Sainte-Chapelle Photo

Photographer’s Note

Ile de la Cite, the biggest of the two islands in the middle of the River Seine in Paris, is where the city of Paris originated. It was first inhabited 2,000 years ago by Celtic tribes, one of which, the Parisii gave its name to the city. At the other end of the island to the Cathedral of Notre Dame is Sainte Chapelle, referred to in the Eyewitness Guide to Paris as “a jewel of Gothic architecture”. It was built in 1248 by Louis IX to house what is purported to be Christ’s Crown of Thorns, and is most noted for the magnificence of its stained glass windows. There are two floors in the church; the upper chapel, which was used by the king and the royal family, and the lower chapel, which was used by servants and other commoners.

This shot is in the lower chapel, where the windows are smaller, but just as beautiful. The day was dull, but I can well imagine the sight on a sunny day. An alternative is in the WS. My next post will be in the upper chapel.

It is not easy to photograph the exterior of Sainte Chapelle as it is wholly surrounded by the Palais de Justice, the huge block of buildings used as law courts which takes up the whole width of the Ile de la Cite at the western end. As you can see in the other WS, it does tower over the top of the Palais de Justice buildings. It is also not easy to access the church. We could see the church and knew we were in the right vicinity, and a small sign pointed up a narrow, cobbled passageway where there was a queue. It was like going through airport security as all our belongings had to go through X-ray and we had to walk through metal detectors. A necessary precaution in these days of terror threats, but we thought we were going into the law courts by mistake. Anyway we were directed through another doorway and we came out into a small courtyard around Sainte Chapelle.

Robbienight, sarju, andante, plimrn, siolaw, jjcordier, Emile, Henryk_Bilor, repaulson, peter1892, weswang, riclopes, imrek, axiotea, PixelTerror, papagolf21, Didi, Tue, peco85, Yffic, zeca, cherubin, anney has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Robbienight (613) 2006-06-02 18:56

Beautiful image, there's a good light in theChapel.
And colours are very bright, different one from the other and creating a good atmosphere, especially for the massive use of gold colour.
Interesting and detailed note also.

sarju (5308) 2006-06-02 19:13

HI Kath
Plethora of colours in this photo. I detect a slight tilt in the photo but besides that it is all awesome.
A very rich composition with lots of details indeed.
thanks for a very informative note as usual.
cheers .... Sarju

worldcitizen (2305) 2006-06-02 21:10

Hello Kath,
The sharpness and colors of this photo are great. I like the symmetry of the arches coming to a central meeting point, and the wonderful details of the stained glass and top of the dome that you captured.

plimrn (19720) 2006-06-02 22:22

Wow!! This is the servant's chapel?? You've captured the detail and color well; I like the symmetry of your framing. PS: I thought your critique of Angshu's, 'loch and castle,' was excellent....Pat

siolaw (25832) 2006-06-02 23:04

Hi Kath,
A very nice shot at that magnificent chapel! great colors and details, specially on the roof even in low light... stained glass looks beautiful... even I(a parisian) didnt make it inside there!!(lazy maybe!) One thing is it looks a tiny bit tilted towards the left, but nothing disturbing!! A very well documented note too!
Best regards
laurent

Angshu (34119) 2006-06-03 0:02

Wonderful symmetry & colours Kath. Great sharpness. The long exposure brought out the colours naturally & brilliantly.It looks slightly tilted...but doesn't cause a problem for me.
Regards
Angshu

jjcordier (25256) 2006-06-03 1:41

Une photographie très colorée et riche en détails de la Sainte Chapelle. Très bon cadrage et une bonne exposition, pas facile à réussir avec tous ces niveaux de lumière différents.
Amicalement
JJ

Emile (20127) 2006-06-03 2:01

Hola kath.
Impressive chapel with a gama of colours and details, very well captured, good lighting and sharpness. Very neat image, great POV and compo. Your two WS are also very good.
Well done and TFS.

markstaples (15670) 2006-06-03 2:49

Superb lighting and colours in this shot Kath. It must have been difficult to manage the lighting. Nice graphical effects too.
Best wishes
Mark

coco (28130) 2006-06-03 5:55

Hi Kath.
Stil from Burgos.
A well centered composition and also an interesting note. I mean that the photo is good, not the kind of photo that we would call "amazing", but good.
And also has a good note.

Important? Yes. This is TE.

Regards.

Henryk_Bilor (20371) 2006-06-03 6:20

Hello Kath
What an excelent capture of the gothic-style chapelle interior. I like very much the colours and the composition.
Regards

rosaline (0) 2006-06-03 9:50

Hi Kath
The ornate decorations in this chapelle make the scene look unreal. It reminded me of a stage set that I once saw, when I worked at the Royal Opera House. I love the detail and light you have caught here and the colours are fantastic. Good sharpness, and I especially like the way you have tightly framed the shot. Very skilful work.
Aubrey

donluicu (23927) 2006-06-03 11:34

Hi Kath
excellent picrue, with this natural framing, with the arches..and lovely colors..
well done

good note too.

bye

loic (captain of the Canon army...join us, we need you!!!lol)

rhizomes (15325) 2006-06-03 11:52

Hi Kath,
Nice light and colors. Your point of view is interesting and your result is good !
Christophe

Graal (58732) 2006-06-03 12:17

Hi Kath,
good symetric composition, fantastic interior, beautiful colours and architecture. I like it. Good job.
Rgs, Aleksander

repaulson (607) 2006-06-03 13:15

I've been trying to take pictures of these amazing structures for years. Never have they turned out to what they really appear in person. Usually too dark and not enough detail. Great job with this shot! I'm moving to Germany for three months and hope to take some similar shots in many of the cathedrals there.
Ross

peter1892 (3201) 2006-06-03 14:14

Hi Kath - the light is really good here & the colours on the stained glass and also on the ceiling come across really well. Excellent note as usual!

weswang (18223) 2006-06-03 14:53

Hi Kath, A nice PoV with excellent details. You have well made use of lights to this indoor image. The image is a little tilt.

riclopes (33135) 2006-06-03 15:42

Hi Kath,
An amazing image of this interior, along with an excellent note and two extra images in WS, which I allways apreciate.
I said before that I love the gothic style and in here we can enjoy the dynamis provided by the repetition of all the ogival archs converging to the ceiling. Wonderful unusual colours and details to observe in this perfect composition, with also very good quality.
Ricardo

imrek (4) 2006-06-03 15:53

Hi Kath,
very impressive capture, great light and nicely composed colours...well done!!!
regards,
imre

Stepan (27175) 2006-06-04 3:55

The light management is perfect. I've never tried to shot that place but I can imagine how hard it must be. The light and colors are excellent. But I'm suprised it seems there is a little tilt. Is it an juste impression ?
Your serie gets always better...
Stéphane

axiotea (16293) 2006-06-04 9:05

Hi Kath,
I like that photo wich shows us a great architecture. Beautiful stained glass windows and arches..great details and colors...and an informative note as well.
All the best,
Marilyn

PixelTerror (86853) 2006-06-04 12:29

Hi Kath,
Glad you found the way to present this masterpiece of religious art in Paris, that I last visited when I was still on film and my view is far below this one in terms of clarity, actually this one is my favorite of your two because the artwork here is les complicated and did not lead to quality loss when resizing/sharpening, the structures can well be enjoyed thanks to the good exposure.
Have a nice evening,
Jean-Yves

papagolf21 (56749) 2006-06-04 17:44

Bonsoir Kath,
La Sainte Chapelle, je l'ai visité à l'âge de 10 ans environ quand j'étais à l'école primaire. Cet édifice m'a profondément marqué par sa beauté et son histoire. La magnificence des lieux reste toujours aussi magique.
La qualité photographique n'est plus à vanter !
Bravo, une fois de plus, Kath.
Amitiés.
Philippe
P.S. : Merci, Kath de votre très gentille critique.

eza1701 (3343) 2006-06-05 3:51

Hi Kath, Wonderful sharp detail and colours, particularly impressive for a tenth of a second and no tripod!

I think the tilt Stepan has mentioned is due to the part between the arch being off-centre. It's a bit tricky to straighten but I've had a go in a workshop if you want to take a look.

[workshop] [compare] +

oochappan (22032) 2006-06-05 4:45

This one is the most impressive by the deep pleasable colors and the symmetric approach, almost a mirror view left/right and nice to see the exterior in the WS. Excellent exposure without tripod, congratulations, a steady hand and a betifull result, very well done Kath.
greetings from Henk

Didi (36452) 2006-06-05 6:30

Hello Kath
I note an exposure balanced well between the artificial light and the natural light which lights emphasizes well the stained glasses in this richness architectural.
Vertical framing is not simple to make; it would have been necessary to tally wider in order to be able to correct the light tilt without losing details of the composition.
Cheers.

peco85 (919) 2006-06-06 15:37

Great symetric lines! And such beautiful colors.. But is it slightly tilted? Really nice note with it too. Must have been amazing to be here:)

PeCO

Tue (25608) 2006-06-06 15:37

Hej Kath,
Another beautiful picture of the Sainte-Chapelle! The colours and decorations look just great! The lighting is also good. Well captured and thanks for sharing!
Hilsen,
Lars

Yffic (6106) 2006-06-07 4:07

Hello Kath.

Yous pictures of the Ste Chapel are really magnifics.
The colors are nice...
You have convinced me to visit again this fabulous place.

Regards.

Yves

zeca (20026) 2006-06-10 1:32

Another nice capture of this wonderful Saint Chapelle! Well done! It´s nice to see it again and feel that magic! Excelent light control and exposition. TFS!
Regards,
Zeca

cherubin (1969) 2006-06-14 11:13

Hi Kath,
this is a splendid shot, with exvellent colours and well captured light. another one good photo, with a grate note, too.
regards,
cherubin

Kititit (813) 2006-06-25 9:29

Hi Kath,
Wery well captured. A photo rich in details and an excelent POV!
Thanks,
Rita

dcawker (5691) 2006-08-07 10:34

I really like the graphic-feel to this shot. Well done! Regards, Doug

t0mmm1 (5434) 2007-01-25 15:57

Hi Kath,
wow, wonderful scene and mood. Despite the fact that it is in Paris and that this is a church I can't help myself to not to wait for magician Merlin to come to the scene ;))
I like the picture very much.
Have a nice day,
Tomi

Viera (884) 2007-02-27 8:35

Hi Kath,
very well managed picture of this amazing building!I have seen many photos of Sainte- Chapelle and this is one of the best.
The symmetry works well.
Cheers,
Viera