Sydney
At the time I took this photo, I wasn’t sure I was permitted to photograph the interior. Some religious establishments don’t allow this. I thought the colloquially St Mary’s Cathedral would be no exception. Officially, it is the Cathedral Church and Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Mother of God, Help of Christians and is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and the seat of the Archbishop of Sydney, currently Anthony Fisher OP. More interesting reading over on Wikipedia.
St. Mary’s Cathedral is absolutely gorgeous inside and out. I remember having a hard time finding a good composition outside to photograph. I was just getting into photography back then. The inside was a different story. Firstly, though I wanted to photograph the interior, I had no idea if I was allowed. Then, as soon as I walked in, the grandeur of the place pushed me to take this obvious composition. The cathedral was empty, not a soul in sight, I quickly checked outside to be sure nobody was coming. I was alone. I quickly setup my tripod, framed, took three bracketed exposures and quickly packed up my gear. Now the mistake I made was to have zoomed in too much and compose horizontally instead of vertically. I can’t remember why I did that but if I hadn’t I would’ve had a lot more scene within the frame. I was inexperienced and didn’t want to get caught though I found later that photographs were allowed inside the cathedral. Oh well, next time I’m in Sydney I give it another shot.
The photo was taken with the Fujifilm FinePix S9500, a bridge camera I had bought just before coming to New Caledonia. When used within it’s limits, the camera can produce good quality images, though a little on the soft side. I can’t recommend it as it has been superseded and there are much better cameras now for the same price.
OK, take care and hope to see you for the next post.
SONY a7 III
24MP full-frame mirrorless camera from Sony’s Alpha series. Also does 4K video. A great all-round camera.
TAMRON STANDARD ZOOM LENS
Tamron E 28-75 mm ƒ/2.8 Di III RXD is a standard zoom lens for E-mount camera. A perfect match for the Sony a7 III.
VANGUARD TRIPOD
The Vanguard VEO 235AB with TBH-50 ball head is a 5 section tripod. It’s sturdy, reliable and stores compact for travel. This tripod has served me well for the last few years.
SONY BATTERIES
Sony’s NP-FZ100 lithium-ion from it’s Z series are reliable and long lasting. I always have a second battery with me at all times.
SANDISK MEMORY CARDS
SanDisk Extreme Pro SDXC memory cards are fast and reliable. With 128 GB you never run out of storage for photos or videos, 4K included. It’s what I choose to use.
WANDRD PRVKE
PRVKE 31 lt. travel/camera backpack from WANDRD. Has a laptop sleeve, a tablet sleeve, a hidden pocket, room for a camera insert and storage to spare. Also extends to provide 6 lt. of extra storage. It’s my everyday carry.