Bell Harry Tower
looking up into Bell Harry tower at Canterbury Cathedral
looking up into Bell Harry tower at Canterbury Cathedral
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Apr, 2016Views
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Awards
Winner in Symmetrical Zeniths Photo Challenge
Peer Award
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Behind The Lens
Location
This image is looking up at the ceiling of the Bell Harry tower inside the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Christ at Canterbury, This is one of the oldest churches in England and dates back to 597 ad, although it was significantly rebuilt in the 12th century, although this tower was only completed in 1498, the tower is just yards away from the site of St Thomas Becket's murder in 1170. You can access the tower very occasionally but it is a big climb, with 277 narrow steps to the top.Time
The picture was taken in the early afternoon while there were less people visiting the cathedralLighting
Mid day was the best time to chose to capture this image for even lighting as the tower is too high for artificial lighting, and I had to rely on natural light.Equipment
I would have preferred to use a tripod to capture this image, but the policy of the Cathedral only permits monopods, so I found what I guessed to be directly below the trap door central point of the ceiling and using the monopod along with my Nikon D300s and a 35mm f/1.8 lens took a number of images, moving around within an area of about 1/2 square meter to try to make sure I was central to the ceiling, as it happens, but first image (this one) was the best one.Inspiration
I have lived in the shadow of Canterbury Cathedral for most of my life, and have always admired the splendour of the building and land, I have taken many images of the outside, but not so many inside as light is quite a challenge. Having seen the ceiling in the past, I had always wanted to one day get a picture, and once I had got a camera and lens that was able to work well in the difficult lighting, I took this as an opportunity to try and get this shot, I was very pleased with the outcome.Editing
I was lucky that the light was evenly spread from all four windows, giving enough light so I could capture this image without too much noise, I did edit the image in Lightroom, a little sharpening and boosting clarity, plus I gave the image a square crop to maintain the symmetrical effect.In my camera bag
I nearly always have my own holy trinity of lenses along with my D800, I have both the Tamron 15-30 and 24-70 along with the Nikkor 80-200 As well as those I have a SB600 just in case, and a Sony A6000 with the 16-50 kit lens. I also have a metabones adaptor in case I want to put one of my Nikon fit lenses on that body. However, for this particular photo shoot, I was travelling light, with just my D300s, a monopod and the 35mm lens.Feedback
Although quite an easy image to capture, timing is crucial to get even lighting as there are windows on all sides of the tower, and sunlight coming in from one side would leave the picture unbalanced. A monopod is a must to get symmetry as well, or better still, if you can get permission a tripod would be even better, a flip screen would also help, although I didn't have one.
