished the Fonthill Tile Tour, I can finally start to get into the Christmas blogging spirit.  All the outgoing presents are wrapped and sent out.  Some of my Christmas cards are out, others are still in process.  I will be very late this year.

A week ago I was able to get out to Longwood Gardens with a good friend for a little Christmas photography excursion.  It was a great day, but my creative juices weren’t really flowing.  However, I was able to just step back and enjoy.  This image took me forever to capture.  People were walking in front of the far end of the water fountain.  I waited, waited and waited.  It seemed like forever, but I finally got a very short window of just a few seconds to snap this image.  It was worth the wait.

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Fonthill: One More Post

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141221_Ice House Roof by Karl Graf. Spring House Roof

Canon 5D MkIII, EF24-70mm f2.8L @ 45mm, f/22, 1/6 sec, ISO 400

I almost forgot that Mercer also made roof tiles of various colors as seen on the spring house in the back of the Castle.  Many of these tiles have been replaced in other parts of the building.  However, the new tiles are not as varied in color.  See below.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by .

 

Now, this is really my last Fonthill tile post … at least for a while.

 

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Fonthill: Conservatory – A Great Place to Sit and Reflect

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Conservatory by Karl Graf. Conservatory

Canon 5D MkIII, EF24-70mm f/2.8L @ 24mm, f/11, ISO 200 (HDR)

After a tour through the Castle, I like to sit in the Conservatory adjacent to the entrance and just look around, enjoy and reflect on this National Treasure.  It is truly a elaborate work of art by an ingenious and dedicated man.  It is a museum of history, art, and artifacts as well as Mercer’s own work.

The tiles displayed on the pedestals are from a recent exhibit of local artists.  These are by Eric Boynton.

The Conservatory is adorned with Mercer’s collection of Spanish tiles. You can see the definite influence of Moorish design.  Different styles adorn the room.  Below is another variety of his Spanish tiles.

Spanish Tiles, Conservatory by Karl Graf.

This post ends the tour of Henry Mercer’s Fonthill Tiles.  I hope to be able to do a similar study on the artwork and artifacts displayed in the Castle.  I hope that this series has been enjoyable with a little bit of history thrown in.

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Fonthill: Bow Room Ceiling

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"City of Montezuma", Bow Room Ceiling by Karl Graf. “City of Montezuma”

Canon 5D MkIII, EF17-40mm f/4L @ 17mm, f/11, 4 sec, ISO 400

Adjacent to the Columbus Room is the Bow Room. This is looking directly up at the Bow Room Ceiling.  The map is a depiction of the “City of Montezuma” as encountered by Cortez.  Mercer maintained the “New World” motif as he moved from the Columbus Room to the Bow Room.  I do not think that Fonthill has one room with square corners.

I am getting close to the end of the room by room tile tour of Fonthill Castle.  Tomorrow will be the last post of the Castle interior.

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Fonthill: Wind Room

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Wind Room Fireplace by Karl Graf. Wind Room Fireplace

Canon 5D MkIII, EF17-40mm f/4L @ 20mm, f/5.6, ISO 200 (HDR)

Going up a very narrow winding stair case from the Columbus leads to the Wind Room.  As seen, this room is very sparsely decorated compared to other Fonthill rooms.  Undecorated concrete floors and ceilings give the room a cold and empty look.  Tiles are used to decorate the fireplace in addition to being placed above the windows.

Concrete sculptures of the various winds are constructed on the structural wall pillars.  They caught my eye as well as provided a good subject for having a little post processing fun.

"The West Wind", Wind Room by Karl Graf.                     "The East Wind", Wind Room by Karl Graf.

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Fonthill: Columbus Room – Rollo’s Stairs

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Columbus Room by Karl Graf. Columbus Room – Rollo’s Stairs

Canon 5D MkIII, EF17-40mm f/4L @ 17mm, f/11, ISO 200 (HDR)

This image is another perspective of the variety of tiles in the Columbus Room.  Most people look up to see the elaborate tile work on the ceiling, missing the detailed tile work on the floor.  Rollo’s stairs lead up to the top terrace of the castle.  Until the day I took this image, I had not had the opportunity to see beyond these stairs.  So up I went.

The dynamic range of this image is 5 stops.  When the floor was properly exposed, the ceiling tiles were in an almost black shadow.  When the ceiling tiles were properly exposed, the floor tiles were completely blown out by the bright sun coming in through the windows.  NIK HDR Efex Pro came to the rescue to balance out the image.  I worked hard to not create a “HDR-looking” image.

Onward and upward we go!

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Fonthill: Columbus Room – Floor Tiles

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Columbus Voyage Mosaic, Columbus Room Floor by Karl Graf. The Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria Leaving Spain to Start Their Journey

The style of this image on the floor depicting Columbus’ departure is different than the individual tile scenes elsewhere in the Columbus Room.  Watching several tour groups walk through the room, I have never seen anyone stop and observe this mosaic.  There is just too much to see!

Again, I am showing just a couple of images to provide a hint of what is “under foot”.

Floor Tiles, Columbus Room by Karl Graf.

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