Truro Cathedral
When my friend Marianne was visiting last week from the States, she needed to visit and bank and coinciding with a rainy day, I thought a trip to Truro wouldn’t go amiss as we could visit the cathedral. This isn’t the first time I’ve posted pictures from the cathedral and I don’t suppose it’ll be the last. It truly is a very beautiful building. I just wish I could get them to turn the awful electric lighting off.
I’ve left the pictures fairly large to allow you to zoom in and enjoy the detail. Just click on an image to take a closer look. My apologies to those of you with a slow Internet connections, it’ll take a while to load the pictures but I hope worth the wait..
32mm f/11 4 sec. ISO-100
32mm f/2.8 1/20 sec. ISO-100
24mm f/20 10 sec. ISO-100
I used a small aperture in the image above to give me the longest possible exposure allowing me to lose some of the visitors to the cathedral that kept walking through my shot. Shooting at too small an aperture can soften an image but life’s all about compromise, as is photography.. ;-)
48mm f/11 4 sec. ISO-100
Cornwall Photographic 
A beautiful Gothic building for sure ChillB …. John Betjeman said that the Architect seemed to delight in creating vistas … so that wherever one stood ‘you glimpse vaulting crossing vaulting in a forest of intersecting stone ‘
Sometimes mundane visits to the bank can bring unexpected pleasures – I’m sure Marianne thought so too, seeing inside Truro Cathedral … and then you capturing these lovely photographs .
Lights on notwithstanding :-)
April 1, 2014 at 7:23 pm
Thank you Poppy. I think the architect was very successful in creating vistas for sure. Whilst in the cathedral, as well as enjoying the vistas and vaulting, we also enjoyed a reading about faith and the need for it. The very subject Marianne and I were discussing in the car on the way to Truro, although we were discussing Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones having to step out into what appeared to be thin air in one of the movies only to find when he did, there were stepping stones across the ravine.
The rather lovely lady in the cathedral didn’t mention Indiana Jones but did talk about a disciple walking on water and then doubting and sinking. Interesting coincidence? Hmm. Well you know me and organised religions but we do need to have faith in whatever we tackle in life. It was a nice reminder.
April 1, 2014 at 7:38 pm
What a beautiful church
April 1, 2014 at 7:35 pm
It is indeed Lou. Thank you for your comment.
April 1, 2014 at 7:53 pm
So very nice, Adrian.
April 1, 2014 at 8:08 pm
Thank you Scott!
April 1, 2014 at 8:47 pm
Great photo of brilliant Architecture!
April 1, 2014 at 9:07 pm
Thank you very much!
April 1, 2014 at 9:40 pm
I never get tired of looking at beautiful Gothic architecture. Great shots A.
April 1, 2014 at 11:16 pm
Thank you Arran. The cathedral is certainly a fine example. I can’t get enough of those vaulted ceilings. Wonderful stuff.
April 2, 2014 at 1:21 pm
Such crisp and beautiful images Adrian!
April 2, 2014 at 12:22 am
Thank you very much Randall.
April 2, 2014 at 1:22 pm
beautiful
April 2, 2014 at 5:44 am
Thank you. It’s a beautiful building.
April 2, 2014 at 1:22 pm
Beautiful photos. I have been there and know the challenges of taking photos, especially outside. Did you use a tripod?
April 2, 2014 at 8:13 am
Awesome images, Adrian. I don’t mind the lighting actually – it breathes warmth and life into the vaulted ceiling. Whenever I visit a cathedral like this I am amazed by the skills and vision of those who designed and built these magnificent buildings. But also very much aware of the toil, hazards and poverty endured by the vast majority of the masons and labourers who achieved these feats.
April 2, 2014 at 8:19 am
Thank you Andy. It was mainly the glare I was struggling with in the last photo that was bothering me. I’d have been happy to bracket a series of exposures relying on the light from the stained glass windows alone. The lighting in the vaulted ceilings does indeed add warmth and it’d be a shame to lose some of that detail in unretrievable shadow.
April 2, 2014 at 1:27 pm
woah i feel like I’m inside!
April 2, 2014 at 9:14 am
Thank you Kathleen! :-)
April 2, 2014 at 1:27 pm
Am truly enjoying your blog Adrian, present post included. So happy to have found it!
April 2, 2014 at 12:36 pm
Thank you very much Tina. I’m really happy you found my blog too as in turn, I was introduced to yours. The beauty of blogging. :-)
April 2, 2014 at 1:28 pm
A really beautiful cathedral, Adrian, and your pics are superb. I love the Gothic style of architecture. What I can see of those organ pipes, looks very impressive. I’d love to hear it played. :)
April 2, 2014 at 6:51 pm
I haven’t been at the cathedral for a service Sylvia so I haven’t heard the organ but a friend of mine who can play was with me when I visited and he was itching to get on there but obviously wasn’t able to. As you say, those pipes suggest an instrument with a very big sound. Can you play a church organ Sylvia?
April 2, 2014 at 7:08 pm
Yes, I have done, but not one as big as this. I’m not great on the pedals. :)
April 2, 2014 at 7:52 pm
I imagine it’s a bit like patting your head and rubbing your tummy playing the pedals, two keyboards and all the stops..
April 2, 2014 at 8:36 pm
Great images of the cathedral. They all show the grandness of the building, but the one that does it best is the second picture. The compressed nature of an image captured by a telephoto lens and the straight vertical lines (not converging) really brings out the beauty of the cathedral.
April 3, 2014 at 12:41 am
Thank you Otto. It’s interesting that you picked up on the straight vertical lines. I was getting some convergence, given my low viewpoint, so I used the distort tool to tease the converging verticals back out to deliberately open up the space that lens distortion was trying to close down. I don’t have a tilt shift lens which would of course be the ‘in camera’ solution. Given this is such a useful tool and, as you can see from the picture, there is little or no visible loss of image quality when using it, I’ve been planning on writing up a tutorial on its use.
April 3, 2014 at 8:20 am
I use Photoshop, too, for straightening converging lines – and it does work wonders. As for the picture, it was only the straight lines that made it my favourite, but more the tighter framing.
April 3, 2014 at 4:39 pm
Thank you Otto, that is good to know.
April 3, 2014 at 6:36 pm
Lovely interior.. and my questions about convergence all answered in your comments!
April 3, 2014 at 5:24 pm
Thank you John. I’ve found the distort tool to be very useful.
April 3, 2014 at 6:40 pm
Reblogged this on mapsworldwide blog.
April 4, 2014 at 9:32 am
Beautiful!
April 4, 2014 at 8:10 pm
Thank you Hans!
April 4, 2014 at 8:44 pm
Lovely cathedral – but not as good as Salisbury surely?! :D
Dealing with the lighting (and visitors!) can be a pain but I really like the way you have captured the the warm tones and their contrast with the cooler/darker areas.
The magnificence of cathedrals never fail to impress me but it’s the skill, and danger, of creating them with the basic tools and equipment available that leave me awe struck – incredible.
The comments about converging verticals are interesting …. have you tried the ‘adaptive wide angle’ filter – an impressive tool!
April 5, 2014 at 9:18 am
Thank you Noeline. No I think you’re right, Salisbury is grander. The cathedrals of England really are amazing buildings and as you say, the skills and the sacrifices made by so many to bring them about is quite sobering. I haven’t tried the adaptive wide angle filter, I’ll have to check it out. Looks like I’m going to need a tutorial to work out how to use it.
April 5, 2014 at 8:43 pm
Let me know if you need a hand but I’m sure you’ll work it our pretty easily. The best tip I’ve got is to include a horizontal as well as the verticals you want corrected – otherwise it can all go a bit weird!
April 7, 2014 at 8:47 am
Thanks Noeline. I’ve had a good play and I’m just writing a tutorial to cover both the distort method and the new adaptive wide angle filter method. I’ll post in the next day or two. I’ve acknowledged your input and will link to your blog. :-)
April 7, 2014 at 1:38 pm
That’s great – it’s quite a nifty tool isn’t it? … and thanks a lot for the mention. :)
Good luck down at Helston – but don’t get too close if the weather is still wild!
April 7, 2014 at 4:12 pm
Thank you. :-)
April 7, 2014 at 5:37 pm
These are just glorious, Adrian. Beautifully framed. Reminds me of Fabergé eggs!
April 6, 2014 at 4:04 pm
Thank you Karen. It’s a wonderful cathedral and I know what you mean about the fabergé eggs.
April 6, 2014 at 9:24 pm
What a gorgeous cathedral and the photos show the beauty of the cathedral. I’m curious if you where using a PC lens.
April 8, 2014 at 8:59 pm
Thank you James. I wasn’t using a PC lens. I’d like to give the Nikon 24mm PC-E lens a try but it’s a little outside my budget just at the moment.
April 8, 2014 at 9:15 pm
You have very beautiful photos.
April 29, 2014 at 1:15 pm
Thank you very much Iris!
April 29, 2014 at 4:13 pm