St. Mary’s Basilica on the Main Market Square in Kraków is one of the town’s famous landmarks. I already showed you the Altarpiece inside of the church; now you can see the exterior.
Extraordinary are the two unequal towers; the higher one is 81m high, and the other one is 12m smaller. According to an ancient legend, the towers were built by two brothers – each worked on one tower. When one of them finished his tower, he was worried that his brother could outdo his work and build a higher one. To prevent that, he stabbed him to death, and the church tower of St. Mary’s Basilica was left unfinished.
Technical Details
Camera: Canon EOS 500D
Lens: Canon EF-S 10-22mm @ 10mm
ISO: 100
Exposures: 3 (-2, 0, +2)
Aperture: 13
Exposure time (middle): 1/30s
Tripod: Manfrotto 190CXPRO4
Size: 12.6 MPx
Date: Taken in November 2013
Location: From the Main Market Square (Rynek) in Kraków
Software: Lightroom 5.2, Photoshop CS6, Photomatix Pro
Workflow: The Main Market Square is overcrowded by tourists most of the time. As I was there very early in the morning, I found the square almost empty. It was even allowed for cars to go there to deliver goods to the market.
With such photos against the sun, it is always difficult to get the colours right. Thanks to the new Magic Lantern Software on my cam, I would make more exposures next time to handle the dynamic even better.
The St. Mary’s Basilica is part of the UNESCO World Heritage
The St. Mary’s Basilica and the whole Historic Centre of Kraków are part of the UNESCO World Heritage since 1978. Together they’ve been among the first 12 inscribed World Heritage Sites.
» UNESCO Description of the World Heritage: Historic Centre of Kraków
» Other photos of the World Heritage: See more photos
