South West England XIII - St Mary Redcliffe Church

Digital original, 8 frame exposure blend

St. Mary Redcliffe is an Anglican parish church, constructed from the 12th to the 15th centuries, and it has been a place of Christian worship for over 900 years. The church is renowned for the beauty of its Gothic architecture, and was described by Queen Elizabeth I as "the fairest, goodliest, and most famous parish church in England."

Digital original, 18 frame exposure blend, 2 frame stitch

I will be forever in the debt of the church staff, as when planning my visit, they suggested I come an hour earlier (before official opening time) so I would be able to work with the church before a gaggle of school children arrived mid-morning. This permitted me the freedom to work with almost no-one in the building for over 90 minutes, making many images easier to create than anywhere else in the project.

Digital original, 21 image exposure blend, 7 frame stitch

One of the most impressive spaces at Redcliffe was the entryway - the ceiling above stretches up and up, to a beautiful stone vault...challenging to photograph, I ended up using my widest lens (the 17mm TS-E) and second different frames in order to record the full drama of the location.

Digital original

Even after I was done working with the interior, I found it hard to leave - the exterior of the church was decorated with the most lovely gargoyles - many of them in fabulous combination of the mundane and the fanciful, like this winged beast!