Otto Berkeley
Sanctuary
St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church has the dubious distinction of being situated on a site which was once a brothel and a music hall owned by one of Casanova's mistresses. It was initially a spiritual home for the Irish community in London, having been one of the first Catholic buildings established in Britain after the Protestant Reformation, but today also functions as the centre of the parish's volunteer work with the poor, sick and homeless in Soho, as well as delivering services in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Cantonese. It's also a stunning example of Italianate architecture in London, but somehow its multifaceted history -- and the fact that it's so peaceful despite being only minutes from Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus and Covent Garden -- made it even more fascinating to photograph.
This was my second visit to the location in the past few years and the second time I've captured the church from the entrance to its arcaded nave. I visited on a clear day when the sun was high to ensure as much as light as possible would be flooding through the windows, lighting up the barrel-vaulted ceiling and amplifying the colour along the church's gilded apse. While the church looks magnificent in any light conditions, my aim was to bring out the location's bright, clean and airy ambience, with warm light illuminating the central aisle and the pews reflecting in the Renaissance-style marble floor.
The image was very straightforward to shoot and edit, comprising a combination of several exposures blended with luminosity masks, allowing me to control the intensity of the sunlight pouring through the windows at the same time as providing the best possible finish in the shadows. I made very few changes to the colour balance but tried to bring out the vibrance of the warm light while emphasising the muted blue-ish tones along the marble floor, as well as isolating and slightly desaturating the foreground to help guide the eye towards the centre of the image.
You can also connect with me on Facebook, 500px, Google+ and Instagram.
Sanctuary
St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church has the dubious distinction of being situated on a site which was once a brothel and a music hall owned by one of Casanova's mistresses. It was initially a spiritual home for the Irish community in London, having been one of the first Catholic buildings established in Britain after the Protestant Reformation, but today also functions as the centre of the parish's volunteer work with the poor, sick and homeless in Soho, as well as delivering services in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Cantonese. It's also a stunning example of Italianate architecture in London, but somehow its multifaceted history -- and the fact that it's so peaceful despite being only minutes from Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus and Covent Garden -- made it even more fascinating to photograph.
This was my second visit to the location in the past few years and the second time I've captured the church from the entrance to its arcaded nave. I visited on a clear day when the sun was high to ensure as much as light as possible would be flooding through the windows, lighting up the barrel-vaulted ceiling and amplifying the colour along the church's gilded apse. While the church looks magnificent in any light conditions, my aim was to bring out the location's bright, clean and airy ambience, with warm light illuminating the central aisle and the pews reflecting in the Renaissance-style marble floor.
The image was very straightforward to shoot and edit, comprising a combination of several exposures blended with luminosity masks, allowing me to control the intensity of the sunlight pouring through the windows at the same time as providing the best possible finish in the shadows. I made very few changes to the colour balance but tried to bring out the vibrance of the warm light while emphasising the muted blue-ish tones along the marble floor, as well as isolating and slightly desaturating the foreground to help guide the eye towards the centre of the image.
You can also connect with me on Facebook, 500px, Google+ and Instagram.