The Roman Pool at Hearst Castle
Hearst Castle was designed by architect Julie Morgan between 1919 and 1947 for William Randolph Hearst. The castle is located on the central California coast in San Simeon and is a national and state historical landmark. William Randolph Hearst died in 1951 and in 1957 the Hearst Corporation donated the estate to the State of California. Hearst Castle boasts 56 rooms, 61 bathrooms, 19 sitting rooms, an indoor and outdoor pool and sits on 126 acres.
The Roman Pool, the indoor pool, was built between 1927 and 1934. The pool is decorated with square mosaic glass tiles in blue, orange and clear and is adorned by statues of Roman gods and goddesses.
This was difficult to shoot as it was very dark in the pool and I didn’t have a tripod with me. I set my camera’s ISO to 3200 and bracketed all my exposures but some were just not as successful as I had hoped. Even with the high ISO the exposures were long and some of my images were a bit shaky so the images didn’t line up properly in Photomatix. The fist image was a single exposure but I was able to bring out the detail using Lucis. The 2nd and 3rd images were indeed bracketed (I was able to steady myself by the railing) and processed with Photomatix.
Click on the images to enlarge (hey really do look better) or to Purchase a Print.
Just beautiful!
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September 9, 2013 at 7:43 am
Thank you Bill.
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September 9, 2013 at 11:12 am
Great work, given the light and lack of a tripod. Those reflections are divine!
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September 9, 2013 at 7:44 am
Thank you so much Sherry.
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September 9, 2013 at 11:13 am
Wonderful – very well captured… 🙂
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September 9, 2013 at 7:47 am
Thanks Nils.
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September 9, 2013 at 11:13 am
What an ornately decorated place. You’ve captured this nicely, Edith!
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September 9, 2013 at 7:50 am
Thanks Jimi.
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September 9, 2013 at 11:14 am
Wow Edith, those are fantastic captures, especially when you didn’t have a tripod! That is the fanciest pool I have ever seen. I think I would feel intimidated swimming there – like I couldn’t splash or make any noise at all LOL!
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September 9, 2013 at 7:59 am
Thanks Cindy and I know what you mean. Its quite opulent but when your guest inclue the likes of Charlie chaplin I guess you have to impress 🙂
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September 9, 2013 at 11:16 am
Wowwwww…. What an amazing pool! You did a fabulous job, the color end details are incredible.
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September 9, 2013 at 8:04 am
Thank you so much Anne.
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September 9, 2013 at 11:17 am
Beautiful colors and reflections! Nice!
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September 9, 2013 at 8:36 am
Thanks Jimmy.
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September 9, 2013 at 11:22 am
Damn, what a fun place to shoot!
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September 9, 2013 at 9:08 am
Thanks Chris.
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September 9, 2013 at 11:23 am
I have heard of these pools…but to see it up close like this…just amazing.
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September 9, 2013 at 9:14 am
Thanks Laurie. They are quite something.
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September 9, 2013 at 11:25 am
I’ve been here too. It’s great to be able to effectively post process and get such wonderful detail. Good work.
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September 9, 2013 at 9:28 am
Thanks very much Victor.
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September 9, 2013 at 11:26 am
Wow Edith!! Stunning place and images! Gorgeous, I’ve got to go there! 🙂
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September 9, 2013 at 9:32 am
Thank you Rachel. It’s quite the place.
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September 9, 2013 at 11:28 am
so beautiful dear Edith Levy, I loved them all. Thanks and Love, nia
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September 9, 2013 at 9:37 am
Thank you so much Nia.
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September 9, 2013 at 11:29 am
Wow how beautiful! It makes me want to dive in but without disturbing the stillness of it all… if that makes sense!? 😉
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September 9, 2013 at 9:46 am
It makes perfect sense 🙂 Thank you!
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September 9, 2013 at 11:30 am
Love that place. I have been there countless times. I know how hard it is shooting this particular pool. You have done a wonderful job with these images Edith.
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September 9, 2013 at 11:13 am
Thank you so much Len.
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September 9, 2013 at 11:31 am
Isn’t Hearst Castle amazing? I’ve been a few times because I used to live about an hour south on the coast.
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September 9, 2013 at 11:44 am
It really is quite something to see. Such opulence.
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September 9, 2013 at 1:10 pm
My sister-in-law and niece took a summer trip to CA and visited the Hearst Castle! The place is amazing, especially the pool! Love your shot!
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September 9, 2013 at 12:12 pm
Thank you so much. It really is something.
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September 9, 2013 at 1:10 pm
Really amazing! Very nicely done.
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September 9, 2013 at 12:12 pm
Thank you Phil.
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September 9, 2013 at 1:11 pm
what an amazing space! The United States certainly do have royalty 🙂 Beautiful images!
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September 9, 2013 at 2:23 pm
Yes it does. Thanks so much.
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September 9, 2013 at 3:55 pm
Stunning!
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September 9, 2013 at 3:14 pm
Thank you 🙂
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September 9, 2013 at 3:57 pm
Beautiful!!!!
Good evening Edith
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September 9, 2013 at 4:17 pm
Thank you so much Sophie.
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September 9, 2013 at 5:18 pm
Amazing !
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September 9, 2013 at 4:36 pm
Thanks David.
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September 9, 2013 at 5:18 pm
Great job, Edith! I’ve been there myself (a very long time ago) and remember this pool well – it’s amazing, and you’ve definitely done it justice. I love all three shots, but especially the first one. Congrats on your steady hand!
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September 9, 2013 at 5:24 pm
Thank you so much Laurie.
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September 9, 2013 at 8:29 pm
Wonderful images! Even without a tripod you did a great job! I went several times as a young girl on our family trips. Then as a newlywed, my hubby and I went during a road trip. This is a great reminder I need to take my girls to Hearst Castle to see the beautiful opulence! Thanks for sharing!
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September 9, 2013 at 6:00 pm
Thank you so much Connie.
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September 9, 2013 at 8:31 pm
What an amazing place, and your photographs of it are so beautiful, Edith.
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September 9, 2013 at 7:06 pm
Thank you very much Lisa.
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September 9, 2013 at 8:35 pm
Thanks for bringing back some memories of long ago when I visited there. Your pictures are marvelous.
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September 9, 2013 at 7:27 pm
Thank you very much Diane.
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September 9, 2013 at 8:37 pm
They are all superb images, Edith. We never got to see Hearst Castle when we travelled down the coast. We close the Getty Museum instead.
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September 10, 2013 at 3:51 am
Thank you Andy. And we chose Hearst Castle but I wish we would have gone to the Getty Museum as well.
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September 10, 2013 at 12:41 pm
Love the colors and reflections Edith. Nicely done.
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September 10, 2013 at 12:43 pm
Thanks Steven.
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September 10, 2013 at 2:01 pm
wow -this blue is sooo beautiful! greetings from Berlin
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September 14, 2013 at 1:59 pm
Thank you 🙂
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September 14, 2013 at 11:18 pm
Stunning images for hand held – just stunning!
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September 16, 2013 at 9:47 pm
Thank you very much. I really appreciate you stopping by and your comments.
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September 16, 2013 at 11:37 pm
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Thanks for letting me camp out in your blog for a little while today. I had a great time and tried to leave my campsite as good as when I arrived. I’ll be back!
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September 17, 2013 at 7:49 pm
Thank you very much Russel for your kind words. I really appreciate it.
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September 17, 2013 at 10:49 pm
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Breathtaking shots here, Edith, well done under the difficult circumstances you were working in! I really would love to have a chance to visit here myself one day. Great work, Edith!
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September 20, 2013 at 3:36 pm
Thank you so much Toad. I really appreciate your visit and kind comments.
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September 21, 2013 at 12:08 am
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Very beautiful, I love the reflections in the pool.
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October 9, 2013 at 1:01 pm
Thank you!
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October 9, 2013 at 3:57 pm
Beautiful pictures, having just moved back to California these pictures reminded me of all the the places I still have not seen in my home state. Gotta go visit Hearst Castle!!!
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October 10, 2013 at 8:53 pm
Thank you for the feedback. It’s funny we never seem to play tourist in our own cities. I love California. I think even if you live there it would be difficult to see all the beautiful places.
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October 10, 2013 at 10:55 pm
I love the reflections
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October 12, 2013 at 7:41 pm
Thanks so much for visiting Andrew and for your comments.
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October 13, 2013 at 12:06 pm
Oh my! Gorgeous.
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October 22, 2013 at 12:13 pm
Thank you so much Rick.
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October 22, 2013 at 1:02 pm
You have captured it very well, Edith! It looks even grander as when I visited some 30 years ago. Have a lovely day!
Dina
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October 24, 2013 at 3:38 am
Thanks you Dina.
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October 24, 2013 at 10:24 am