Several of you liked my shot of the ceiling of Salisbury Cathedral I posted a couple of days ago, so I thought I'd post my favorite ceiling in Europe. This is the stunning baroque cathedral in the Monastery of Melk about an hour west of Vienna, Austria. Photography is allowed, but tripods are not. So, the strategy I now use is to set the exposure mode of the camera on manual and choose both my shutter speed and aperture. The aperture is wide open because depth of field is not relevant when the elements of the composition are relatively far away and you're using a wide angle lens -- a 14mm in this case. The shutter speed I set to 1/80. Then, I set the ISO to auto. That's the key. It varies according to the light, and even though it will be higher than I'd like, there is no choice since I couldn't use a tripod. For this shot, the aperture was f/2.8 and the ISO was 400. Some cathedrals are very dark, and in those cases, the ISO is as high as 1600 or even 2000. If you can't use a tripod, though, there is no way out of using the high ISO.
14 Comments
Apr 8, 2016, 4:16:27 PM
Jim - Hi Ian, Thanks for the compliment. There is virtually no post-processing. Only a slight amount of contrast and color saturation.
Apr 8, 2016, 4:12:50 PM
Ian's Open Shutter - Stunningly beautiful Jim. did you have to do any post retouching with it?
Mar 27, 2016, 5:30:26 PM
Jim - You're very welcome, Bryan. Your camera bag idea is a good one. I've done that myself. In addition, when I've used off-camera flash, sometimes I'll place my camera backpack on the ground and rest the flash on it, angling it according to where my subject is.
Mar 27, 2016, 5:19:53 PM
Bryan Girard - Jim,
Thanks for all I've learned from you.
Something I often use instead of a tripod is my camera bag. While straight up might be a difficult angle, most others can be made pretty stable. With live view options and timer delays, you can get the camera pretty rock-solid in most cases, especially if you open the bag and adjust the contents to suit.
Mar 27, 2016, 10:50:17 AM
Daniel Reynaud - OK, I see the point. I'll definitely keep your " ball head maneuver " in mind !! Great trick. Thx.
Mar 27, 2016, 9:21:28 AM
Jim - Thanks, Daniel. Some places don't allow tripods because they don't want you taking 'professional' pictures. Your monopod would fall into that category. But sometimes you can use your monopod surreptitiously, too.
Mar 27, 2016, 9:19:14 AM
Jim - Thanks, Denny. This is my favorite cathedral ceiling in Europe.
Mar 27, 2016, 8:26:22 AM
Jim - Bob, I've used the ball head idea in many places, and it works great. I've even done an eight second exposure in a very dark cistern in Istanbul, and the pictures was tack sharp. You have use the self-timer to eliminate camera movement.
Mar 27, 2016, 3:41:20 AM
Dennis Mosesman - Jim, these shots are incredibly beautiful!
Mar 27, 2016, 12:17:29 AM
Jim - Hi Daniel and Rohinton, No monopods allowed in this place, too. But a monopod won't do you any good when using a long exposure. What I do is take off the ball head from the tripod and rest it on a railing or against a wall with a constant pressure applied for stability. That works.
Mar 27, 2016, 12:13:58 AM
Bob Vestal - Another great ceiling image that is rich with color. Interesting idea to actually use the ball head as opposed to the base of the camera, which is what I have done in the past. That has worked, but I bet that the ball head works better, especially if there is a nice flat surface for the ball head base.
Mar 27, 2016, 12:13:19 AM
Daniel Reynaud - Good advice. However, I do have a SIRUI monopod, the one with the 3 small folding feet !!! It really works well and is a fantastic value for its versatility Along with a SIRUI Ball Head, it's quite a workhorse.Check it out : Sirui 204 s w/ Sirui K-10x Ball Head. ( bought from B&H )I have used it ( indoor ) as an unattended stand alone with the wireless remote, in some tight places !!!
Mar 26, 2016, 11:55:36 PM
Daniel Reynaud - Hi Jim, I was wondering if monopods would be allowed. I understand they don't want the hazard of having anyone trip on one of the legs, not to mention it could turn into a circus resl quick. After all, you would be allowed in with a cane !!
Mar 26, 2016, 11:09:15 PM
Rohinton J Mehta - That's an interesting query by Daniel Reynaud! I too would be interested in knowing if a monopod would be allowed.