Category Archives: Module 4

Patrick Reyntiens

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Nuffield College

MPatrick Reyntiens Catalogue of Stained Glassy request to photograph Nuffield College Chapel has been put forward for consideration at the next Chapel Committee meeting (at the end of April).

Hoping for success in this application, I have carried out as much background research as I can: it is a small chapel, not open to the public, so quality information and images are sparse.  However, the stained glass designed by John Piper and made by Patrick Reyntiens features in great detail within the fascinating publication Horner, L. (2013) Patrick Reyntiens Catalogue of Stained Glass. Bristol: Sansom & Company Ltd..

This large hardback book (350pp) is now out of print and is both costly and scarce.  However, it is definitive and well detailed often including vidimus in addition to photographs of the windows.  The author hopes that the book will inspire people to visit Reyntiens’ windows across the world.

The book has left me far better informed, knowing that the small attic chapel is home to four 2-light windows and a further 3-light window.  It does appear that lighting could be an issue as well as the visual presence of buildings in the background.   However, it seems unlikely that eight of line of sight are going to present difficulties.

Project Development

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St. Peter’s College Chapel – Post-Production Visit

The final visit to each location allows me the time to compare the edited images with the actual windows.  Because the daylight colour temperature can vary so hugely, in reality these visits provide the chance to compare the relative tones and saturation of each image.  However, for the first time since starting this research, today afforded near identical weather and lighting conditions to the day I took the photographs (although my visit was almost three hours earlier).  As a result, I was able to carry out accurate and direct comparisons.

I was really pleased to discover that my edit of the Bossányi window was a perfect match to the installation in the south chancel.  Concerns I had had over the saturation of some of the blue hues was unfounded.

The edited five lights of the East Window were also very close to the appearance of the actual window.  However, the edited tracery lights were a stop or two darker than reality.  This may be in part due to the hour – although fairly overcast today, there is some evidence of direct light, and being three hours earlier than the time at which the photographs were taken, today the East Window will be subject to reather more light.  This will brighten and bleach the notable paler hues of the 140+ year old glass, when compared with the more intensely coloured new glass of the five main lights.  To that end, I am not going to re-edit any of the work from St. Peter’s College Chapel and will sign it off as ‘complete’.

Project Development

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Wycliffe Hall Chapel – Post-Production Visit

Today’s bright yet overcast conditions were perfect for the photography of stained glass, but with no access lined up for another week or two, my only practical task was to colour-check the Wycliffe Hall images.  This was bound to prove difficult as the lighting was so very different from the blue skies and bright sunlight on the day that the photographs were taken.

Focusing first on the East Window, for the most part, colour and relative contrast were correct.  Yes, the saturation was a little lower today, but that is to be expected and I do not think that the difference could warrant re-editing.  The same could not be said for the West Window… John Wycliffe’s cloak is a decidedly awkward shade of warm grey lined in a contrasting red hue.  When backed by a clear blue sky and bright sunlight the cloak seemed closer to a true grey.  In today’s conditions, it was a definite mauve shade of grey, with the contrasting lining being somewhat subdued.

I have re-edited the image to reflect this, but am unsure which could be described as most true.  To that end, I will give the Hall the option of either version.  Looking at the animated GIF comparison below (2 second continuous loop), the differences are subtle, but to me, very important.

Wycliffe Hall - re-edited .gif

Dominic Price (2019) John Wycliffe [Artist Unknown, 1896 – Wycliffe Hall Chapel] Animate GIF to illustrate the (subtle) differences between the initial edit and the re-edit that followed the post-production visit.

Light rendering

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Just how good is the Unreal Engine 4?

Epic Games has recently shown off the ability of its latest Unreal Engine: capable of producing textures and details in scenes that rival reality.  This short animation, designed by Quixel studio was produced in 4K and demonstrates how realistic the lighting technology inside Unreal Engine 4 has become.  Will it be very long before we are able to add such convincing lighting effects and textures to our images in post-production, or how about an augmented reality app that could be used to experiment with studio lighting setups?

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Quixel (2019) Still from the animation Rebirth

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Quixel (2019) Still from the animation Rebirth

Instagram

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@dpplimited

InstagramWhen last I commented on my Instagram account (31 October 2018), it was being followed by just 50.  Since then, 144 days have passed and my followers have increased by 16 – depressingly small, but then again, a 32% increase.  A limiting growth factor remains the need to add three images at a time (following my decision to maintain a specific grid layout).  Clearly, the somewhat sporadic nature of my research cannot help maintain a followers interest or draw others to a constantly updated feed.  It remains work in progress.

In that previous post I reference a Tutee who had over 52K followers.  Having just checked his page, he now has 63.2K followers and is still 13 years old!  Pleasingly his tally has gone up by a more meagre 21.5% over the same time span!

Tim Flach

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Kind gifts

Tim Flach is one of a tiny number who has managed to make my photographic kit look depressingly mediocre when it comes to sports photography at the school, but he makes up for this by always being happy to talk with me about his work.  For the past three years I have been teaching his son and coaching him athletics, which has only ever been a pleasure, so it was a wonderful surprise to be given a personalised copy of two of Tim’s books as a thank you for the care and support of his son.  I also have an invite to his London studio to see him at work – something to which I am much looking forward.

For much of his work, Tim uses a Hasselblad medium format camera, but for Endangered he needed the versatility of an SLR, opting for the 50.6-megapixel Canon 5Ds typically paired with the spectacular Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM lens with built-in 1.4x extender.  His underwater work necessitated much wider shooting for which the Canon EF 11-24 mm f/4L USM and a Nauticam housing.

Tim Flach

Flach, T. (2017) Endangered. Abrams, New York.

Prior to any photography for Endangered, Tim spent six months on research, interviewing scientists and conservationists.  The project itself required him to travel the globe for almost two years photographing the rare creatures.  He then sifted through his work selecting 160 to feature in the book.  He wanted to connect people to the characters and personalities of the animals: some images look as though they are staring at you from the pages of the book.

Articles and Interviews:

More Than Human represents seven years of animal portraiture with Tim attempting to demonstrate just how similar animal gestures and poses can be to those of humans.  Experimenting with different temperatures, lighting and sounds generated very different responses with each animal.   Through wonderful closeups in incredible detail, Tim manages to create a sense of intimacy and empathy even with the less attractive animals.

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Flach, T. (2012) More Than Human.  Abrams, Hew York.

The main section of each book is utterly uncluttered with nothing more than a full-page image.  This layout works thanks to an impressive Information section at the back, featuring a thumbnail of every page, together with pertinent information about the animal.

It is rare that I look through photographic publications thinking that I would be happy to have any of the images gracing my walls, but this is certainly the case with these two books.  It is almost impossible to select a favourite, but I find the following image stunning to look at – even though the eye are only just visible, they impart an extraordinary intensity.

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Tim Flach (2016) Western Lowland Gorilla Drinking [Endangered p.88]
Canon EOS-5Ds & Canon EF 200-400 mm f/4L IS USM
28 August, 2016 | 383mm | ISO-3200 | f/14

The quality and size of these publications leaves one in no doubt as to the serious nature of the works therein and yet Tim’s practice will soon feature in miniature on an upcoming series of Royal Mail stamps.  The series of ten 1st class stamps, titled Birds of Prey will be released on 04 April.  Available individually, as a set, as postcards, limited edition prints, etc..

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Tim Flach (2019) Birds of Prey, Royal Mail

From large coffee table book to postage stamp, each style of publication lies outside the possibilities of my practice although of the 51 years of Christmas stamps, stained glass windows have provided the inspiration for the Royal Mail to produce three sets: 1971, 1992 and 2009 (further information HERE):

1971

Royal Mail Christmas Stamps (1971)

1993

Royal Mail Christmas Stamps (1992)

2009

Royal Mail Christmas Stamps (2009)

Project Development

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Christ Church Cathedral

I was made to feel incredibly welcome on my planning visit, but for this visit the terms of my photography were understandably strict within one of Oxford’s largest tourist attractions.  I was not allowed to hinder the routine operation of the Cathedral, nor impede the tourists and most significantly must not slow the work of the restoration team.  Sadly the internal lighting would have to remain on throughout my work.

Thus far, this is the only site that has required copy of my Risk Assessment and with the visit involving access to the scaffolding, within a construction site, I had to meet all PPE requirements (safety helmet; high-visibility top; safety footwear).

Today was the first day of school holiday for me – my first chance in a little while to refocus upon my MA.  I could not start my work until after Holy Communion, which was due to end at about 8:10am.  Notwithstanding, I opted to arrive at the Porter’s Lodge some 25 minutes prior to that so that I could plan, quietly.  The weather was not entirely onside: just a few clouds and bright sunshine, so I was anxious about the severity of shadows that this would create, in addition to pools of light coming from the various plain glass windows.  Once issued with a ‘Contractor’s ID’, I headed to the Cathedral and wandered the site confirming sight lines etc., to the calming accompaniment of the Common Book of Prayer 1662 Communion Service.

I did steal a panoramic photograph and have now spent three hours trying to get this to display in reasonable quality as a scrollable image…  sadly no joy, even when using the full 75MP resolution!  I will endeavour to revisit this predicament.

Christ Church (low res) (3) Panorama 01

Dominic Price (2019) Christ Church Cathedral panorama

With Communion over, I was advised that I would have access to the scaffold for 45 minutes from 1pm – during the workers lunch break, to minimise movement and shake on the rig.  I had the Cathedral to myself until 10am… almost.  There were routine interruptions in the form of singing lessons for the choristers of Christ Church Cathedral School (where I spent a happy six months doing my PGCE placement some 26 years ago!), which precluded me being able to take some shots, but did allow me to focus on the surroundings.

Christ Church (02) low res

Dominic Price (2019) St. Frideswide stained glass painting with light

It soon became apparent that the Cathedral has a significant problem with spiders webs particularly in and around the smaller tracery lights and panels of the various windows.  They are an ever-present feature of stained glass photography and have cost me many hours of additional editing.  Whenever possible I avoid editing lights that are heavily cobwebbed, but this may prove impossible here.

Christ Church (low res) (4)

Cobwebs on a tracery light

By 10am, I could focus on some photography from the sacristy – an area high above the visiting tourists where they would not get in my way.  I also opted to take a few interior shots of the architecture.

Christ Church (low res) (7)

Dominic Price (2019) Christ Church College Cloister

Christ Church (low res) (8)

Dominic Price (2019) Christ Church Cathedral chancel vaulting

With camera battery nearly drained, I discovered to my horror that my spares were still docked in the charger at home! With Oxford now awash with tourists, progress across the city was not fast, but I still made it back to the Cathedral in time for my 1pm appointment.

Access to the top of the scaffold was via three ladders.  At each level it was quite a squeeze to fit myself, tripod and camera through the surprisingly small aperture.  The upper level looked pleasingly room-like and felt fairly stable, despite being some sixty feet up.

Christ Church (low res) (2)

Dominic Price (2019) Christ Church Cathedral restoration work – looking east toward my tripod and camera

Christ Church (low res) (1)

Dominic Price (2019) Christ Church Cathedral restoration work – looking west

The view from the top was worth the effort and afforded a superb view of the East Rose Window – revealing to my amazement that the bottom of the window is cropped by some trunking (not visible from the ground), which will require some careful editing.

Christ Church (low res) (3) Panorama

Dominic Price (2019) Christ Church Cathedral – view from the upper level of the restoration work scaffold

With over 400 images in the bag, I now have a mountain of editing ahead of me, but am welcome back whenever I like.

Project Development

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Christ Church Cathedral – The Catherine Window

Catherine Windows postcard

The Catherine Window – postcard

The Catherine Window was the first I photographed on Wednesday.  Sadly this could not be captured appropriately in a single image as it was in part obscured by a sanctuary lamp hanging from the ceiling.

Designed by William Morris and executed by Edward Burne-Jones in 1878, it is also referred to as the Liddell Window, this features a central light of St. Catherine that was modelled upon the then dean’s daughter Edith Liddell (sister to Alice, the inspiration for Charles Dodgson’s work Alice in Wonderland).  St. Catherine is flanked on either side by angels: to the left representing Victory and to the right representing Sorrow.

I photographed separately each of the main lights as well as the three tracery lights that feature angels playing musical instruments.

All three of the tracery lights were heavily covered in cobwebs which added significant additional editing time.

For each of the three images below, 28 images were shot at 400mm using the Canon EF 100-400 mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens, at an aperture of f/8.0 and exposure times ranging from 1/500 s to 1.0 s.

Christ Church - Angel - pipe (low res)

Dominic Price (2019) The Catherine Window tracery light Angel (left) [Edward Burne-Jones, 1878 – Christ Church Cathedral]

Christ Church - Angel - cymbals (low res)

Dominic Price (2019) The Catherine Window tracery light Angel (right) [Edward Burne-Jones, 1878 – Christ Church Cathedral]

Christ Church - Angel - pipe 02 (low res)

Dominic Price (2019) The Catherine Window tracery light Angel (top) [Edward Burne-Jones, 1878 – Christ Church Cathedral]

I will tackle the more demanding main lights in a few days!

Project Development

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Christ Church Cathedral – Vyner Memorial Window

Before a stained glass window is designed, preliminary sketches are produced.  The sketch below must be early in the process as it is significantly different from the Vyner Memorial Window in situ.

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Edward Burne-Jones (1871) Preliminary sketch of the Vyner Memorial Window, Lady Chapel, Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford

This window shares a frustration with The Catherine Window: it is obscured in part, but this time by a suspended hoop chandelier. Once again, this precludes the straightforward capture in a single image. Additionally, three of the four lower panels has dense foliage behind them, dramatically darkening their appearance on such a bright day.

My gaze was drawn to the only well-lit lower panel which featured another incarnation of Eunice and Timothy (previously photographed at the Chapel of St. Nicholas).  Interestingly, this features a very rare example of Burne-Jones’ initials on the wall just behind Eunice.  Being at head height, this would require little or no correction for converging verticals and featuring just one support bar, post-production work would not be too demanding.

The completed image was composed from 12 originals shot at 85mm using the Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM, set to f/8.0, with an exposure times ranging from 1/160 s to 1/13 s.

Christ Church - He set my feet on rock (low res)

Dominic Price (2019) Panel from Vyner Memorial Window depicting Timothy & Eunice [Edward Burne-Jones, 1871 – Christ Church Cathedral]

Shot at 400mm using the Canon EF 100-400 mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens, there is a dramatically different theme to all of the tracery lights when compared with the early preliminary sketch:

Christ Church tracery lights (2)

Dominic Price (2019) Tracery lights (right) from the Vyner Memorial Window [Edward Burne-Jones, 1871 – Christ Church Cathedral]

Christ Church tracery lights (1)

Dominic Price (2019) Tracery lights (left) from the Vyner Memorial Window [Edward Burne-Jones, 1871 – Christ Church Cathedral]

Project Development

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Christ Church Cathedral – East Rose Window

From the top of the restoration work scaffold there was a perfect head-on view of the rose window which allowed for its capture without the need for any post-production correction of perspective.  More importantly, this afforded something not possible from floor level: a view of the window in its entirety, or so I thought…

Christ Church (low res) (3)

Dominic Price (2019) Christ Church Cathedral – view from the upper level of the restoration work scaffold

While necessitating only minimal post-production editing, the addition of a recent piece of pipework or trunking across part of the rose seems inconsiderate in the planning of such work.  A detailed look at the window also revealed, to my dismay, a latticework of support bars.  Every light was split in half by a radial bar and then further subdivided twice more, with a total of thirty-one support bars in the entire window – far more than is sensible to remove in editing.

CC rose close up 01

Dominic Price (2019) Detail of the East Rose Window – trunking ad support bars

I was intrigued that the design seemed not quite to fit in the available space – most noticeable in the text, with characters missing either in part or entirely.  I wonder if the tracery design differed from that which was finally produced?  The image below reveals a partially missing ‘T’ from the word UTERUM; the next light has a partially missing ‘R’ from REX and the third light has a completely absent ‘C’ from CHRISTE.

CC rose close up 02

Dominic Price (2019) Detail of the East Rose Window – cropped glass

For the completed image, I did go to the trouble of removing the support bar that halved the roundel,  but opted to leave all others in place having estimated that this would have added 15-20 hours of additional edit time.  This does grate with me, so should I revisit the editing of this window, an initial step will be to remove the support bars that cut across each of the ten angels.

Christ Church - East Rose (Low Res)

Dominic Price (2019) East Rose Window [Clayton & Bell, 1875 – Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford]

The rose depicts Christ the King surrounded by adoring angels.  The text surrounding the roundel comes from the Te Deum:

Tu rex gloriae christe
Tu patris sempiternus es filius
Tu ad liberandum suscepisti hominem non
horruisti virginis uterum

You, Christ, are the king of glory,
the eternal Son of the Father.
When you became man to set us free
you did not spurn the Virgin’s womb.

To produce this image, 21 photographs were taken at 214mm using the Canon EF 100-400 mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens, at an aperture of f/8.0 and exposure times ranging from 1/15 s to 4.0 s.