Photo by Andreas Reichelt

Staircase of shadows

Mespelbrunn Castle, located between Frankfurt and Würzburg / Germany, built in a tributary valley of the Elsava valley, within the Spessart forest. It is a popular tourist attraction and has become a famous Spessart landmark. The spiral stairway surrounds the castle’s tower partially. I took this shot shortly before noon on a day in April 2022. The shadows make the viewer think: Which part is the original stairway and which part is its shadow. Or is it just vice-versa?

Editing notesI have only adjusted a few things with ON1 Photo RAW 2025: After adding a touch of vibrance, I applied Dynamic Contrast to the whole scene (20 Small, 30 Medium, 40 Large with an opacity of 65 percent). With the Tone Enhance I reduced the highlights quite a bit. I finished my editing with a subtle vignette at 50 percent. The shot is untouched in terms of denoising and cropping.

DC-FZ10002
ƒ/5
34.430000305176mm
ISO 125
1/2000 sec

Staircase of shadows

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