Great English Churches

Submitted by
Name: Chris Pickles
From: Adelaide, South Australia
E-mail: Contact

Comments:
A wonderful site, thank you. I've visited several of these churches when I was still living in England, others I've missed and much regret doing so.

Added: May 13, 2013

Submitted by
Name: Lynda Swanson
From: San Francisco, CA
E-mail: Contact

Comments:
I am entranced, seduced, thrilled to find this site. I would enjoy finding a group doing some sort of trip to study Great English Churches in small towns and large. If anyone is aware of such I'd appreciate hearing about it. My email is attached. Thank you, Lynda Swanson

Added: May 11, 2013

Submitted by
Name: Marie
From: London
E-mail: Contact

Comments:
Apologies, it's St German's church in Cornwall.

Added: May 6, 2013

Submitted by
Name: Marie
From: London
E-mail: Contact

Comments:
We love this church. But can you please tell us where is the Misericord? On our visit of 2 May 2013, we spent 30 minutes looking for it and gave up. It would be worthwhile to go back just to see it.

Admin reply: Marie. Thank you for your message. I will happily help with locating the misericord - but you didn't mention which church! regards Lionel

Added: May 5, 2013

Submitted by
Name: mariam
From: Ivory Coast west Africa
E-mail: Contact

Comments:
i love this site, i am glad to be member of this site.
mariam

Admin reply: Mariam. Thank you for your message. It is a real thrill to know my site is being read in such distant lands. Lionel

Added: May 4, 2013

Submitted by
Name: mariam
From: Ivory Coast west Africa
E-mail: Contact

Comments:

Private post. Click to view.

Added: May 4, 2013

Submitted by
Name: Sharon Phillis
From: Kingwood, Texas USA
E-mail: Contact

Comments:
Thank you for this website. I LOVE exploring England and have thought it such a shame that so many churches are not cared for. It is part of your heritage as well as evidence of history, even if people do not believe in God. You mention difficulty in accessing some buildings and I agree. I am only a visitor but it is so disappointing when I can not get in, esp b/c it is likely the only time I will ever get to visit that area. I have so few years left to explore Britain, and so much that I want to see... as always there's not enough time! Again, thank you for this site. You explain much more than what I read in Simon Jenkins book. And I agree, sometimes his star system mystifies me, I am enthralled with churches that he rates a one or two star... All my best, Sharon :!cool:

Added: April 28, 2013

Submitted by
Name: chris broadhurst
From: r
E-mail: Contact

Comments:
part3...
It is also worth getting to know some good post-processing techniques, if you go up to the root of my web pages and then down to 'chris' I have recorded my progress in this area that may help you. For instance your image of the close-up of the Deerhurst Saxon windows (black_country_094A.jpg) has got a green colour cast (compare this to the photo of the whole wall next to it). I find lots of my photos come out with this tint - I'm not sure why cameras get confused with colour inside churches. You can use Automatic Colour adjustments, or do some manual changes, to remove this and get back to what we see. Setting the Dark and Highlight points will also help.

Unfortunately one has to work hard if you want everything, but I find it very rewarding and view my images at full size (at home) to see things that are not visible to the naked eye while in the church - so I get two visits for the price(?) of one!

Lets keep in touch
Chris

Added: April 25, 2013

Submitted by
Name: chris broadhurst
From: reading, berks
E-mail: Contact

Comments:
part2...
If you have a tripod, then taking 3 bracket exposures and merging them, but I do not think your camera will allow much variation - you really need +/- 2ev. I use some free software called EnfuseGUI (search google and download it). You can manually change the exposure between shots, but I suspect that the camera will move a touch and then it will be difficult to merge them afterwards.

I see you use Photoshop Elements. You can use Curves or Levels to help change the contrast of an image. When you do this, do it on a new layer and then add a mask to 'paint' the adjustment to just change the area you want (rather than the whole image). If you are not familiar with this feature, it is worth learning and can make a tremendous difference to images. I just love 'painting' in lighter shades of stained glass colour, from a light exposure, into a darker exposure that captures a face - then one can see all the detail.

Added: April 25, 2013

Submitted by
Name: chris broadhurst
From: reading, berks
E-mail: Contact

Comments:
Hi - I find I can not reply to your comment on my initial signing, so I have to post a new comment - and in parts to say what I want!

I hate using Flash as it washes out the lighting and shadows and makes things look flat - so do not often use it.

I notice you use a Minolta Dynax 5D camera. It has 2 features that you may find useful - exposure Compensation and Bracketing.

There is such a large range between light and dark in churches that the cameras can not show everything and so do their best guess at what is important in an exposure.

I suggest you can try the following to get your camera to capture what is important to you in an image.

Try using the Exposure Compensation to take lighter, or darker, shots - it will not cost you anything and you may get a better photo.

end of part1

Added: April 25, 2013

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