Cathedral Interiors

sarasphotos · January 24, 2016

We took a walk in the cold last Sunday afternoon and took a turn through our romanesque/gothic cathedral. Here are a few of the shots I took - a usual in a dim gothic cathedral, a bit of a light challenge, especially with the 4-5.6 zoom that was on my camera at the time. They're all hand-held at iso 1600 or 3200. I tried not to do too much noise reduction...

1) looking down the nave towards the apse

2) detail: door into the apse

3) detail: door into apse

4) detail: radiating chapel gate

5) window: the Prophet Daniel (this set of 5 windows are the oldest in Germany)

6) I find it slghtly jarring that this early 18th century chapel is tacked on to the side of the building

7) the cloister corridor is full of grave-marking epitaphs

8) handle on a sarcophagus of one of the former bishops

As usual, critic and comments welcome.

Cheers, Sara

Stumblebum · January 24, 2016

I LOVE #2, #3, #5 and #7!

clap

For #4, if mine I would play around with tighter crop to lose distracting background....(some of the interesting part would be lost)
For #6 I would see what cloning tool can do with that wire....:D
Cheers Sara!

sarasphotos · January 24, 2016

Stumblebum wrote: »

I LOVE #2, #3, #5 and #7!clap
For #4, if mine I would play around with tighter crop to lose distracting background....(some of the interesting part would be lost)
For #6 I would see what. cloning tool can do with that wire....:D
Cheers Sara!

Thanks, Taz, glad you like them!

-for #4 I'm not sure I agree with you about the distracting background but can see where you're coming from. I'll check through my pictures to see if I have one with less DOF.
- on #6 I see what you mean. The wire is holding up this:

So here's the question about photographic honesty: do you take something out of a scene that has an actual function as a part of that scene? It's not like taking a construction crane out of the silhouette of a medieval city (done that :-) . What do you all think?

Cheers, Sara

Cornflake · January 24, 2016

Sara, it's a beautiful series.

sarasphotos · January 25, 2016

Thanks Don, glad you like them!

Cheers, Sara

Richard · January 25, 2016

Very nice series. You did quite well in what must have been difficult light. I love the detail shots.

sarasphotos wrote: »

So here's the question about photographic honesty: do you take something out of a scene that has an actual function as a part of that scene? It's not like taking a construction crane out of the silhouette of a medieval city (done that :-) . What do you all think?

It depends on your intent. If you are documenting or doing photojournalism, then cloning stuff out in post is not permissible; you can lose your job and reputation if you get caught. You have to lie when framing the shot in the viewfinder instead

. OTOH, if your intent is purely artistic, then anything goes, IMO. BUT: cloning is such a pain

. The longer I have been shooting, the less inclined I am towards Photoshop heroics. Better to get it right in the camera. But that's just me, and I'm very lazy.

sarasphotos · January 25, 2016

Richard, thanks for your kind comments.

As cathedrals go, Augsburg's is pretty dark so shooting there is always a bit of a challenge. On the other hand we are so spoiled today in terms of high iso settings - remember when you were lucky to have iso 400 or 800 film in your camera??? Those were the days when I developed a very steady hand and the trick of bracing myself or my camera against a pillar or on the back of a pew.

--as to cloning I admit I am also more from the leave-it-as-it-is school except when it is something like a construction crane against the sky in a medieval village. A certain degree of that is laziness on my part but I also feel that those imperfections remind us that the world is indeed far from perfect - and I'm not sure that perfect is always interesting.

Cheers, Sara

Stumblebum · January 25, 2016

I think we are creating art and when it was originally built I don't think there was an electrical wire hanging off the ceiling.....so remove guilt free!

sarasphotos · January 25, 2016

OK, Taz... I had a half an hour to spare and thought I'd rise to your challenge and exercise my cloning skills. What a PITB! But it was a good exercise - halfway through I remembered the content-aware fill tool and put it to use. I'm not sure I'll be doing so much cloning again so soon but I think it turned out ok. BTW, it just could have been a regular candle candelabra that hung there in the early 18th century... :-)

Cheers, Sara

Stumblebum · January 25, 2016

It is magnificent! Before, the wire took all the attention and energy and the beauty that I see now was barely noticeable. Now I see this amazing natural frame and glowing center! What a amazing view! Joyous!

bow

sarasphotos · January 26, 2016

Well then I guess it was worth the work! Thanks for reminding me - I live here in the land of foofy baroque churches and sometimes I am perhaps a bit blasé about what they have to offer, since normally I prefer gothic to baroque.

Chjeers, Sara

Earache · January 26, 2016

Very enjoyable series Sara!
Lots of interesting details - I'm perennially amazed at the art, architecture, science,
and engineering that went into the construction of the great cathedrals... good job on the cloning too!

willard3 · January 26, 2016

A wonderful set, Sara

I like 1, 5 , 6 and 7.

I probably would have changed my POV to include such a beautiful luminaire in no 6 and then cloning would be moot.

No 1 has a little barrel distortion that can usually be fixed in software.

My particular favorite is no 7 for the leading lines and perfect exposure.

The dynamic range and color in no 5 is very good.

sarasphotos · January 26, 2016

Eric & Willard, thank you both for taking the time to make comments! Always appreciated!

@ Eric - like you I'm always amazed at the engineering and craftsmanship of a thousand years ago. What makes Augsburg's cathedral particularly interesting is the mix of eras - it was first built in Romanesque times, extensively added on in the Gothic and then in the Baroque they stuck on that fancy chapel on the side. A real mish-mosh of styles.

@ Willard: thanks for pointing out the distortion on #1 - I already had to spend some time correcting the "upright" of it but now I see that I missed the distortion. On #5 I got lucky that the winter light coming through the window was not too bright - I took several shots and this exposure was the best. #6: I'll have to go back and see if I can get a good shot with the candelabra AND the dome - it's kind of a weird angle as the candelabra hangs fairly far below the dome...

Glad you both liked the set!

Cheers, Sara

Juano · February 2, 2016

sarasphotos wrote: »

OK, Taz... I had a half an hour to spare and thought I'd rise to your challenge and exercise my cloning skills. What a PITB! But it was a good exercise - halfway through I remembered the content-aware fill tool and put it to use. I'm not sure I'll be doing so much cloning again so soon but I think it turned out ok. BTW, it just could have been a regular candle candelabra that hung there in the early 18th century... :-)

Cheers, Sara

Sara, this is a wonderful shot. Great use of light!!

sarasphotos · February 2, 2016

Thanks, Cristóbal. I was lucky for the somewhat muted sunlight that day which enabled me to bring out the details of that painting.

Cheers, Sara

Cathedral Interiors

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