Synopsis: A trip out for Mum, sister-in-law Christine and myself. Our primary objective was Coleton Fishacre, but I convinced Mum and Christine of the worth of stopping off on route at St Peter’s, Shaldon.
Christine suggested a trip out to a National Trust property, and Mum and I thought that would be a nice thing to do. The new season had only just begun for the National Trust, but there were now a high proportion of properties to visitors. We settled on Coleton Fishacre which always makes for a nice visit. Not exactly grand, but very charming, and wonderfully located in a comb running down to Pudcombe Cove.
I was hankering after a stop at St Peter’s Church on route, something I asked Mum and Christine if they’d mind us doing. The main reason for wanting to do this is the fact that I wanted to take some photos inside the church, as I wished to experiment further with photo tone mapping, something which I began to explore a couple of weeks back.
I have downloaded the Oloneo PhotoEngine software on a 30-day free trial to explore the creation of High Dynamic Range (HDR) images and the process of tone mapping. I’ve seen the work of various people using this technique to great effect on Flickr, and have been keen to investigate the process. I believe I’ll stick with it, as it has a lot of potential in certain scenarios. It’s a technique that’s primarily of use in situations where there is a high luminance and contrast range in a shot. It’s particularly good for interior shots using a tripod where there’s no movement in the image or of the camera. It is a problematic technique where any form of movement is involved, as the technique involves the blending of multiple images to create a single HDR image. If you wish to read more about the process, I suggest you start with the Tone Mapping article on Wikipedia.
St Peter the Apostle Church, Shaldon - pulpit
Of the photo results that I obtained whilst at St Peter’s, and subsequently tone mapped, this image of the pulpit (see right) is one of the most successful. The tone mapping process really expands the contrast range, showing detail in highlights (the window) and shadow (the dark brown rim of the pulpit and the roof timbers). The vaulting in the background also contains some lovely detail and colour.
St Peter the Apostle Church, Shaldon - altar
The chancel and altar was going to prove a demanding shot to photograph as there was an enormous range of contrast. Once again I set about obtaining my three long exposures (shot at standard, –2ev and +2ev exposures). The resulting image once tone mapped proved yet again to be highly successful, almost 3 dimensional.
St Peter the Apostle Church, Shaldon - west window
The west window of the church was the next item on my agenda. Once again the contrast was phenomenal, probably the greatest I’d yet come across in my tone mapping experiments. The light was so bright from the window, and yet the interior of the church remained in deep shadows. I actually captured 6 variously exposed shots for this image, and I believe that helped in the tone mapping process. Once again I was extremely delighted with the outcome. The photo I feel really shows the beautiful architecture of the building. I actually think the church is something of a hidden gem, with most people driving by without giving it a second thought. I can say that, as that was also me for many years.
St Peter the Apostle Church, Shaldon - St John the Baptist font
I took some close-up photos of the angels that stand guard over the chancel step, and these were quite acceptable, although I struggled to quite get the result I wished for. The same was true of the photos I took of the St John the Baptist font (photo left). In these shots the texture of the marble is not quite what I was seeking. Marble, perhaps rather ironically, can have an almost soft, milky appearance, but my execution of the tone mapping on these objects resulted in harshly grained images. As I’m a novice of only two week’s tone mapping experience, I shall put this down to my own incompetence, and shall hope to do better in the future.
I was rather unfortunately told at Coleton Fishacre that I would not be permitted to take photos in the building, which is a great shame. Apparently someone had ‘abused the privilege’, although quite what that means I do not know. There are chambers at this property just crying out to be tone mapped, but I was denied the opportunity. There is such grace and elegance in many of the rooms at Coleton Fishacre, and we had to settle on the feast for our eyes. I quickly attempted to capture some hand-held images in the garden, as light was fading fast by now, but the results when tone mapped weren’t that successful.
If you wish to see the full set of photos, including those that are tone mapped, please use the Flickr link above. This will take you to a set of photos on Flickr which include those that are tone mapped. If in doubt, look for the ‘tone mapped’ tag against photos.
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