St. Patricks Cathedral

pete4130

I've been saying the past 5/6 weeks I'd head down here early one morning to shoot some photos. Finally made it down early enough for it not to be too busy. Got a few shots I'm happy with but I can see myself being back another few times for sure.
Here are a few from Saturday morning. Any C&C welcome.

quilmore

Great stuff!
I love the first 2

Cabaal

first two look great,
love the lighting on the alter on the 2nd one,

ike

Fantastic stuff Pete Well done

PaulieC

commented on one on your Flickr, but I didn't see the organ shot there - it's fantastic.
Are the other shots HDR'd ? I can't figure out if they are or not

steps_3314

used image as my desktop background

elven

I like the two last because they aren't such obvious shots. If you hadn't taken one of that fantastic floor I'd be disappointed in you

You've got the colouring spot on though, i love the wood and the red velvet in them.

pete4130

All but the organ shot are HDR here that I've shown here. If your finding the HDR's a touch difficult to spot then thats what I'm after. HDR's have a bad reputation for being over the top and overcooked. I think the key with HDR is to desturate the colours so they look normal, do your levels or curves adjustment and then desaturate it again (any levels or curves brings the saturation right back up). Just keep repeating the adjustment followed by desaturation to keep it looking more natural.

I only had about an hour in there before I had to meet people so I was a little rushed for time. Great light & shadows inside so it'd definitly on the list of places to revisit. Lots of smaller things to concentrate on with tighter crops too. I'll admit I got carried away with the rows of chairs in there, such good texture, colour and light. Had to drag myself away from shooting the chairs!

It's difficult to get low down, close shots of the floor (I mean inches away from it) as there is light being projected from every angle above so your shadow is cast in every direction

Mellor

nice work, i've been meaning to go down for a while,
guess i'll have to get my ideas out there sooner , before they are stolen

For the first two (or all HDRs), how many exposures did you use

Borderfox

Excellent shots Pete, the tones and colours really make them

pete4130

I generally shoot 9 exposures, at 1 stop increments, so I have up to -4 EV up to +4 EV to have as much information as possible. If the scene is low contrast then 3 or 5 shots would do.

FreeAnd..

Those are definitely on the more appealing end of HDR's...something I have still never got to try out but will be soon after seeing these. Regret never going into St. Pats too...so thanks for that:)

pete4130

Thanks FreeAnd. I think I remember seeing one of your shots from Kilmainham Gaol last year on the PI forum which was HDR (at least I think it was one of your shots) that looked fantastic with natural tones.

If your planning to go, make sure your there at 9am on the button. I got there at 9:35 and it was empty, 10-15 minutes later it was getting busy.

FreeAnd..

Wouldnt have been one of mine Pete, I have taken one or two in Kilmainham but no HDR, and I've never posted to PI. I tried unsuccessfully to do HDR from one raw file but the results were not the best and the hassle trying to hide the fact they were the same file was a pain. I dont have a tripod at the minute so when I sort one ill definitely give it a go...as for getting to St. Pats before 9, if I set off now I might make it by Wednesday or Thursday

AnCatDubh

I think #1 and #2 are great. I love the colour treatment. The ultra wide angle gives it a bit of the wow factor. Is #1 ever so slightly off centered - not that you absolutely have to have everything centered but i think in this instance having it slightly off centered isn't achieving anything which is aesthetically better. Anyhow a very slight crop will do trick if you want to try it. #3 and #4 are interesting too. The slightly grainy, slightly dept of field induced focus is quite lovely. Very good stuff Pete.

pete4130

I'd agree that #1 looks slightly off centre. I tried to get it as central as I could and even used the virtual horizon in camera to make sure it was vertical. I'm guessing my focal plane wasn't 100% perpendicular to the way I was facing. It's a good enough excuse for a revisit as any!

Mellor

Heres a bit of info for you pete.

The picture looks off centre, but you may not be able to help it. In many churches and similar buildings, (esp Gothic style), the nave or alter is off centre. This was purposely built as part of the design as a testement to the fact that man is flawed and only god is truely perfect. The imperfections were quite small, and generally not noticable by a person in normal use.
Now, I don't know if this was thecase in St Patricks, but it was the case of many similar churches from the same time.

Cabaal

Mellor wrote: »

In many churches and similar buildings, (esp Gothic style), the nave or alter is off centre. This was purposely built as part of the design as a testement to the fact that man is flawed and only god is truely perfect. T

pfft, stupid priests, if man could have made it perfect then they should have made it perfect

K_user

Wow – very impressive stuff – an add for HDR if ever I saw one.
Well done, the tones, the shadows even the light coming in the window is spot on.

jesus_thats_gre

The first two, particularly the second one, are amazing!

Tarakiwa

SAme as everybody else above ........... LOVE the 1st 2!