Photographing stained glass windows

[pschauss]

I have been tasked with assembling a small book of pictures in honor of our church's 150th anniversary. Part of that book will document the stained glass windows. My current idea is to shoot them in medium format with slide film probably using my Rolleicord on a tripod. I intend to have the negatives scanned.

- What film should I use?
- What is the best lab to send the film to for processing, perferably in the NYC area?
- Should I take the pictures when there is direct sunlight shining on them or would indirect light from the outside be better?

[Gabriel M.A.]

Sounds like a nice, fun project! I'd like to have one like that myself.

Originally Posted by pschauss

- What film should I use?

How dark is the church? How much light do (most) windows receive, in general?

If you're using a tripod, I guess you could use a slow speed film. I would think Ektar 100 would be a good choice.

Originally Posted by pschauss

- What is the best lab to send the film to for processing, perferably in the NYC area?

Can't help you there.

Originally Posted by pschauss

- Should I take the pictures when there is direct sunlight shining on them or would indirect light from the outside be better?

Depends on how "clean" the glass is, and how uniform its translucence is. I would do both (direct + indirect), as I prefer having a choice on the virtual lightroom.

[JohnTF]

I did this kind of work for the Sacred Landmarks Research Group here in Ohio, and further researched, photographed, and wrote a paper when the Catholic Church began to document the glass in churches.

At that time, I was shooting and scanning, both with slide and color negative film. At the end, I was using color negative 35mm as it had latitude in exposure, and the processor would just scan the whole roll to Hi Res Tiffs and burn a CD for me as the film came out of the C41.

Are you trying to document the glass, or going for something with aesthetic appeal?

Last trip out, I used a Nikon SLR and a Cosina RF with a 12mm lens for the tight shots.

I used Photoshop's corrections for distortion in the windows I could not shoot straight on.

Exposure wise, I used a spot meter and picked out several middle value pieces of glass to place the exposure.

If the window fills the frame, your in camera meter should handle it adequately.

One thing, scanning MF is expensive unless you do it yourself, and the file sizes will be huge-- so you need a significant computer to handle them.

I shot an entire church with a 105mm on a Nikon, but that tells you something about the size and layout of the 100 yr. old Catholic church, which was later burned/torn down.

Church said they were in the Church business, not Landmark/monument business.

Even on a cloudy day, you will have plenty of light. If the light is hitting it directly, you will get some flare. You could do a walk through with a spot meter to see what you have, but they are windows and are designed to be seen.

For printing "book size" you do not need MF quality, but if I were shooting MF, since they are just about giving away Mamiya 645's, I would use that for the choice of glass and the SLR view.

You can also adapt inexpensive Jena lenses to it, and I think I could give you a good price on the 50mm shift lens I have somewhere for it. ;-) The Russian fish eye is a hoot on it.

Regards, John

[Spanik]

I have to support John on this. On my trip I regulary photograph stained glass windows in churches. I use a Mamiya 645, lens depends on the distance you can get and how high the glass is (and you can get) but mostly I'm using the 150mm. Use a spot meter and hunt around a bit to find the range. Best is when the church is dark and you have an overcast day with the sun behind it, no rain. This lights the glass uniformly. I use provia 400 but when I'm on a trip I only take one sort of film with me.

Same opinion on the Jena glass and the Arsat fisheye (but that one is even better on 6x6).

[pschauss]

Thanks for the suggestions, especially the one about shooting on an overcast day.

This is a small church. We can seat about 80-100 people if we really pack them in. We have large windows in the front and back which I believe I can cover with a "normal" lens without adjusting for perspective. The smaller windows on the sides are only about 3'x5' so they should be no problem. The pictures in the book will be 5x7" so I suspect that I can get by with 35mm film. I will try that first to see how it comes out.

My primary concern is to keep the colors true which was the reason that I thought of using slide film.

[filmtwit]

When ever possible, backlight em.

Also, do you know the difference between art glass and stain glass? Art glass can be a lot harder to shoot and will take some lighting play to get right.

Originally Posted by pschauss

I have been tasked with assembling a small book of pictures in honor of our church's 150th anniversary. Part of that book will document the stained glass windows. My current idea is to shoot them in medium format with slide film probably using my Rolleicord on a tripod. I intend to have the negatives scanned.

- What film should I use?
- What is the best lab to send the film to for processing, perferably in the NYC area?
- Should I take the pictures when there is direct sunlight shining on them or would indirect light from the outside be better?

[Sanders McNew]

I recommend Tri-X. :-)


Melanie hier à la Sainte-Chapelle by sandersnyc, on Flickr

[I always thought someone should shoot Sainte-Chapelle in black and white.]

[John Bragg]

Good luck with the project. If you choose transparency film, dont forget to bracket and use plenty of shots, thus guaranteeing a perfect exposure somewhere in the range.

[pschauss]

Originally Posted by Sanders McNew

I recommend Tri-X. :-)

I would really like to use Tri-X but I don't think the other members of the committee organizing the 150 year celebration would understand. :-(

To give an idea of what I am contending with, one of the committee members gave me some pictures she took with her digital point and shoot. When I looked at them on my monitor I discovered that every one of them had the date displayed in the lower right hand corner.

[JohnTF]

Originally Posted by pschauss

I would really like to use Tri-X but I don't think the other members of the committee organizing the 150 year celebration would understand. :-(

To give an idea of what I am contending with, one of the committee members gave me some pictures she took with her digital point and shoot. When I looked at them on my monitor I discovered that every one of them had the date displayed in the lower right hand corner.

Well, you could slip on the M Leica case to your iPhone and knock out the job pretty quickly with any number of apps, I add borders to my iPhone shots.

;-)

Regards, John

[rxmd]

I second the slide film and backlight suggestion, even though that may mean that you may get to see only the window and everything else will be black, depending on the lighting in the church.

I did that kind of work in Cologne Cathedral and found it was not realistic without perspective correction, because of the Gothic proportions of everything (it's the second tallest church in the world). I ended up using a tilt/shift wideangle lens, and then buying it, and then enjoying it tremendously for all things between portraits, architecture and landscapes, so that can be a dangerous route to embark on

[Spanik]

Maybe a bit late for this, but have you asked what format they need the photo's in? You're working a bit on commision for a "client". I know/understand it is more a bit of volunteer type of job but still, they will need to have your pictures in a format the printers can easily transfer. If the printers don't have any experience with slides and expect you to bring digital files you may be in for a surprise.

[Pete B]

Originally Posted by Sanders McNew

I recommend Tri-X. :-)


Melanie hier à la Sainte-Chapelle by sandersnyc, on Flickr

[I always thought someone should shoot Sainte-Chapelle in black and white.]

What a beautiful image.
Pete

[Sanders McNew]

Originally Posted by Pete B

What a beautiful image.
Pete

Thanks, Pete. It was a gloomy day outside and I had
one frame left on a roll I was shooting at EI 200, in a
1930s Voigtlander Superb. I shot this handheld at one
second -- a bit of a Hail Mary, but it worked.