St Kunibert: 50’s Window
Capturing church windows issues a challenge to the photographer. First, there is a technical challenge: how do I take the photograph, consisting of all matters technical, including, but not limited to the point of view, camera settings, and post production. The other challenge is an environmental one: the time of the day and year, the position of the sun all have great influence on your photographic gain. And finally is the personal approach to your photographic subject, your wish for precision or expression, as important for the quality of your work as taking a portrait of a living person is. We will approach these challenges while examining the windows of St Kunibert, Cologne.
Eight extant windows in St Kunibert’s choir were created around 1220 – 1230 when the choir was finished. They are viewed as the most significant evidences of Romanesque stained glass in Germany. The central window in the upper storey depicts the Tree of Jesse, the others are dedicated to saints.
These images of the Tree of Jesse Window – a complex composition of various scenes in the life of the Christ, flanked by scenes of the Old Testament, were taken at different times. The left one is a composition of three separate images, the right one a single image. Though this right one is a bit blurred, we can see that its colurs are much more vibrant; a result owed to the simple fact that it was taken on a sunny day. However, there is no general rule that stained glass windows should be taken on sunny days: the apparent blurriness of this photo is a result of too much light. While its darker parts (bottom) are well lit, the finer lines in the central part (crucifixion scene) are almost lost. If you want to keep your post-processing to a minumum, you should take your photos on a day not too bright and without direct sunlight coming through the windows. Direct sunlight creates these beautiful patterns on the church floor but won’t help you otherwise.
When you do repeated visits and take several photographs of a church window, you will notice how it responds to its environment. How much light is necessary for showing up the fine strokes? How much sunlight makes it shine? Study its details (it’s always a good idea to know your photographic target) and try different techniques.
Considering this, the actual technical part is rather simple, even flat. A window is a plane surface, so usually your depth of field doesn’t have to be that big. Expect satisfying results at f5.6. But what if your point of view is disadvantageous and the angle between camera and window is too sharp? A vertical panorama of three or more images would be an acceptable solution. This way you can repeatedly focus on a part of the window and stitch these crisp images together. The result is a very big image with more details than anybody’s eye could see from the church’s nave.
What lens? That depends on the size of the church and how close you’re getting to the window. You should be able to at least get the whole window into your viewfinder. Think of it as a portrait shot from the distance. What ISO? If the window is well lit and not too dark (windows well restored are much brighter than those who went through the centuries without any cleaning), you will achieve good results with ISO 800. I have a rather old Canon 40D and I find the results acceptable. Since you’re taking a 2D shot, visual noise won’t be that ugly. Using a good noise remover (Define, for example) will get rid of it.
Also depending on your point of view is the distortion of your output image: like photographs of buildings, your image will contain converging lines. And that’s probably not the window as you see it. If you are using stitching software (like PTGui Pro) then there is a chance that you can correct your point of view and make your photo look like the ones shown here. Other software (DxO Optics Pro, DxO Perspective etc.) provides excellent support for correcting this kind of distortion. However, the best correction is the one that omits converging lines, and that is finding the best point of view. If there is a chance of taking your photo from the gallery, then take it. It’s also good if you step back and increase the angle between camera and window; this will reduce converging lines as well. But this means also a longer distance to the window and you needing to adjust the focus. Note: the longer the distance, the more you will need a tripod.
St Kunibert: St Catherine Window
The windows I’ve shown here are telling a lot of stories. They are unique pieces of art and testimonials of a vivid faith. The inspiration they are still giving us today deserves a thorough examination, including the photos you are taking of them.
