Church Photography

Sparkles33

Sparkles33

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Nattelie
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Is there anything taht I should be weary of/cautiuos of, when shooting in a church? :shrug:

BTW, it's just for some websites (theirs) and my portfolio - a total love job (obviously already agreed), and I won't be professing to be a wedding photographer next week.....or the week after LOL

One Church has fantastic lighting but the other is fairly dark, even with all the lights on. Other than that (and my obvious difficulty that I can't clamber up the stairs) I can't really see any issues.
 
I did Manchester Cathedral recently and yes there are things to look out for.

The first is your exposure. You could well have light streaming through windows and some very dark corners. Try not to blow out the windows (not literally!) and still get some detail in the shadows. It can be very tricky!

The second is converging verticals (lens distortion) Pillars, columns and anything that IS upright should STAY upright in the final image. I had a belter at Manchester where the window and the steps were not level, either of them, the window tilted one way and the steps the other. Old buildings can often be a bit squint!

Definitely tripod time to get some of the lovely ambient light in so shoot f8-f11 and don't worry about those long shutter speeds. If you shoot on Aperture Priority and take note of the settings and change over to manual to fine tune the exposure.

Have fun and don't forget to let us see :)
 
Only the angels and demons!!!!

I find it depends on the church... Using a tripod is usually ok as long as it's quiet... but im always wary of the flash!

Mark
 
markelliot said:
I find it depends on the church... Using a tripod is usually ok as long as it's quiet... but im always wary of the flash!

Mark
Click to expand...

I've found in some churches & cathedrals, they're not so keen on tripods. But I've always made a point of asking first and they're normally OK with that then. Mind you, a couple of quid or so in the collection box may help.

Ali B is spot on - the contrast will be an issue here. As I use film, I would normally bracket my exposures if I'm photographing the whole interior in one shot. You could even just photograph the stained glass windows by themselves as some are very colourful.
 
Well I was going to say the only thing you really need to watch out for is clergy*, but since it's pre-arranged I guess that's not an issue.
Window light is tricky though.


*I've actualy never had a problem, they've only been welcoming to me, but it's always worth asking them first. A donation to the upkeep fund normally goes down well too.
 
Dynamic range will be a problem.
HDR could be a solution.
Sensitive processing of course :)
 
Interesting subject, as I went to Winchester Cathedral to take some shots today. Lighiting is a challenge, but I went down the HDR path as Suvv suggested too. Making sure to use subtle processing. Also discovered a fantasic photoshop filter called Noiseware that helps reduce the noise you get in HDR processed images. This was very noticeable on Stained glass window shots. Will post link to some shots from today when I'm done :)
 
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