Words and Pictures by Jon Bower
In this article we’ll be focussing on a particular place, and see how these ideas can be applied in practice in a typical photographic situation: you have two and a half hours to photograph a great tourist landmark and architectural icon (not to mention the centre of a world religion) – what do you do?
We’ll show that, with just a bit of care and technique, you can take great photographs of the Vatican, too!
Preparation
If you’re serious about photography, good preparation is important.
Do your homework: read the guidebooks and surf the web to find out about the place, see how crummy the photographs are that have been uploaded to most websites, think about how you might have done better.
In a similar spirit, always peek at postcards of the places you are going to photograph. These will provide the ‘standard’ tourist views – then try to do it all differently!
After a late al fresco meal last year, I sat down and thought about how I would approach this particular ‘shoot’ at the Vatican the next day.
Here are some of things that went through my mind:
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The Weather - It was June, and a fine, warm and sunny day was forecast for the day after. Perfect! You can take great photographs in most weather conditions, but nothing beats low-angle sun and clean atmospheres for photographing buildings.
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Time of Trip - That brings us onto a crucial decision. When best to go? In previous articles, I’ve stressed the importance of the quality of light at different times of the day in Italy. Harsh, direct mid-day light from above washes out detail and colour, as well as creating uncomfortably high contrast levels for most films.
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It’s also too hot in mid-summer for comfort! So, the best hours for photography are early morning and evening; the low-angle light adds a pleasing warmth, enhances detail and adds a seductive quality to many images. An early morning trip to the Vatican will not only give us some of the best light conditions of the day, but also avoid the worst of the crowds. Easy!
If you’re not an early bird, I guarantee that a keen interest in photography will turn you into one. Another observation – wander around any great tourist landmark, anywhere in the world, and I guarantee the first folk you will find in the morning, together with the last to leave at night (especially the ones who are dragged off screaming about ‘the light’) will be the photographers.
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The Gear - This is also worth a bit of thought, especially if you have a choice of equipment and lenses from which to select. In this case, the Vatican is one of the highlights of our trip. So, this is a serious shoot, and I’m going to try to capture some high-quality commercial images. That inevitably means that my over-sized professional gear will be in the camera bag. To an extent, unfortunately, that means sacrificing portability for sheer quality. It’s a price well worth paying, though.
I also know from experience that architectural photography involving close proximity to very large buildings will need wide-angle lenses; however, extracting and focussing on detail will also necessitate the use of telephoto lenses. In the end, therefore, I pack for all eventualities, but use high quality zoom lenses to make sure I don’t need to haul around a ridiculous number of ‘prime’ fixed lenses. My final selection: my Canon EOS 3 body, a 24-70mm F2.8L and 70- 200mm F2.8. That will frighten the natives!
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Here’s a treacherous little digression. Why does Italy produce no great cameras? Please don’t tell me that the land that has produced much of the planet’s great visual art, not to mention some of the most dynamic looking technologies and refined fashion statements, can’t produce a camera that manages to look good and take fine photographs. Well, I’m baffled too.
Oh, and the film to take? That’s easy. My beloved fine-grain Fuji Velvia slide film. This and Provia 100F are the pro’s choice, we all know we can sell good images shot on this film stock. So, think of a number of rolls, and add a few for luck. I actually ended up taking 8 rolls and shooting 6.
Preparation is good. But anticipation is better!
The images
So there we are, at 08:30, it’s still deliciously cool and the masses have yet to appear. My wife and I have agreed a rendezvous point for later – she’s off to the Sistine Chapel, I’m loaded and ready to shoot.
Enjoy the video below with photographs that I took at the Vatican:
