stainedglass church windows

[ladygoo]

I,m looking for help on how to photograph stained glass windows in our church, with the sun shining through. (help) what shutter speed--apeture---iso. This a very old church that is to be torn down.

[i speak in math]

Just use aperture priority or something. There isn't one setting to use for every shot. Learning how to expose properly takes skill. If there wasn't any work to it, nobody would hire expensive photographers. I took these (and more) for a church near me for their new directory. I was using a old manual aperture, manual focus lens and tweaked the settings as needed. One thing you might think about is that you will probably see some of the outside through the window, like in image 1. You might want to shoot from a ways back and low to get the sky in the BG instead of the ground.

[scootermcq]

I know you said "with the sun shining through", but if they are lit from the inside, some night shots can really be awsome as well.



Takes a tripod, and a longer exposure, but give a neat affect as well

[LeeR]

Part of the trick here is seeing if you can get a bit of smoke in the room. I wouldn't suggest cigarretes, but perhaps some incense would be appropriate. Candles will work in a pinch; It really doesn't take much. Then, with the sun hitting the glass directly from the outside, shoot from a slight angle and the streams of colored light should be clearly visible...and VERY dramatic.

[BLBJBranch]

I've been taking a lot of pics of cathedral stained glass during personal travel, and what I've found, for me at leat, is that I'm happy with the outcome only when I zoom in and fill the frame with a certain section of the stained glass. When I zoom out and try to get the whole window, I'm disappointed in the results. Nothing really jumps out as the subject.

Compare the ones from "I speak in math" above, and see which ones appeal to you the most.

Also, the zoomed in ones are easier to meter off of for me, since the lighting is even across the whole frame.

Experiment with various types and see which ones appeal to you the most. Good luck.

[teaking]

I have no experiance in stained glass photography but what they hey lol

Are you trying to capture the inside of the church and the stained glass window with the sunlight streaming in? Because thats a lot of dynamic range and would be a good use for HDR.

Saying that have you ever though about using flash to expose the inside of the church with the right base exposure and flash power you could get some good results. there is also the possibility to leave the church a bit dark and underexposed increasing the contrast in the windows maybe a black and white kinda thing going on there.

Must say I like the idea of focusing on a section of the glass