Lift Thine Eyes
- Mike Lloyd
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
Felix Mendelssohn wrote an oratorio with the line “Lift thine eyes”.
It has been adapted more recently by private plastic surgeons to drum up trade in eyelid lifting operations!
It is a very useful bit of advice to photographers who enjoy recording the interior of churches. The roof details of churches big and small in the UK make interesting images. I was fortunate to have spent a few days in southern Italy recently and visited some very ornate buildings. The Roman Catholic church has an enthusiastic approach to decoration which had to be photographed of course!
The huge dome of St Peters in Rome is truly spectacular.
The cities of Lecce Ostuni and Martina Franca have extravagant examples of Baroque style architecture, again wonderful lens fodder.
Even the small intimate hill town of Altomonte had a local church with a beautiful ceiling panel.
If the ornate is overpowering, the simpler ancient interior of a Trulli church in Alberrobello might appeal.
St Laurence Church Ludlow is a perpendicular gothic beauty with strong Tudor connections. The crossing directly under the huge tower is impressive.
And finally, nearer home is the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Norwich. It is of more recent construction but has a dramatic crossing with beautiful stone bosses.
For the technically minded, a selection of cameras has been used. The St Peters Rome image was taken on a Fuji XE2 .
The Southern Italy images were on a Fuji XH2 which benefits from in body image stabilisation allowing greater latitude for hand holding.
The Norwich image was taken on my trusty and much-loved Fuji XT3 on a tripod, and in Ludlow a mirrorless Nikon handheld. Many churches use powerful LED floodlights, which can cause problems with uncontrollable highlights as with the dome at Martina Franca.
Remember Mendelssohn’s advice and keep your eyes lifted!
