I travelled to May Hill today to stay with my friends Steve and Ann before a photo day nearby tomorrow so on my way here I stopped off in Gloucester to take some photos of the Cathedral. I visited the building briefly in May 2008 and have been promising myself a return visit for ages. To make sure I got some really sharp shots I brought my tripod along. I have something of a love-hate relationship with my tripod. For still life macro shots it’s an absolute godsend but I find it gets in the way of my creativity when I’m taking architectural photos. However, I knew the light levels would be low in the Cathedral so I made myself use it. As I feared I found it a real frustration and after an hour I hadn’t really taken anything I was particularly pleased with. Just as I was about to leave to take a stroll around the cloisters I came back to this view, which had caught my eye when I first arrived. I find something so satisfying about the layers and interweaving arches so I persevered and managed to find a composition I was happy with. Ultimately I am really pleased with the result – I could never have achieved this without the tripod – so I think it was worth the effort. Let’s hope it doesn’t take me quite so long to get my photographic eye in tomorrow!

Postscript: I realised after I’d posted this that this photo, quite coincidentally, fits today’s walls theme perfectly!

Oh, welcome (briefly, I hope) to my world of pain. revenant · 2010-09-09: 14:20

The other thing I like about this is the contrast between the warm and cold tones of the interior and exterior stonework davids · 2010-09-09: 15:21

Well worth the struggle. I think we all live in this world of pain, from time to time... trouble is, we keep coming back for more. McMommy · 2010-09-09: 15:40

Bravo, the play of light, this mixture of warm and cold tones are really very beautiful josy63 · 2010-09-09: 16:11

After all this I think I need to buy a tripod as suggested by Stefan too, Well done great shot . MoMac · 2010-09-09: 16:34

Modern day architecture has nothing on these long-ago styles. This post is pleasing to the eye and very well done. I'd say your effort was very well worth it. SunflowerGirl · 2010-09-09: 19:12

Patience, that is what we need to find the perfect image; ;) And you are right, it is a wonderful picture!! Ryana · 2010-09-10: 04:10

Superb composition....and the colors are very appealing! lookagain · 2010-09-10: 08:54

Wow, amazing! wildduck · 2010-09-10: 11:25

Great!!! Wasichseh · 2010-09-11: 16:01

the flow of the lines in this shot is wonderful.... ????? · 2010-09-12: 11:28

Love the lines, color and light thebronzebow · 2010-09-15: 22:39

This works really well. Latecomer · 2010-09-20: 21:34

Aha, Gloucester Cathedral, a great subject! alison · 2010-10-10: 18:01

Tagged: cathedral gloucester church architecture arches