Inside Geneva’s St. Pierre Cathedral

In modern times Geneva is probably best known for its association with the United Nations and the Swiss banking industry. But back in the 1500’s it was considered the “Protestant Rome”, the unofficial capital of the Reformation.

St. Pierre’s Cathedral was the adopted church of John Calvin, a leader of the movement away from the Catholic church. Protestant exiles from all over Europe came to Geneva to take refuge, so while it’s not the most interesting church to look at it’s certainly historically significant.

I always enjoy exploring the geometry inside cathedrals like this. There are so many different ways to frame a shot, with crazy lines all over the place. I’ve found one of the most effective techniques is to try and use features of the interior to frame other elements in the shot. This normally provides some nice depth to the image from front to back.

Open Doors Of Lisbon Cathedral

Something about these doors of Lisbon Cathedral really grabbed my attention. The whole scene was rather ominous even in the bright light of day. I’ve visited many cathedrals throughout Europe but I’ve never seen an entrance quite like this one.

I had to wait a while to get this shot free of other tourists, but standing in the beautiful Lisbon weather was such a pleasure I didn’t mind at all. In May it offered the perfect combination of heat with a nice breeze, and I wouldn’t hesitate to return again at that time of year.

This shot has been sitting in my “To Publish” queue for a while so it’s processed exclusively in Lightroom. Having just started looking at Photomatix I might try and give it the HDR treatment too. I always think that effect works quite nicely with architecture shots!

Photo Spot – Duomo, Florence

I recently returned from a short trip to Italy and wanted to share one of my favourite shots from the week – so here it is! This is the Duomo (or Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore), a magnificent cathedral that is surely the most impressive building in Florence. I was searching for an interesting angle when I wandered down a side street, turned around and glanced up to see this wonderful sight! Not only that, just out of shot is a fantastic restaurant called Il Caminetto who served a lovely tasting menu for lunch.