Ever watching over Dubrovnik is the town’s patron saint, Saint Blaise. His statue can be found at the top of the Pile Gate, the main entrance into Dubrovnik Old City.
July 2014, panorama from 5 vertical images, additional exposures for highlights, focal length 16mm, aperture f/11, shutter speed 30 seconds, ISO 100, tripod.
Saint Blaise performed many miracles, but one of the more unusual ones including taming and talking to wild animals. In one story a woman’s piglet was stolen by a wolf. The woman desperately needed this piglet for her family to survive. She did not believe in the Christian God, but had heard a rumor Blaise could tame wild beasts.
He would make a believer out of this woman this day. He called to the wolf. He lectured the wolf on the sin he’d done against this woman. The wolf feeling remorseful brought back the piglet to the woman.
When you walk among the magical city of Dubrovnik, it almost seems as if there is magic in the air. Draw bridges are always associated with fairytales, and I thought that Pile Gate and its Draw Bridge were the perfect subject to capture the magical feel of Dubrovnik.
First I tried to shoot this shot during the evening. But it didn’t work out with the huge crowds of people blocking my view.
Early the next morning I was please to find the draw bridge deserted for my shoot. I waited for the best morning light and used panoramic technique to bring viewers into this scene and make them feel as they stand in front of the Pile Gate of Dubrovnik with me.
