October 2011: Wells Cathedral
In: Architecture
I booked myself onto the Wells Cathedral “up high photographic workshop.” Arriving in Wells just after 9am, gave me time for a coffee and a quick look at vicar’s close (the oldest purely residential street with its original buildings all surviving intact in Europe) before the start. The weather was overcast and cloudy.
The tour was conducted by two guides and our photographic tutor for the day. As tripods weren’t allowed photographing the internal presented problems; working in low light, working without a tripod (bracing techniques), use of ISO, camera self-timer, lens choice, compositions and quick thinking whilst following the tour.
The morning tour itself provided a fascinating insite into Wells Cathedral – from a description of the West Front (c.1230) to how the architects designed such a masterpiece. Parapets are designed into the roof to enable leadwork to be maintained without the need for scaffold, through to how the roof is constructed to control the spread of fire, to why the main tower is 7 inches out of true.
This is the view towards the Scissor Arches, from up high:
The “up high” tour went up high – into roof spaces and through a 14” wide door up 200 and something steps to the roof of the main tower.
It was a case of "take the photos you need" first before "take the photos you want".
I practiced panorama techniques, the photo below shows the view towards Glastonbury Tor:
This is the view over the Bishop's Palace:
The two images below were taken with the wide angle lens, the first is the view towards vicar's close.
The second is a view from the tower (my favourite).
The afternoon was spent reviewing photos and picking up on some photoshop techniques.
View my other photo galleries: http://kjw.photium.com/gallery.html
The tour was conducted by two guides and our photographic tutor for the day. As tripods weren’t allowed photographing the internal presented problems; working in low light, working without a tripod (bracing techniques), use of ISO, camera self-timer, lens choice, compositions and quick thinking whilst following the tour.
The morning tour itself provided a fascinating insite into Wells Cathedral – from a description of the West Front (c.1230) to how the architects designed such a masterpiece. Parapets are designed into the roof to enable leadwork to be maintained without the need for scaffold, through to how the roof is constructed to control the spread of fire, to why the main tower is 7 inches out of true.
This is the view towards the Scissor Arches, from up high:
The “up high” tour went up high – into roof spaces and through a 14” wide door up 200 and something steps to the roof of the main tower.
It was a case of "take the photos you need" first before "take the photos you want".
I practiced panorama techniques, the photo below shows the view towards Glastonbury Tor:
This is the view over the Bishop's Palace:
The two images below were taken with the wide angle lens, the first is the view towards vicar's close.
The second is a view from the tower (my favourite).
The afternoon was spent reviewing photos and picking up on some photoshop techniques.
View my other photo galleries: http://kjw.photium.com/gallery.html