Durham Cathedral

Here's a few shots from Durham Cathedral. DOIK posted details of a photographic evening - photography isn't normally allowed.

Good to meet John (DOIK) on the night. Just wished I'd met him earlier for some hints, instead of 10 mind before closing.

Any C&C most welcome. This isn't my normal thing.

All with the K3 and Sigma 10-20.

.....Having previewed the thread - I'm not convinced the first and last are perfectly straight . Oh well, there's my first critique


Durham Cathedral by Alan Wennington, on Flickr


Durham Cathedral 2 by Alan Wennington, on Flickr


Durham Cathedral 3 by Alan Wennington, on Flickr


Durham Cathedral 4 by Alan Wennington, on Flickr


Durham Cathedral 5 by Alan Wennington, on Flickr

Nice to meet you as well Alan. It is very seldom I pass comment on photos but the chapter house worked well even for a pressure shot.
I heard there will be another session in September, I will keep you posted.

John

Beautiful building Alan.

Cathedral/ church interiors are a subject that I occasionally try - usually after enough time has passed for me to forget what a mess I made of the previous attempt!

With a touch of straightening/ or perhaps 'lens correction', that first shot would be a stunner and I love the perspective of the view of Durham from the cathedral. Like that 4th shot as well - really pulls you in. Again - it feels as if a bit of LR lens adjustment may be beneficial - I find it often is with the 10-20 in these sort of situations

The last cathedral I tried was St Davids down near Pembroke, South Wales - made a complete hash of 99% of the internal shots - shame - another beautiful building

Carl

Thanks Carl - much appreciate your input.

I meant to pick up the 12-24, but took the 10-20 in error

I completely agree regarding straightening/lens correction. Maybe corrction, as I seemed to straighten in one direction the best I could, and it had a negative impact elsewhere.
In #4, the Chapter House, the table cloth doesn't help either. It makes everything look lopsided

As to the view from the Tower of the City. I've climbed up and back down those stairs once. Lets call it a "once in a lifetime". I'm still knackered. My knees are killing me

You've see the light then Alan? Way too late for me.

A good set and I particularly like the third image. A great vista.

Best regards

Hi Alan,

I like the colour rendition throughout and the roof top landscape.

I couldn't get the EXIF to show correctly in my browser to learn more. Certainly a nice idea to have such evenings.

My knees empathise - I did something I have been meaning to do for a long time on Monday - the Ingleton water fall trail. A 5 mile round circuit sounded reasonable with the gear - so carried 2 bodies, five lenses, tripod and other assorted bits and pieces - probably 20+kg. What a mistake that was - should have realised that 5 miles in that terrain means 2.5 miles up steep hills and steps and 2.5 miles down steep ravines.

Not sure my knees will ever recover - but what a fantastic place - can't believe I have lived in North Yorks for 12 years and only just discovered it - will certainly be going back - and would be a fantastic place for a 'group meet' for those up for a hike.

I will probably post some images in a few days but at the moment due to the demise of my PC motherboard am working on a 10 year old pc not up to the job of image editing. Just what I need - a new pc purchase 2 weeks before the family holiday!

Carl

Thanks Gary and Bill - much appreciated

Hi Bill. If you click on the title under each image it will take you to the image on Flickr. All exif is available there. On Firefox which I use at home its visibly directly on the same page as the photo. On my old version of IE which I have at work there are 3 dots to the bottom right of the picture. Clicking on the dots brings up a link to full exif. Hope this helps

For info #1 and #4 are HDR

LOL Carl. Doesn't get any easier. Look forward to seeing your pictures

Looks like a good visit, excellent opportunity, and you've made the most of it. Best for me is clearly the outside view from the tower, which is beautifully captured with all the elements working together - quirky angle, nice balanced sky (although pushing the limits a bit over on the right side there), and a pleasing compo that makes the eye roll around in circles starting from the foreground towers.

I appreciate the challenge involved with the wide angle, and you've squeezed an amazing amount from those interiors onto the sensor. The framings are all excellent - unfortunately the distortions are a bit too much for me to enjoy, and I find the processing style a bit harsh .. rather grainy textures, full of detail, but I think a little softer might improve them ... is there an easy way of reducing whatever micro contrast / sharpening method you used ?

A colourful and interesting set, Alan. Fine detail from that new sensor. I love Durham Cathedral and wish I lived a bit nearer (although then I'd be further from Wells...)

I think the thing is with these ultra-wide lenses is just to accept the weird distortion and just get on with it. Correcting every aberration is just impossible and often introduces more vertigo inducing oddness.

I find I tire of the effect so quickly, it's not as bad as that one-day wonder, the fish-eye lens, but you either love the unnaturalness or hate it.

A fine set of photos and a good selection. I also like the landscape view from the tower, and I sympathise with your sore knees. In my experience, coming down again seems to cause more problems than going up.

What do people feel about correcting architectural perspective? I would have corrected the upward convergence in the first picture. On the other hand, when one is photgraphing something that is obviously well above the head, maybe it is better to leave the perspective convergence as it is?

Martin

Knew I shouldn't have used HDR in #1 and #4. I'm blaming you , no other specific sharpening applied

Yep, I think you're right Andrew

You should have seen the original before any correction was applied Martin

Just shows as usual that tastes vary. Personally I like the 'harsh' textures in 1 and 4 - which coincidentally are my 2 favorites of the set. For me - if these are HDR then HDR was the right choice.

With regards correcting perspective - converging verticals etc - some do seem to get a little hung up on this - especially converging verticals - whereas I often like the effect of converging verticals. To me - correcting WA distortions is just about quick fixes for really obvious aberrations that can be easily corrected - and if it can't be achieved in 10 seconds - I leave it alone - life's too short

Carl

Wonderful images and sorry I missed this event - spending a lot of time in Co. Durham now but haven't got to the cathedral yet. Hope they have another photo event!
Martyn