Slickrock and Shadow

St. Giles Kirk Ceiling St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh Scotland is a national landmark.  It's also very photogenic.  And most important for a photographer, they allow photography with tripods for a small fee.  Having a tripod makes the difference in a dark cathedral.  It allows long exposures, letting the light pour onto the sensor.  Cathedrals do not really move so these long exposures work wonderfully here. I took advantage of my 17 millimeters tilt shift lens and pointed it heavenward.  As I shifted from side to side, I was able to take in a huge amount of architectural information.  I tried very carefully to obtain a symmetric image.  I stitched these pictures Lightroom postprocessing.  With my lower ISO settings I was able to bring a lot of the detail out of the shadows including the rich color in the stonework.  Please enjoy.

Eight Massive Columns inside Saints John and Paul Cathedral In Venice there is a wonderful church in the north part of town.  Nobody goes there at least not very many people.  However it is incredibly beautiful, religiously peaceful.  I felt like I had made a wonderful discovery when I walked through the doors of Saints John and Paul Church.  It is not named after the John or the Paul in the New Testament but you do not need to know that in order to enjoy the beauty. Altar Extremely wide and high pillars stretch forth the ceiling.  The ceiling itself is a wonderful work of symmetry.  As you can see from the photos, the place was empty.  I did not have to Photoshop anybody out to have a clean view. Light of God Cathedral Heights At this church I used my 17 mm tilt-shift lens almost exclusively.  In order to prevent lens distortion, I shifted up and composed very carefully for taking the shot.

Black lantern within St. Mark's Cathedral Photography is forbidden in St. Mark's Cathedral.  However everyone around me was taking pictures.  The peer pressure was too much and I broke out my camera and started shooting.  You have to shoot quickly and you cannot have a tripod.  A big tripod and a slow photographer would attract too much attention from the understaffed guards.  A discrete photographer with a high ISO and a steady hand is able to come back with a few good pictures of this incredible historic religious building.  The mosaics are breathtaking, truly magnificent.  Please enjoy. The floor is a rolling irregular mosaic Golden chest from the Treasury Gold Mosaic of Christ washing the feet of Peter Incredible Golden Dome Inner Sanctum Mosaic detail Enormous mosaic of the house of Israel and all the branches.  This was huge. Angel slaying a dragon

Sarlat Cathedral Sarlat, France is in the heart of Dordogne region.  While visiting this area, my family took a day trip here from our headquarters in La Roque-Gageac.  The drive is a lovely, pleasant short trip.  Parking on the southern part of town, we began wandering into the pedestrian only streets.  There are many lovely villages that we had visited in France but this exceeded them all.  It exceeded my expectations.  Wonderful restaurants, old buildings, interesting shops and a lovely town square invite one to wander and explore. On this particular day, we arrived in time for a Catholic mass and the cathedral.  The cathedral is beautiful inside and out.  Hearing the sermon, music and absorbing the French culture and religion is a wonderful way to spend an hour.  The massive column that was near my seat in the church have the names of soldiers who had died in World War I inscribed. After church, we sat in a square and listened to...