Flickr: servalpe's Photostream

Gran Turismmmmmo ! :: HDR :: DRI

History:

The GT by Citroën (sometimes spelled GTbyCitroën) is a sports car that debuted as a concept car on October 2 at the 2008 Paris Motor Show. The car is a collaboration between the French automaker Citroën and the Japanese racing simulation developer Polyphony Digital. 6 cars are said to be built. The GT by Citroën concept car was specially created, designed and produced for the upcoming video game Gran Turismo 5 and was included through download in its latest version Gran Turismo 5: Prologue. Its designer came up with the project and sold it to both Polyphony Digital and Citroën.

The car's exterior design was made by Takumi Yamamoto, a Japanese designer from Jean-Pierre Ploué's Style Citroën design team. Takumi Yamamoto was a childhood friend of Kazunori Yamauchi, director of Polyphony Digital and creator of the popular Gran Turismo franchise, also known as "Gegge". According to a Yamauchi interview at the Paris Motor Show 2008], he and Yamamoto started collaborating on this project back in 2003. A press release published on the North American Gran Turismo official website describes the Citroën and Polyphony Digital collaboration as a « a joint effort first talked about at the Geneva Motor Show past March [2008] ». Yamamoto convinced Jean-Pierre Ploué to submit his concept to Citroën's head office in Paris who agreed to start the production process and manufacture the real car. The concept car's rear was carefully designed to fit what the gamers will actually see in the game since it is the more powerful featured vehicle, argues Yamamoto.

Localization:

Picture taken at Gran Vía - Montera Street (Madrid, Spain)

Exif Data:

Canon EOS 450D | EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS @ 28 mm | f8, 1/30s, ISO 100.

Picture from 3 handheld exposures @ [-2 EV .. 0 .. +2 EV ].

Processing:

Lightroom for catalog > Photoshop to generate HDR file> Tonemapped at Photomatix 4.0 > Hue/Saturation + Color Efex Pro + Noiseware + High Pass filter Sharpening technique at Photoshop CS5.

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Uploaded on Jan 26, 2012 | Map

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The Twilight Of The Gods :: HDR :: DRI

I went out the other day for a photowalk to Orient Square, near Royal Palace when I saw that there were not clouds in this zone around the Opera Theatre , that was the subject that I wanted to shot. So in between my way to the site, at Plaza de España, I decided to take my way to Debod Temple where the clouds were and the sun was setting down. As always, this place that is at only 50 m from my home in Madrid is outstanding. The unusual view of this old Egyptian architecture and the emplacement with a level that permits to see the sunset produces usually such amazing views like the one that I shot this day. This is a so typical frame from Madrid, but I love it.

Localization:

The Temple of Debod is an ancient Egyptian temple which was rebuilt in Madrid, Spain.
The temple was built originally 15 km south of Aswan, in southern Egypt very close to the first cataract of the Nile and to the great religious center dedicated to the goddess Isis, in Philae. In the early 2nd century BC, Adikhalamani (Tabriqo), the Kushite king of Meroë, started its construction by building a small single room chapel dedicated to the god Amun. It was built and decorated on a similar design to the later Meroitic chapel on which the Temple of Dakka is based. Later, during the reigns of Ptolemy VI, Ptolemy VIII and Ptolemy XII of the Ptolemaic dynasty, it was extended on all four sides to form a small temple, 12 X 15 m, which was dedicated to Isis of Philae. The Roman emperors Augustus and Tiberius completed its decorations.

From the quay, a long processional way leads to the stone-built enclosure wall, through three stone pylon gateways and finally to the temple itself. The pranaos, which had four columns with composite capitals collapsed in 1868, and is now lost. Behind it lay the original sanctuary of Amun, the offering table room and a later sanctuary with several side-rooms and stairs to the roof.
In 1960, due to the construction of the Great Dam of Aswan and the consequent threat posed to several monuments and archeological sites, UNESCO made an international call to save this rich historical legacy. As a sign of gratitude for the help provided by Spain in saving the temples of Abu Simbel, the Egyptian state donated the temple of Debod to Spain in 1968.

The temple was rebuilt in one of Madrid's parks, the Parque del Oeste, near the royal palace of Madrid, and opened to the public in 1972. The reassembled gateways appear to have been placed in a different order than when originally erected. Compared to a photo of the original site, the gateway topped by a serpent flanked sun appears not to have been the closest gateway to the temple proper.It constitutes one of the few works of ancient Egyptian architecture which can be seen outside Egypt and the only one of its kind in Spain.

Exif Data:

Canon EOS 450D | Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 DC EX HSM @ 20 mm | f11, 0.3s, ISO 100.

Picture from 3 exposures on a tripod Manfrotto 055XPROB + 322RC2 Joystick Head @ [-2 EV .. 0 .. +2 EV ]

Processing:

Lightroom for catalog > Photoshop to generate HDR file> Tonemapped at Photomatix 4.0 > Hue/Saturation + Topaz Adjust + Noiseware + High Pass filter Sharpening technique at Photoshop CS5.

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Uploaded on Jan 22, 2012 | Map

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The Windsor Tower Reborns, The New El Corte Inglés Tower :: HDR :: BW

History:

The Windsor Tower (Spanish: Torre Windsor) was built in 1979 in the financial center of Madrid, Spain. This office building was 106 m high and had 32 floors of which 29 were above ground level and 3 below, thus ranking it as the eighth tallest building in Madrid (and 23rd in Spain).

Around midnight, on Saturday, February 12, 2005, a fire was detected on the 21st floor. The fire spread quickly throughout the entire building, leading to the collapse of the outermost, steel parts of the upper floors; firefighters needed almost 24 hours to extinguish it. While seven firefighters were injured, nobody was killed in the fire, which was arguably the worst in Madrid's history.
The town council of Madrid covered the cost of demolishing the remains of the building, thought to be some €22 million (USD $32.5 million). Demolition was completed in August 2005, and as of 2006 the site awaits redevelopment. The tower's owners are expected to build a replacement tower of similar size.

It was initially thought that the fire was the result of an electrical fault, but some facts have since come to light suggesting that it may have been arson:
Different amateur videotapes showed two figures in silhouette inside the blazing building more than two hours after it was supposedly evacuated. The figures appeared to be moving about eight floors below the core of the fire, at around 3:00 a.m. (02:00 GMT).
Other videos showed lights inside the skyscraper after electricity was thought to have gone out.
Police discovered that someone had forced a door that led into a Windsor Tower underground garage.

El Corte Inglés will invest 21.6 million in the new Windsor. The project has been designed by architects Peter and Paul Vilató Muñoz. It will have 22 floors and will add a parking with five floors.The cylindrical upper surface will be illuminated, raising its height up to 103.7 meters. It will have six commercial plants, which may be operational by late 2010 and 11 ones for offices. El Coste Inglés want to turn the building into an icon and one of the most modern and innovative shopping centers in Europe.

Localization:

Picture taken at AZCA (Madrid, Spain) near Mahou Tower, which is a 85m tower completed in 2006. It is on the left side of the picture and the 'new Windsor Tower', Torre El Corte Inglés , is on the background.

Exif Data:

Canon EOS 450D | Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 DC EX HSM @ 10 mm | f/11, 15s, ISO 100.

Picture from 3 exposures on a tripod Manfrotto 055XPROB + 322RC2 Head @ [-2 EV .. 0 .. +2 EV ]

Processing:

Lightroom for catalog > Photoshop to generate HDR file> Tonemapped at Photomatix 4.0 > Curves + Hue/Saturation + Topaz Adjust + Tonal Contrast with Color Efex Pro + Silver Efex Pro for BW + Noiseware + High Pass filter Sharpening technique at Photoshop CS5.

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Uploaded on Jan 21, 2012 | Map

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Puente de Segovia Reflections :: HDR :: DRI

See blog entries at servalpe.wordpress.com

Localization:

Puente de Segovia, Madrid (Spain).

Exif Data:

Canon EOS 450D | EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS @ 49 mm | f11, 10s, ISO 100.

Picture from 3 exposures on a tripod Manfrotto 055XPROB + 322RC2 Joystick Head @ [-2 EV .. 0 .. +2 EV ]

Processing:

Lightroom for catalog > Photoshop to generate an HDR file> Tonemapped at Photomatix 4.0 > Curves + Hue/Saturation + Color Efex Pro + Noiseware + High Pass filter Sharpening technique at Photoshop CS5.

See at full high-res at Smugmug

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Uploaded on Jan 8, 2012 | Map

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