Afternoons at the Duomo
A long exposure taken one afternoon in front of the Duomo in Milan, Italy…
The Duomo in Milan, Italy is amazing!
I'm a fan of European cathedrals, because they are usually pretty gorgeous, large and architecturally interesting. The Duomo in Milan is no exception. The facade is stunning and you can of course take tours inside. You can also get on the roof which is a pretty amazing experience, and well worth it. We only spent a couple of days in Milan but it's a city that I would love to return to for further exploration.
This photo is a long exposure taken with my 10 stop filter, which is why the clouds appear to be streaking across the sky. It was about a 2 minute exposure. I love using the 10 stop filter for these sorts of scenes. You get that gorgeous sky and many of the people ghost out of the image. I think it makes for some interesting results. Edited and converted to monochrome in Luminar (or course).
The Berliner Dom
Two photos from Berlin, of their lovely and impressive cathedral...
A magnificent cathedral in Berlin!
I love visiting and shooting the great cathedrals of Europe. They are just awe-inspiring and beautiful. When we were in Berlin, I made a point of stopping by the Berliner Dom a few times so I could capture several shots of it.
It's in the center of town and easily accessible on foot from other spots you would likely be visiting. There is a river behind it and a nice little bridge you can stand on to shoot it, too. I recommend also making a quick visit inside - it's impressive!
A nice view in Berlin
A view of the wonderful cathedral in Berlin..,
The Berliner Dom is an amazing cathedral!
While we were wandering in Berlin, I saw this little bridge that crossed the river right behind their big cathedral, the Berliner Dom. Being a fan of water, and always looking for another perspective, I walked over there to take a look.
I'm glad that I did, because it's a great spot to get an alternate view of this fabulous cathedral (as opposed to the view from the front, which I also got). It also gives you a little perspective on the scene, since you are slightly back from it.
It was late afternoon and there was some gorgeous light in the sky. Sadly I didn't have time to stick around for sunset but I'm happy with this one!
The greatest church in the world
The Vatican in Rome is simply breath-taking!
Yes, I believe the Vatican deserves that title!
Wow, the Vatican in Rome is just magnificent. It is HUGE - yes, that is all caps - and it is simply stunningly gorgeous. I could go on but I would run out of superlatives before I felt like I really got my point across! It is that amazing.
When you take a tour of the place, I believe you will constantly be saying WOW and OMG and all that sort of stuff. It's a jaw-dropper, literally. Plus, there are a million parts of it and they are all photogenic. It's a good way to spend an entire day - and yes you could spend that much there.
This is a quick snap I took after our tour, down the main aisle. It's just cavernous in there!
The only one out shooting
An early wakeup one morning in France gave me the opportunity to photography Notre Dame without another soul around...and it was perfect!
Early morning is the best time for travel photography.
I absolutely love to get up early and go shoot. Everything is quiet and still and you can enjoy a place without all the distraction and noise of crowds. It's just the perfect time of day for me, photography-wise.
When I travel, I always try to get up at least once so I can get out and shoot sunrise. I tend to be a morning person anyway, so it's pretty easy to do, although I will admit it can be hard to drag yourself out of bed at times. But, it is always worth it.
On our Paris trip at the end of last year, I got up really early one morning and walked over to Notre Dame. Literally, I was the only one there. I had this major tourist attraction to myself. I wandered all around and shot it from lots of different angles. It was great.
On your next trip, try doing this and see how it goes. You might need a little caffeine later, but you will be happy with the shots you get!
Notre Dame morning
Notre Dame in Paris is always crowded, so my solution was to get up and shoot it at sunrise. Turns out I had it all to myself!
There's just something about the early morning hours!
I have as much trouble as anyone else getting up in the morning, but it's always worth it when I am up and out shooting. On my travels, I try to do at least one or two sunrise shoots. All the famous landmarks are just so crowded during the daytime and around sunset. You often can't get a decent shot of them. So my solution has always been to get up early and do it.
Usually, it works out pretty well.
One morning on our recent trip to Paris, I got up early and made the 15 minute walk over here. I have seen and shot Notre Dame several times in my life, but never really loved the shots. There were just taken at the wrong time of day. So, sunrise was my answer.
Luckily, it was a misty, foggy sort of morning and the whole experience was just amazing. I had it to myself, and was able to shoot it from the front, the side and the back. I walked away with many images that I truly love - today's photo being one of them.
St Andrew's Cathedral in Glasgow
There is a gorgeous little cathedral in Glasgow, Scotland known as St Andrew's - and it's well worth a visit. Here are a few pics from my last trip there that show how pretty this place really is!
I just love to go to church - well, at least with a camera!
I'm not against religion or anything, but I don't go to church. I feel like I get my inspiration from the world around me, and that is sufficient for me. But, you didn't come here to listen to me talk about that, did you? I didn't think so.
One thing I do love to do while traveling is to check out the various churches, chapels and cathedrals, and especially when I am in Europe. Some are huge and amazing, and some not so much. This one sort of fits in the middle.
This is St. Andrew's Cathedral in Glasgow, Scotland. I have shot it several times, and personally I find it very beautiful. I was in Glasgow shooting with my friend Mike Murphy, and this was the first place we shot after meeting up that day. Luckily when we arrived it was mid-day and thus it was pretty empty - which is of course ideal.
Most people, when looking for a church to visit in Glasgow, end up at St. Mungo's, which is also known as Glasgow Cathedral. It's much larger than this one, and in my opinion is the "grande dame" of local cathedrals (and yes, we went there too).
But I have to admit I have a soft spot for this place. There's just something about it that I like. Perhaps it's the smaller size, or the ornate architectural details that make it stand out to me. Whatever it is, I love to make a quick visit (that's another nice thing - you can shoot it fairly quickly) each time I am there. I always leave feeling good!
And if you are interested, you can find my list of the best places to shoot in Glasgow here.
Christmas with Quasimodo
Ah, the beauty of Notre Dame in Paris! And even prettier with a huge Christmas tree out front! Click on through and have a look - there are 7 photos for you to enjoy today my friends!
Notre Dame is always beautiful, but takes it up a level at Christmas!
On my first night in Paris recently, I wandered from my apartment in the Latin Quarter over towards Notre Dame, partly because I wanted to see it, and partly to get along the Seine River where you can find so much great stuff to shoot.
When I arrived, they were in the process of putting up a Christmas tree, and I knew I had to return to capture that. As the saying goes, you don't see THAT everyday.
So on a couple of different nights during that week, I found myself back here at Notre Dame, staring up at that amazing facade and trying to spot Quasimodo in one of the bell towers (no luck on that one). But despite missing out on seeing the Hunchback himself, I did manage to grab a few photos of the cathedral.
I've seen Notre Dame several times in my life, and I'm very thankful for that. But I must say that seeing it with a huge Christmas tree out front, and standing there while the bells ring, is truly magnificent.
(click any photo to embiggen)
Inside Glasgow Cathedral
I love shooting in European churches. Have I said that before? ;-)
I feel like a broken record here on the blog sometimes. I feel like I am always saying something about sunrise, or churches, or street scenes - primarily in Europe. But the truth is I find that stuff interesting, and you shoot what you like, right? (Unless you are on assignment of course, but that's not what I do. I guess I would do it, but it doesn't ever come up. Speaking of which, if someone needs a photographer to shoot some cool churches in Europe, let me know!)
Anyways, I do love wandering into, around, underneath and sometimes on top of churches in Europe. They are just such compelling subjects. It's the architecture-lover in me coming through, I assume. I do love architecture, that's for sure.
So on one of my visits to sunny Glasgow last year (ok, it's not usually too sunny there, but it sounded good), I made sure to visit Glasgow Cathedral, which is quite fantastic. Incidentally, it also goes by the name St. Mungo's Cathedral - a name that I love - which always makes me think of a Harry Potter book. I think there was something by that name in one of those books, wasn't there?
The exterior is also pretty sweet, being a big cathedral and looking all cathedral-like, but when I was there I found a bunch of scaffolding around the outside, which is another way of saying that I didn't shoot the exterior. I guess it needed a good cleaning, or something. It is several hundred years old.
There also happens to be a local beer there in Glasgow called St. Mungo's and I must say it is rather delicious. I'm not sure if the church endorsed it, but it's pretty heavenly!
The facade of Bayeux Cathedral
I just love all the cathedrals in Europe!
I really do. They all are so beautiful, and since they are usually hundreds of years old, I just find they possess a lot of character. Plus there is so much attention to detail and just pure awesomeness about them. You just don't find very many like this in the US. It's just not our thing, I guess.
When I was in France last summer, the first town that we stopped in was Bayeux, which is in Normandy and put us nearby the beaches that were used in World War II. It's a great little town and I really enjoyed wandering the streets there. Then again, I enjoy wandering the streets just about anywhere, actually, so that's not exactly breaking news. LOL
Whenever I am headed to a new town in Europe, I always look it up beforehand and find what look to be great photo spots for me to target. I also Google the churches in whichever town I am headed to, since they tend to be huge, beautiful historic things and I just love to shoot them. It also seems the towns are usually built around at least one of these beauties, do they are often nearby and easy to reach.
This one sits sort of at the top of a small hill and is impossible to miss, with those huge spires jutting into the sky. I got there one evening during blue hour (which is kind of obvious, I guess) and thank goodness for my wide angle lens! I was all the way back against a wall of another building when I took this shot. But that's why I love my wide angle lens...it gets so much in the shot!
The facade of Brussels Cathedral
Do you love church architecture as much as I do?
There are few things I like more than shooting churches in Europe. I am not sure why I like them so much, but I really do. They just possess so much awesomeness. Obviously I am a fan of architecture, but it runs deeper than that. I'm a fan of the creation of these things and the skill it took to design them. Considering that most are hundreds of years old (or more), I find it incredibly impressive they could accomplish such things back then - and that they still stand today.
Look at the details in the facade. This wasn't just "stack stones one on top of the other until it is this high" or something that basic. It's sophisticated. It's complex. It's beautiful. There is so much attention to detail that it baffles me. This was done without the aid of computers or the machines we use now for design and creation. This was done by humans.
I'm constantly amazed at things like this. I can buy something these days that was designed, engineered and constructed with the finest raw materials, and I bet it doesn't last 5 years. This thing has been there for hundreds. Awesomeness.
And in case you missed it, the interior detail of the ceiling and more can be seen on this post from a little while ago.
The cathedral in Brussels
The Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula
This is one beautiful cathedral, and I am very happy to have found it on my recent trip to Brussels. I passed through Brussels last year and despite shooting quite a bit of the town, I never actually saw this cathedral (or knew about it, honestly). I'm not sure how I missed it, but am glad that I corrected it when I was there a couple of weeks back.
It sits just a short stroll from Grand Place, which is the historic town square in Brussels and which was the subject of my photo 2 days ago here on the blog. I did a Google search and found this one, and then Google Maps let me know it was just a short walk from my hotel. Perfect!
I arrived late in the afternoon, because I checked for their closing time on the web. That's something I always do - try and plan your visit for shortly before closing time. There are usually much smaller crowds then.
But of course in this photo, you couldn't see anyone anyways since I was looking up. I love shooting architecture, and especially in European churches, and this one was just stunning. Be sure and visit when in Brussels, and remember it's close to Grand Place!
Sacre Coeur
This is not your typical shot of the lovely Sacre Coeur cathedral in Paris. Usually, you see the lovely lawn leading up to it (preferably at sunrise so there is no one else in the shot) and maybe the stairs too - plus you normally see the whole structure. Looking at it from this angle, you probably wouldn't even guess that this is Sacre Coeur.
Sadly, my only chance to shoot there was one afternoon, and as you can imagine it was CROWDED. There were people everywhere. It was truly a madhouse. Whenever that happens, you just have to accept it and take whatever shots you can take.
So, I got up in front of the entrance and looked up...and shot a quick 7 exposure bracket. Luckily there were some nice clouds hanging around, otherwise this would have possibly been the most boring shot ever taken in Paris. But in spite of all that, I still like the shot. I am a fan of architecture, so I find this stuff interesting and beautiful. And of course, I enjoy making an effort to exclude all the tourists from the shot!
St. Andrew's Cathedral, Glasgow
I like Glasgow. It's a nice town. I know some folks consider Edinburgh to be the crown jewel of Scottish cities (and it IS awesome) but there is a lot to see and shoot in Glasgow, and I am never disappointed (even though I get rained on LOL).
I was there on business recently, and in my off hours made sure to hit some of my favorite spots in the city, one of which is St. Andrew's Cathedral. I had last been to this site a couple of years ago, and things have changed quite a bit. They did a lot of renovations and I must say the place is beautiful!
I happened to arrive late one afternoon, and thankfully had it all to myself. I just set up the tripod and got down to business, and never heard a peep from anyone else!
St. Francis Cathedral, Santa Fe
This is the interior of St. Francis Cathedral in Santa Fe, NM. It’s a beautiful place. Normally I shoot the exterior when I am in Santa Fe, but on my last visit I made a point to try and shoot the interior, which was my first chance to do so.
I arrived late in the afternoon, which is my preference for shooting church interiors. I find the afternoon light can help illuminate the interior a bit and bring the stained glass to life, but also they are generally not too crowded at that time of day (at least in my experience).
It turned out that the afternoon that I arrived was also the day the new Pope of the Catholic Church was decided in Rome...and he chose the name Francis. So yeah, there were a few people around, but surprisingly it wasn’t too bad. Also, it seemed everyone there was in a good mood, so they let me shoot all over the church without incident!