The Crypt

[ulf]

Topic in progress and will be expanded gradually. I will post a comment when I consider it complete...  Ready?

The crypt in the cathedral of Lund is 900 years old. 

I decided to see if I could take some pictures in 850nm NIR down there, to share the muted atmosphere and peacefulness of the place.

I especially like the different shapes of the supporting pillars

 

It was a challenging session as I needed rather small aperture setting and long exposure times to get a good DOF to get everything sharp.

 

It was very dark down there especially in NIR with little light shining in through the few small deeply recessed windows.

 

The crypt also has a lot of visitors spoiling many exposures when walking into the image areas, creating ghost patterns.

The exposure times had to be 20-30s. The pair in the first image must have been stationary for half a minute.

 

All images Sony A7III with an Irix 15mm f/2.5

 

f/9, 30s, ISO1000

 

Walls around a well to improve drainage, cut by the Westphalian master stonemason Adam van Düren, 1513/1514, earlier than Luther, but texts and symbols with similar ideas.

f/9, 20s, ISO320

 

The Sarcophagus of the cathedral's last Catholic Archbishop, Birger Gunnersen (-1519)  cut by Adam van Düren. f/9, 30s, ISO640

 

The Sarcophagus of the cathedral's last Catholic Archbishop, Birger Gunnersen (-1519)  Cut by Adam van Düren f/9, 20s, ISO320

 

The giant Finn f/9, 20s, ISO320

 

Here are some more historical information:

https://www-svenskakyrkan-se.translate.goog/lundsdomkyrka/kryptans-historia?_x_tr_sl=sv&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

https://www-svenskakyrkan-se.translate.goog/lundsdomkyrka/kryptan-och-jatten-finn?_x_tr_sl=sv&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

[Andrea B.]

Very nice work, Ulf.

 

Actually "ghost" images seems somewhat appropriate given the subject matter.  But I take your point.

[Andy Perrin]

I love these, Ulf! VERY atmospheric (shiver).

[colinbm]

Excellent use of available light Ulf.

[photoni]

@ulf Bravo, the photos are very beautiful, and very difficult to "develop"
Why did you use a filter so dark?

Thanks

[ulf]

22 minutes ago, photoni said:

@ulf Bravo, the photos are very beautiful, and very difficult to "develop"
Why did you use a filter so dark?

Thanks

Thanks Tony,

 

The development was not too tricky, but finding suitable camera positions that was not infested by glare from the much brighter windows was difficult.

Most of the time I tried to hide them behind some pillar and still find a good composition. I guess a HDR attempt would be OK beside from the glare problem.

 

I do not have other small IR-filter rounds suitable for rear mounting in my Irix lens and wanted to continue using the 850nm filter.

Also I suspect that such complex lenses as my Irix lenses will show more aberrations using a wider range of wavelengths that they are not designed for.

I want the images as sharp as possible.

[photoni]

1 hour ago, ulf said:

 

I do not have other small IR-filter rounds suitable for rear mounting in my Irix lens and wanted to continue using the 850nm filter.

Also I suspect that such complex lenses as my Irix lenses will show more aberrations using a wider range of wavelengths that they are not designed for.

I want the images as sharp as possible.

right !

I've never done, it but the only way to get an extra light on interesting things is an assistant, and light painting, with a simple torch with a warm bulb.

[Fedia]

Maybe the 850nm filter also allowed you to supress most of the light from the artificial sources I see scattered everywhere, revealing the original lighting of the crypt.

 

Interesting pillars indeed !

[Doug A]

Fabulous images @ulf. The shapes and textures are wonderful. I'm surprised that IR, especially 850nm, works at all. 20-30 seconds isn't terribly long. Love to see more. What ISO did You use?

 

Thanks for sharing,

Doug A

[lukaszgryglicki]

Great images, I also think hosts are OK in those photos.

 

[ulf]

The main topic is ready.

Added a fifth image, some image caption and another link to more history about the crypt

[StephanN]

Great series, if I had to choose a favourite, it'd be the third photo, because it's darkest at the top and at the bottom, hence more gloomy; a pity about the slight flare, but you did manage to capture stunning images.

[ulf]

Thanks for the input Stephan.

I am continuously leaning how to best process images to make them look the best and like the idea of a dark top and bottom here.

 

The top of the first image might be improved by being darker too.

I might have lifted the brightness too much there during post processing.

If I like an alternative processing better I will replace it.

[StephanN]

On 7/18/2023 at 10:47 PM, ulf said:

I might have lifted the brightness too much there during post processing.

 

 

It's all coming down to what you like best. Of course, with an extreme WA-lens the foreground is very important and can easily dominate the image (which my exactly be what you want, of course )