Photography by numbers

click photo to enlarge

One of the tips I remember reading decades ago when I started out in photography was this: if you go to a place you've never been before and want to be sure of getting photographs of the "best" sights, go to a shop that sells postcards of the locality, buy some, and let them be your guide as to what to shoot and where to shoot it from. For someone who simply "collects" photographs and places it was good advice. But, if you were interested in making images that were the product of your own eye and mind, photographs where the subject is only part of the point of the shot, then it was very limiting advice, the result of which was not too different from painting by numbers.

Having said that, the shots that are sold as postcards are often taken from obvious and good vantage points, and frequently exhibit fine compositions. They should too, because they are usually the product of someone who makes his or her living from photography. Moreover, you can find yourself taking a shot that you subsequently see on a postcard simply because it presents itself so conspicuously. Such is the case with this photograph of Lincoln Cathedral seen from Castle Hill. The funnel of Georgian, Victorian and medieval buildings that lead to the fourteenth century Exchequer Gate (the arch of which one passes through to enter the cathedral precinct), together with the tall towers of the Norman and thirteenth century west end of the cathedral, make a satisfying composition. I've seen it reproduced in water colour by Peter de Wint, in oils and acrylic by contemporary artists, and in many photographs of the city.

Had I wanted a shot like the much reproduced images that one sees of this location I'd have waited until later in the day and year, when the sun was better illuminating the scene, when there was some blue sky, and there were more people in the foreground. As it was, I came upon it on a fairly dull, cold day in early March when the only person on view was a man giving out leaflets extolling the virtues of the meals at the local pub: he didn't seem to be getting many takers when we passed by.

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 28mm
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/160
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On

Lincoln Cathedral

click photo to enlarge

Most medieval English cathedrals are found in towns and small cities where they are still likely to be the biggest building for miles around. Even those that are in our big cities are rarely dwarfed by the large modern buildings around them, though the examples in London are heading that way. That this should be so for structures that were built several hundred years ago is remarkable: cathedrals were massive buildings when they were new, and remain so today when tall and big buildings are commonplace.

I was thinking about this when I was walking around the exterior of Lincoln Cathedral the other day. A circuit takes several minutes, and you risk a cricked neck or a tumble as you invariably spend most of this time looking upwards at the marvellous architectural details that cover its surface. The medieval visitor from a far-flung town, being used to buildings that were usually single storey and rarely exceeded two, must have found the building quite overwhelming.

Later, when I visited Lincoln Castle, and walked along its walls and up its tallest tower for a distant view of the Cathedral it occurred to me that the scale of it is even better comprehended from a high vantage point. From that position you get a fuller appreciation of its size relative to houses and other common buildings. I've taken this view of the Cathedral from "Observatory Tower" several times over the past thirty five or so years, and it is a prospect that is much reproduced in publicity material associated with the area. Usually the photographer chooses a sunny day with the west facade illuminated. I had to take what was available, but I'm not displeased by the bright light with a couple of sunlit areas. Sometimes you find that what you are given is more interesting than what you want!

photograph and text (c) T. Boughen

Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 35mm
F No: f7.1
Shutter Speed: 1/320
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 EV
Image Stabilisation: On