Visiting Hampton Court Palace

Yesterday we went to Hampton Court Palace. I can recommend a trip there if you want to see how Henry VIII lived. It takes about two hours from Cambridge to get there. You can do an audio-guided tour, and there are plenty of signs to read about the history of the place. I must admit that I was more focused on photographing. There is also a maze to get lost in, which is good fun! Our group got split in two, with one group getting to the centre really quickly, and the other group taking a bit longer to get there. You can probably guess which of the groups I was in…

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This photo has just got a bit of curves adjustments and sharpening. That purple-pink light around the cup was there when I shot the photo. There is a big stained glass window to the right of them projecting the colourful light on the wall.
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Inspired by Henry VIII’s killing of his wives Zuzana came up with this photo concept. After a few iterations we had the material for the final image. It is a composite of three photos. One with the background, a second with Zuzana screaming, holding her hands around her head, and a third photo with her holding her arms above her head. I had to use Liquify to match the final photo together. Added some cheesy lighting effects to it last night, since I was too tired to make a gory neck with windpipe and everything (not sure I could have made that look good), and just stretching the neck did not look good either.
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See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. One of the buildings was getting renovated. It had been surrounded by a red wooden barrier which to me looked like an invitation. The deep red colour would make a great background. For some reason I thought of the statue with the three wise monkeys and asked Martin, Lori and Shamith to re-enact it. In post processing I added a little bit of a texture on top of them to make the background a bit more gritty.
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I saw this scene and I immediately liked the stone floor and the way the people walking cast shadows on it. Here I waited a little while for a suitable subject, and soon this couple came walking hand in hand. I shot it as they were silhouetted within the doorframe.
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Martin peeking through the maze. I have sharpened his hair and wrinkles a bit as it adds character.

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Another shot from the maze, I think this conveys the feeling of being lost in it.
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Andy, Shamith, Lori, Johannes, Martin, Miriam, Martin and Zuzana.

There are more photos, but I think these were the best ones. Next time I will try and remember to read a bit more of the signs. Oh, let me see if I can add one more photo…

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Old statues are great inspiration when trying to come up with interesting poses. Here Lori and Martin are trying to recreate the statue behind them.

Johannes

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