Ceiling detail, Cathedral of the Madeleine, Salt Lake City
Since December, I have been shooting for another book project. The Cathedral of the Madeleine will celebrate its centennial, and my friend Gary Topping, the diocesan archivist, is rewriting the history of the Cathedral. When Gary asked me to contribute the photos, I asked him if there weren’t already enough architectural photos available, why not just use those? He insisted, so we focused on images that show a portrait of the community of faith, with the Cathedral as its home. We hope to have the book out in time for the big celebration in August.
From the first time we walked through the Cathedral to plan the project, I wanted to get this shot of the ceiling right at the crossing of nave and transcept. With a little insider help to get permission to approach the altar and place my camera, I shot this one tethered to my laptop so I could adjust the D700′s settings and evaluate each frame without having to move the camera itself. I don’t know that it will make it into the book, but I am very glad to have it.
I cannot imagine working on this project without the D700′s low light capabilities. I have been collecting candids during various events that simply were not possible with the D2X. The Easter vigil is Saturday, and I am looking forward to seeing how it performs in the candlelight service.
The Cathedral welcomes visitors, and sometimes after Sunday services a volunteer gives a tour of the building. Gary tells me there are exactly 258 angels inside. I’m not going to try to photograph them all.
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wow. looks medium format. beautiful