Architecture Project

The camera club that I inhabit set a project last Summer to produce 3 photos on the general theme of architecture.  Unfortunately a) I inadvertently took lots of Macro shots last Summer and b) don’t take very many shots relating to architecture – Daventry is not the most architecturally inspiring place!  As I am getting a little bit last minute these days I decided, in my wisdom, that I would go out and take some photos this weekend.  After all, that still leaves me with ten days to print and mount them.  So, I went off to Coventry, thinking about taking some pictures of the old and new cathedral.  I went armed with my S90 in my pocket and my EOS400D and 17-85mm kit lens in a bag.

Now, the problem with trying to take photos on a Saturday afternoon in a place like the bombed-out wreck that is Coventry Cathedral is that there are a lot of people there to spoil the picture.  After sitting and thinking for a little while I thought I would try somewhere else.  My other problem is that I am not very good /  practiced at architecture shots and so finding something that looks good and will translate onto the camera proved a little tricky.

The good thing about this is that I wandered to parts of Coventry that I had not been to for years, and, in some cases, hadn’t visited before, even though I lived there for 4 years and still visit it occasionally.  Plan B was to look at some of the more modern architecture from the time when the city was rebuilt after the war.  It hasn’t worn well!  I then discovered lots of new buildings, bright bricks and lots of glass, all of which looked quite impressive – but then will it start to resemble the post-war rebuild in a few decades?  I am not sure how well “modern-looking” brick and glass will age.  I took lots of shots with my S90, not so many with the EOS, I am still a bit shy about taking my camera out for a bit of street photography.  However, this was far from satisfying.

I then had a cunning plan.  I have an underlying, non-religious obsession with churches and this seemed to be the perfect excuse to photograph a church that had caught my eye whenever I had passed it in the car.  So, this is one of the pictures I took.  Not the usual one face on from the front, but one from the side, looking up, as this asymmetry was what had caught my eye in the first place.  However, this church is also a bit special, as it was designed by Pugin.  Quite what Pugin was doing in Rugby I don’t know, but then his designs have turned up in the most unlikely places.  I am not a fan of Pugin’s designs particularly, but he does have an attention to detail, although there is usually too much detail.  And I have to admire someone so dedicated to what he was doing and who produced and influenced so many other architects.  Unfortunately, the church was not open when I visited so I could not go inside.  But I am told that it is open on Mondays and that the inside is very Pugin.  I can’t wait to visit!

I will update you with details of the photos that I decided to put into the club project when they are printed.

For anyone interested in the details, I shot the picture in RAW, the settings chosen by the camera were ISO80, 1/500 secs, 6mm, f/4.0.  I applied some sharpening in Lightroom as I am still finding my way round the camera, trying to get the best from it.

PS I realise that it would be better without the bottom of the church chopped off, but I couldn’t get it all in the picture and I really wanted the top, including the winged ‘things’ in the shot, so I compromised.  If you want to see the church from the front, then I have posted a picture on Flickr.