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How to Take Good Photos in Museums and Cathedrals

How to Take Good Photos in Museums and CathedralsHave you ever been in an museum, art gallery or cathedral and wished you could shoot some pictures of their interiors? I was once in the Vatican in Rome and I was mesmerized by the sweeping ceilings, majestic interiors, stained glass and ancient pillars. Taking good photos of such environments requires some skill, usually because of tricky lighting. In this article, we'll explore some ways of taking good shots in a museum or cathedral setting.

Get a Good External Flash
If you use a standard point-and-shoot with a built-in flash, you'll soon realize that its not sufficient for these type of photographs. Hence, the number one tip I can give about taking good pictures inside museums or cathedrals? Get a good external flash unit.

Good enthusiast digital cameras (e.g. the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20) will have a hot shoe onto which you can fit an external flash. An external flash unit allows you to throw light 75 feet away, and are much better for illuminating scenes like this.


No Flash Photography Allowed?
One big problem with shooting indoor tourist locations like cathedrals is that flash photography is often not allowed. Why so, you might ask? Well, flash photography might disturb other visitors, or ruin the serenity of the location. The powerful flashes might also cause harm to ancient materials.

My advice is to learn how to turn off your flash before you step inside the museum or cathedral. Most digital cameras allow you to completely disable the flash by cycling though its various settings until you reach an icon that has a slash through the flash symbol.

Bring Along Your Tripod
Now, assuming no flash can be used - how can you still take a good photo of such museums or cathedrals? Well, here’s another tip - bring along a tripod. Even a small, lightweight tripod is enough to stabilize your camera for the long exposure you'll need.

Remember that to shoot under low-light conditions, you will need to set the camera shutter speed to be very slow (e.g. from 1 to 8 seconds). You can't possible hold the camera steady by hand for that long - hence the need for a tripod.

If full-size tripods aren't permitted, you can try propping yourself against a wall or doorway to keep the camera steady. Set the camera to its highest ISO level (making the camera sensor more sensitive to light) and keep shooting.

Another option is to buy a tiny tabletop tripod - the type with finger-length, flexible legs. You can use it to hold the camera firmly against a wall, doorway, or some other vertical surface while you take a long exposure. The authorities should not mind since you won't be obstructing corridors when you do that.

 
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Photography by Laurie Barone-Shafer
Nowadays just about anyone can take a good quality photographs with a digital camera. Or take a few hundred pictures and the chances are few will be good, and even one or two outstanding.

Here are a few tips, tricks and techniques on how to make art print poster ready photographs and print ready digital files. Don’t get overwhelmed, there is a lot of information here, but a lot of it is just intuitive. Well, a bit of patience will always help.

First thing – Photo Size

If you taking a digital photo of you family or friend the largest size you would print is usually 5 by 7 inches, maybe 8 by 10 at the most. Even small size digital photographs (2MB or less) are ‘good enough’ to create a decent print. But if you want to create prints that are 16 by 20, 20 by 24 inches or larger you need more pixels (in pixels 20 by 24 inches photo is actually about 40 times larger than 3 by 4 inches photo assuming they have the same resolution).
 
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Watercolor is an easy, fun medium for creating art.  Color theory, composition and design can be explored freely with watercolor paint, paper, and brushes.  Several techniques may be used with watercolors for varying effects including painting wet on wet, wet on dry, layering washes, and more.

Watercolor paper comes in cold press, hot press, and rough.  Rough paper has the most texture, and its hills and valleys can result in interesting effects when paint is added.  Hot press is the smoothest and has the finest texture.  Cold press has a moderate amount of texture and is the paper most commonly chosen by watercolor artists.

Watercolor paper comes in several weights ranging from 90 lb. to 300 lb. based on the pounds per ream of paper.  Most artists prefer to use at least 140 lb. paper.  Papers vary somewhat between manufacturers, so sampling different papers is advisable.  Paper can be purchased in pads, in blocks or in large sheets.  The large sheets are usually the most economical and can be torn into whatever size is desired.
 
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