Salisbury Cathedral: Photography Advice
If you are going to make the most of a photography trip to Salisbury Cathedral, it’s essential to go prepared to avoid disappointment. Generally speaking, photography is welcomed and you will see people with every type of camera from mobile phone to professional DSLR. The one thing you are not allowed is a tripod; this does have a bearing on the best approach to get good results.
Salisbury Cathedral: Lens Choices
While the large open areas have reasonably good light that will help with wide angle photography, as soon as you get into the darker corners, the light falls off dramatically.
On a recent trip I used four different lenses on my Sony APSC A6700 camera:
- Samyang 8mm f/2.8 UMC Fisheye
- Sigma 10-18mm f2.8 DC DN Contemporary
- Sony E 16-55mm F2.8 G
- Sony E 70-350mm F4.5-6.3 G OSS
Apart from the 70-350mm, these are all fast lenses, which helps a lot in the conditions. The day I was there, was bright outside. It would have been a lot darker inside on a dull November day.
Salisbury Cathedral: Fisheye Lens
I used the Samyang fisheye lens for most of the ceiling images. I like the way the curvy image that you get with a fisheye lens is sympathetic to the curvature of the vaulting, arches and windows. But where you don’t need as much coverage, and want a more classic rendering, the Sigma wide angle lens is perfect.
Salisbury Cathedral: Telephoto Lens
At the other end of the focal length spectrum, the 70-350 is a really useful lens for isolating interesting elements in the cathedral, particularly in the area of the choir such as the wooden carvings and the candle holders. It also gives good reach into the details of the ceiling vaulting. It’s not a fast lens, though it does have OSS. For any subject where you need to maintain some depth of field, such as a carved head, while throwing the background out of focus, you do require an aperture of f8 or even smaller. This means 1/30s of 1/8 s or even slower shutter speeds at ISO 1600. You may need to find a surface on which to stabilise the camera to get everything sharp. A bean bag might be useful for this, though I haven’t tried that.
Salisbury Cathedral: Logistics
While you are there, don’t forget the cloisters which on a bright day cast wonderful repeating shadows. The cathedral entry ticket is significantly discounted if you buy it online, at the time of writing by £2. In my case, they didn’t hold me to the entry time as it was not very busy when I arrived mid-morning, but by mid-day it was noticeably busier, and visitors seemed to peak in the afternoon. The ticket is valid for multiple visits over a twelve-month period, which probably explains their relaxed attitude to entry time, as if I were on a second or subsequent visit, they would have no way of knowing I was about to arrive.
Salisbury is a wonderful cathedral inside. Outside it is truly majestic; but that is a story for another day.
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