Ice Whale
www.thomasschwarzfotografie.de

#svalbard #spitzbergen #Norway #norwegen #noorderlicht #ice #sculpture #icesculpture #photography #phototour #whalewatching #whale #whalelover #nature

Good Morning Fediverse!

Today's photo of the day is an Amsterdam canal. Now I happen to be on an instance founded in the NL, so I'm going to try not to embarrass my American self talking about our time there!

We went to Amsterdam for the art. We spent a few days hanging out in every art-related museum we could find - oohing and ahhhing over Vermeers and Rembrandts and Van Goghs and more. But we loved the architecture and canals too, of course!

#Travel
#photography
#PhotoTour
#ArtLover

Well, I hope you enjoyed your #phototour of the interior of Chateau Vianden in Luxembourg. I love the up-close glimpse at the work of lovingly restoring a ruined castle that you get by visiting parts of the structure that have received different levels of reconstruction, as well as the detailed photos of the rebuilding process featured in the Chateau. There is also and absolutely marvelous museum on site that I'd love to take you to - maybe tomorrow.

#Castle
#Winter
#FamilyTravel

The bedrooms and en famille dining rooms are neat (there's also a big hall that seems to serve as a conference room or other event facility) but it's cold - let's go somewhere warm like the castle kitchens!
This may look like a pretty big kitchen, and for a household of 5-10, it really would be massive. But I'm thinking there must have been at least 100 people living here, and frankly, I think these must have been wildly busy and crowded kitchens when the Counts were entertaining.
#PhotoTour

Now the inside of a castle can be quite dark, even with artificial lighting. For example, this image was captured at ISO 10,000 (which is well beyond what I would ever normally ask from this camera) and a wide-open aperture for this lens (2.8), and hand-held, so slightly shorter shutter speed than I might want, but still - the only reason you can see anything here is post-production and noise reduction processing. But look - cool furniture!

#PhotoTour
#Castle
#Winter
#Photography

There's an outdoor arcade that is blistering cold in winter, so my photos there are of helping my little one don his warmer coat and gloves (which he then immediately removed). Nevertheless, if you visit, you will see gorgeous views of the surrounding country - a helpful reminder that this fortress served a very real defensive purpose in addition to making a luxurious home. Keep going to see detailed photos of the castle's reconstruction at the top.

#PhotoTour
#Castle
#Winter
#FamilyTravel

A #polychrome family chapel for the Count's family at Vianden is one of the first stops on the interior tour of the #chateau I love that the restorers chose traditional bright hues for the painted interior, but I suspect that the chapel would have been even more brilliantly bedecked with detailed murals and painted ornamentation knowing the 'gaudy by modern standards' tastes of medieval interior decorators.

#phototour
#Medieval
#Castle
#Winter

Yesterday the cold was rolling in, and we took a look outside in a Chateau Vianden #phototour. Today the #cold weather is here and we are moving inside to see the interior of a restored #castle in Luxembourg.
The decision to rebuild Chateau Vianden was made in 1977 when the grand-ducal family of Luxembourg transferred ownership of the castle to the Luxembourg State.

The first recorded Count to dwell here was Berthold in 1101 AD, but little remains from that time.

#Chateau
#History
#Winter

What do you do when you finally arrive up the hill at the Chateau? You climb the stairs to the top for the view, of course!

The castle's historical museum clearly explains that these external wall-walks weren't there for sight-seeing when the castle was constructed. Vianden Castle is recorded as taking part in local conflicts at least as early as 1269, and the battlements were critical defensive structures for the soldiers who defended the Chateau, the Count, and the town.

#phototour
#history

Inside the walls at last! Now we have a really good look at the Castle's different phases of construction. Check out the dark worn, crumbling wall along the outside and compare it to the relatively recently plastered tower. Now look at the sparkling white plaster of the rectangular structure. If you look closely at the tower, you can even see some rough areas where the tower appears to have been reconstructed from ruins near the base.

#Phototour

#PhotoTour
Chateau Vianden, Luxembourg
#Winter
#Histodon

When you arrive at the Chateau, there is convenient parking (and bus stops!) down in the village, and then you have the opportunity to admire the castle's impressive edifice as you walk up the hill to the entrance. Depending on how many toddlers you have in your group, you may have a VERY long time to enjoy the view. Of course the people who lived here during the castle's heyday would have had the convenience of horses and carriages.

Have you ever been to Chateau Vianden in Luxembourg? If you have to visit one of the newer castles, this one is a great choice. Unlike Neuschwanstein in Germany, this chateau wasn't just dreamt up by some bored Victorian playboy. Much of its construction may be new, but it is STEEPED in #history.

#phototour
#Photography
#histodon
#Winter

It is a VERY #cold afternoon in the US in December, so let's do a #travel #phototour thread on some of my favorite winter destinations (In no particular order - I plan to meander). Let's start with Luxembourg!

A beautiful Bushbuck | Masai Mara | Kenya
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#masaimara #earthcapture #earthfocus #safari #bownaankamal #wildlifephotography #photooftheday #bushbuck #naturephotography #ourplanetdaily #natgeo #yourshotphotographer #bbcearth #earthcapture #naturephotography #wildlife #naturephotographer #animallovers #animalelite #discovernature #natgeoyourshot #wildlife_perfection #wildlifeconservation #nuts_about_wildlife #photographytour #phototour #wildlifephotographer #wildlifephototours

#Introductions

I've been here for a while, but I've never done a proper introduction post. Hi! My name is Heather Tristan and I'm a professional children's photographer based out of rural North Carolina. My degrees are in literature and history, and my professional work is informed by both! I will rarely talk about my work here - instead I enjoy talking about current events, parenting, and especially history (with a focus on Medieval England and France).

#Histodon
#photographer
#PhotoTour

Sainte Chapelle: Wrapping Up
That's about it for Sainte Chapelle in Paris - my favorite stained glass of all time (although Chagall's windows in Reims gives it a little competition). Is there anything I didn't mention that you wanted to know more about? I've done a ton of reading on the topic but it's very challenging to synthesize in 500 characters! In the meantime, I'll leave you with my kiddos in the Sainte Chapelle and Palais de Justice.

#histodon
#PhotoTour
#medieval
#Photographer

Sainte Chapelle: So, Can We See the Box Now?
When Louis IX had the idea to create a setting for his treasures in the chapel, he didn't know that future photographers were going to have trouble with managing toddlers while coping with backlight conditions from his stained glass. I've managed to share a terrible image of my own here, but there's a lovely one available through Wikimedia Commons that I advise you all to seek out: https://bit.ly/3gcUbk5.
#PhotoTour
#histodon
#Medieval
#Photography

Sainte Chapelle: A jewel box for a jewel box
The relics from Constantinople cost more than 3x what it cost to build the chapel, but Louis IX wasn't done. As Butler observes (https://bit.ly/3X9fJid), Louis wanted to emulate King Solomon's construction of a great temple to house the Ark of the Covenant (a beautiful box to hold a beautiful box to hold a holy treasure), so he spent 100,000 livres more to build a splendid Grand-Chasse to hold the relics.

#PhotoTour
#History
#Medieval
#Photography

And we're back! We were talking about the cost of building Sainte Chapelle vs the holy relics (and associated costs) inside - but let's get to the nitty gritty. How much moolah are we talking, exactly? According to Daniel H. Weiss (https://www.jstor.org/stable/3046103), the chapel itself cost about 40,000 livres. In contrast, the purchase of the collection of relics stored in the chapel from Venice (crusade plunder) ran to 135,000 livres. But that's not all!

#PhotoTour
#history
#medieval
#photography

Good Morning!

I took a few days off from history threading but I'm back on my favorite topics today so get ready for some photo tour fun from me. I know we have a bunch of new refugees after yesterday's chaos on the bird app so if we are friends from the other place, follow me and stay in touch! So far over here it's mostly been me yammering about my weird obsessions, but I love a good conversation and am always happy to chat.

#histodons
#PhotoTour
#photography
#History