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Home » Photography Techniques

Photographing Stately And Historical Buildings

By Alpha Whiskey 40 Comments

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One of the countless things I that love about the United Kingdom is the rich historical heritage to be found within our borders. The recent history of our civilisation can be experienced through the hundreds of stately and historical buildings and homes available to the public for visiting.

1 Waddesdon Manor

I realise that in many cases this historical and material wealth has been accumulated at the expense of and loss to other civilisations around the world during times of conquest and empire. But the places that I have visited do not try to hide this fact or present it in a heroic light. Most simply try to provide an experience that briefly puts us in touch with our history and allows us to make our own judgements.

2 Scotney Castle

Over the last year or so, I have visited over 25 of these properties, so I may be able to offer an insight into capturing them through a modicum of my experience. There are, of course, many such places all over the world, reflecting the proud heritage of each nation, and thus these insights may be applicable anywhere.

3 Polesden Lacey

In my humble opinion, many of the photos taken and presented on the websites and printed media of these places simply do not do enough justice to their true splendour, and I have often donated my own photographs to help lure in more visitors (and in a few cases they have been accepted and used!).

4 Chartwell

Rest assured I don’t work for any of these places or organisations, but my aim is to capture the scale, beauty and details of such venues, enticing the viewer into the world they represent and showcasing the history that they keep alive. Simply put, we should aim for the viewer to vicariously imagine and enjoy these places as much as we did actually being there.

5 Hatchlands Park

Right, let’s get all the gear out of the way. When I had my my DSLR kit, I would bring a wide-angle lens and a couple of primes. I mounted a Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8 (a DX lens) on a (full frame) Nikon D600 and used it as a 16mm prime (any focal length lesser with this lens and you get vignetting). If you have an FX wide angle then great, go even wider. (I couldn’t be bothered to get one since I was looking to downsize my gear, and most FX wide-angles are quite heavy.) I also brought along the Nikkors 35mm F/2 AF-D and 50mm F/1.8G for tighter framing and small details.

6 Bodiam Castle

Since going mirrorless, I now mainly use the Olympus 12-40m F/2.8 mounted on my EM-5, and perhaps the 45mm F/1.8 or 60mm F/2.8 for subject isolation or detail work. I find the 12-40mm F/2.8 (equiv 24-80mm) to be very versatile, however, and the bokeh at 40mm is pretty good. It’s also refreshing not to have to keep changing lenses inside rooms with delicate furniture and lots of visitors moving through them!

7 Benjamin Disraeli's Desk Hughenden Manor

Some of the large rooms and internal geometry lend themselves very favourably to a wide-angle treatment, as indeed do the hallways. A wide-angle lens will exaggerate their perspective and scale, allowing the viewer to ‘travel’ through their depth.

8 Wrest Park

9 Waddesdon Manor

It is tempting to shoot at a wider aperture to keep the ISO low and shutter speed high, but the shallower depth of field may render some parts of the image out of focus (and in the Tokina’s case, the corners are a little soft on a full frame sensor). This may be desirable for isolating foreground details against a wider background, but capturing a full interior would require a narrower aperture. Most modern cameras are perfectly capable at handling higher ISOs necessary to use such apertures.

10 Gold Room Polesden Lacey

Tripods are not practical because of all the other visitors passing by you, and are probably not allowed anyway. Almost all of these types of buildings prohibit the use of flash. Many rooms have light-sensitive materials and textures so interior lighting is minimal. Still, try to use as low an ISO and shutter speed as you can get away with at your aperture. Brace your elbows against your body when you shoot to steady yourself, or crouch down and rest your elbows above your knees. (My EM-5 has a pretty good image stabiliser that allows me to get away with shutter speeds as low as ½ secs).

11 Wimpole Estate

For the exteriors too, a wide focal length can capture the entire property and its forecourt or garden in a single image, giving the viewer a sense of its immensity. I have even tried making a panorama from several images.

12 Wrest Park

13 Wimpole Estate Panorama

 (A panorama stitched in CS5 from five images)

But getting closer to the building (especially with a wide-angle lens) can also exaggerate its architectural beauty. I find shooting close-up from a low position helps to give a sense of the building towering over me. Rendering in black and white reveals the lines and details bereft of any distracting colour. I also try to arrive early to capture shots before lots of people start wandering into them!

14 Waddesdon Manor

15 Ham House

16 Waddesdon Manor

Furthermore, the views both to and from these buildings can be quite spectacular. Be aware that a wide-angle may cause many features to seem too far away from you, so a tighter focal length, say 35mm, might be a better choice. Remember that you don’t have to get the entire vista in your shot for it to be appreciated by the viewer. Instead try to offer depth to the scene with both foreground and background elements. A tighter shot can also force you to focus more closely on architectural features.

17 Cliveden

(35mm)

18a Wrest Park

(50mm)

18 View From Chartwell

(35mm)

19 Audley End House

(m4/3 45mm – equivalent to 90mm)

Longer focal lengths are easy to achieve through the range of my Olympus 12-40mm F/2.8 zoom, of course, but the Nikkor primes held their own whenever I used them. 35mm (on full-frame; c.17mm on m4/3) is an effective length at capturing a scene within a room, say, a desk and its paraphernalia, or a fireplace or even furniture. It gives the viewer a more intimate and realistic sense of being in the room and experiencing its time, while still offering a sense of depth.

20 The Vyne

21 Waddesdon Manor

A longer focal length still, particularly with a fast aperture (e.g. 50mm F/1.8), can help isolate details or individual furnishings.

22 Tankard

23 Harpist Waddesdon Manor

24 Basildon Park

Do not forget to look up or you may miss a beautifully ornate ceiling, with some stunning carvings, artwork, or both.

25 Wrest Park

26 Petworth House

27 Wrest Park

Many of these locations have some truly beautiful gardens, ponds and floral arrangements, and using a macro lens or fast prime can really help to isolate the flora and fauna.

28 Wimpole Estate

28a-Buscot-Park

29 Chartwell Goldfish

There may also be plenty of statues around the grounds. Try to ensure your backgrounds are either clear or provide an interesting context to the statue (e.g the building behind it), ensuring the composition is neat and uncluttered.

30 Waddesdon Manor

31 Wimpole Estate

31a-Terracotta-Warrior-Buscot-Park

Of course, the usual compositional ideas apply. Look for shadows and interesting light, leading lines and patterns, or frame the buildings through foliage. Perhaps find reflections in bodies of water. Having a person in the image can offer a story, context, or simply scale.

32 Bodiam Castle

33 Buscot Park

34 Polseden Lacey

35 Hatchlands Park

Ultimately, these are only mere suggestions and ideas. You will undoubtedly make your own unique shots should you visit these kinds of places. The most important thing is to absorb as much of the place (and its history) as possible, not only for your own pleasure, but to inform your photographic capture of it so that your images may fascinate others too. Thank you. (You can find more detailed descriptions and more photos from each location on my blog.)

37 Newark Park

39 Hatchlands Temple

(The inevitable selfie! Taken with a remote trigger in my right hand)

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Filed Under: Photography Techniques Tagged With: Tips for Beginners, Howto, Photography Tips

About Alpha Whiskey

Alpha Whiskey has pursued his enjoyment of photography both at home in the UK and overseas, capturing scenic views from Alaska to Bulgaria, from Iceland to California. He has pointed his camera and trained his eye at almost every subject, from wildlife to architecture, from portraits to landscapes, from the Red Bull X-Fighters to the Northern Lights. His photographs have been published on the covers of national publications and within media for the National Trust. His blog is a growing library of images from his travels, excursions, and his photowalks with friends, and he hopes that by sharing them he can encourage others to worry less about gear and simply go out and shoot.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. C Keane
    July 11, 2014 at 3:56 pm

    Enjoyed this post. Very informative and with such great examples brought the point home. Thank you!

    Reply
  2. Peter Looper
    July 11, 2014 at 4:35 pm

    Wonderful photos but you leave us hanging! Where are all of these places? I don’t care what camera you used but the locations are essential to understand the size and majesty of the places.

    Reply
    • Alpha Whiskey
      July 11, 2014 at 4:39 pm

      If you hold your cursor over the image the location should be there. Or if you click on the image the location is in the label beneath. The locations are all over the United Kingdom. You can find more detailed descriptions and more photos from each place on my blog. :)

      Reply
      • Peter Looper
        July 11, 2014 at 4:47 pm

        Thanks for the info, it works on my iPad but not as well as my iMac would. Captions would be easier for what I’m using to view now. I will check out you blog.

        Reply
        • Gromit44
          July 12, 2014 at 6:49 am

          4th pic – Chartwell – is Winston Churchill’s house in Kent, England.

          Now owned by the National Trust. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/chartwell

          Reply
          • Alpha Whiskey
            July 12, 2014 at 7:06 am

            All of the places in this article are owned or run by either the National Trust or English Heritage.

            Reply
  3. Raj
    July 11, 2014 at 4:38 pm

    I enjoyed your post, excellent composition. I love historical buildings and ruins.

    I’ve been wondering for some time now if I should go wider than 24mm. My main is a Canon6d + 24-105. I also have a nikon5100 which would take the tokina.

    Hope to see more of your work.

    Reply
    • Alpha Whiskey
      July 12, 2014 at 12:42 am

      Hi Raj, thank you.

      The widest focal length I’m currently using is 12mm on my Olympus 12-40mm, which is equivalent to a 24mm field of view. It’s wide enough for most purposes, but sometimes I do miss the 16mm of my Tokina on my D600! However, I find that being too wide can distort the image a little too much and put some features too far away, whereas something like 24mm can capture enough scale and realism without isolating the viewer too much from the shot. :)

      Regards,
      Sharif.

      Reply
  4. Neil
    July 11, 2014 at 5:08 pm

    I think another key part that is often overlooked by those of us who have to travel long distances to destinations like these is time of day. If your intent is to make a fabulous photo you should not plan on mid day. Unfortunately that doesn’t always fit in with family schedules and time. :)

    So perhaps good practice can be had with the cityscapes in our own backyard.

    Reply
  5. Daniel Michael
    July 11, 2014 at 5:29 pm

    Hey Sharif,

    Great photos! I visit castles / stately home quite a lot so this article helps. I live a 1 mile down the road from Hampton Court Palace, which really is a stunning building, inside and out.

    Windsor Castle, is another great edifice but I warn people to watch out while taking photos indoors there and in other similar places. I was almost tackled to the ground by security for brandishing a camera and their “no photography” signs were not very easy to spot!

    Ultra-wide angle lenses really make these buildings even more majestic while fast primes are a must indoor shooting. Do you ever slow down your shutter speed to remove other tourists from your photos?

    Daniel

    Reply
    • Alpha Whiskey
      July 12, 2014 at 12:26 am

      Hi Daniel,

      I usually do some research and planning to decide what kind of shots I’d want from each place, and then turn up quite early to get them before loads of people show up! Or I’ll patiently wait until they’re out of the shot. But lately I find that having people in some of the shots helps to brings life to the venue, and certainly the places that I donate photos to seem to like showing people there having a good time :)

      Cheers,
      Sharif.

      Reply
      • Prasad Np
        July 12, 2014 at 5:37 am

        Wonderful post, loved both the technical details shared about lenses and the composition of pictures shared. When clicking from outside I personally too like to have a human or two in frame,, but too many is not that desirable.

        Reply
  6. ori
    July 12, 2014 at 12:16 am

    Actually, pretty good summing up the things to do on vacation.

    Reply
  7. ZEESHAN MITRA
    July 12, 2014 at 2:08 am

    Wonderful images. Inspiring article

    Reply
  8. Brian Lentine
    July 12, 2014 at 6:35 am

    Great shots, but I’m wondering why you didn’t try to correct the wide angle distortion on many of your photos?

    Reply
    • Alpha Whiskey
      July 12, 2014 at 6:41 am

      Evidently it doesn’t bother me as much :) I try to see and appreciate what the image represents as a whole, rather than as a collection of lens imperfections.
      Cheers :)

      Reply
      • sceptical1
        July 12, 2014 at 5:30 pm

        Bingo, great reply. Don’t take this the wrong way Brian, but photographers as a group (me included sometimes) tend to go right to the imperfections without taking in the feeling of the photograph as a whole. We are frequently too critical of some things (like sharpness, corner sharpness) and not critical enough of others (annoying distractions that take away rather than add). I always try to watch for this because I sometimes mistakenly do that too my own photos.
        Overall, I really liked nearly all these images. Great job.
        I wanted to ask – are you bracketing and blending some of these? The first couple look like that.

        Reply
        • Alpha Whiskey
          July 12, 2014 at 5:39 pm

          Nope. None of these images are bracketed or blended. :)

          Reply
  9. Rory
    July 12, 2014 at 7:42 am

    In another article you might want to talk about:

    o using pano techniques – both indoors and outside.
    o using multiple exposures indoors and DR post processing to deal with windows.
    o using multiple exposures and focus stacking to gain depth of field while using wide apertures.
    o correcting perspective keystoning (maybe what Brian is alluding to).
    o planning time of day and weather.

    Reply
    • Alpha Whiskey
      July 12, 2014 at 10:23 am

      More qualified folks (perhaps even yourself as you suggested it? :)) can write about post-processing. You probably know way more about it than I do. I just want to be outside shooting more than I want to be sedentary in front of a screen. I recognise the value in your suggestions but this article was mainly intended to suggest ideas for what to look for at these kinds of places; how to see things, compositions etc.
      Cheers :)

      Reply
  10. RWP
    July 12, 2014 at 3:43 pm

    Love them all (!), and really appreciate #7: “Damn your conscience man, vote your party!”

    Reply
  11. Alene
    July 12, 2014 at 5:13 pm

    I think they are all excellent shots, some of the interiors even look of the quality of medium format images for an architectural magazine. Just to clarify, you used your Olympus for all of these?

    Reply
    • Alpha Whiskey
      July 12, 2014 at 5:42 pm

      Hi Alene, I used the D600 for some of these and the EM-5 for the rest.
      Cheers :)

      Reply
      • Alene
        July 12, 2014 at 8:31 pm

        Have a few favorites in your post but I think the photo of the desk is a masterpiece. As a stand-alone image, framed as art, it would bring ambience to a room. Loved that it is both ethereal and striking together. Great article and work–thanks.

        Reply
        • Alpha Whiskey
          July 13, 2014 at 2:24 am

          Thank you Alene, I appreciate that! (And that image was made with the D600 and Nikkor 35mm F/2 AF-D)

          Reply
  12. Philip Carter
    July 14, 2014 at 12:11 am

    Never mind the wideangle distortion – what about the converging verticals? Poor old Polesden! These are easy to avoid just by holding the camera straight! Suggest you explore the virtual horizon in your camera.

    Reply
    • Alpha Whiskey
      July 14, 2014 at 1:19 am

      Where there are horizons in the images, I believe they are straight; ‘converging verticals’ are a distortion of the wide-angle lens affected by my distance and position. But then I’m afraid I don’t spend much time obsessing over lens distortions :) Evidently it bothers you more than it does myself. Polesden Lacey certainly didn’t express any complaints. Thanks for stopping by.

      Reply
  13. Love2Eat
    July 14, 2014 at 2:21 am

    Beautiful shots Sharif, very inspiring as the previous articles. Keep them coming, look forward to more.

    Reply
    • Alpha Whiskey
      July 14, 2014 at 2:33 am

      Thank you kindly! :)

      Reply
  14. Mike Banks
    July 15, 2014 at 8:54 am

    Sharif, beautiful work. I liked the idea that you did not do much with HDR or stitching or post production to create the actual scene as it would be seen by any individual. The interior shot of a room with blown out windows is what I am referring to. Certainly, you could have made several exposures and let us look outside as well as see the rooms interior but that image is what one would have experienced were we sitting there reading a book. I like that.

    I’m not good at post processing; I’m learning but like you I like to concentrate on photography and capture in the camera. Distortion doesn’t bother me, edge softness doesn’t bother me, blown highlights don’t bother me; as long as these features lend themselves to the final composition. As photographers we can argue technical aspects of every photo. I say…Let it go and just look at the picture. Great work.

    Sharif, a personal question you do not have to answer if you are unwilling, but I’ll as anyway. What do you actually do for a living?

    Reply
    • Alpha Whiskey
      July 15, 2014 at 10:08 am

      Thank you very much Mike. You have expressed my sentiments and philosophy perfectly :) I’m not bothered by all that stuff either. Too many people focus on such minutiae while forgetting to see the overall image and composition.
      While I can appreciate its value in some circumstances I usually find HDR for this kind of subject too unrealistic and unnecessary :)

      (and I’ll respectfully decline to answer your personal question on here, if that’s ok :))

      Warm Regards,
      Sharif.

      Reply
      • Mike Banks
        July 15, 2014 at 10:38 am

        Perfectly ok and understood.

        The only time I like to deal with the minutiae in photography is with my macro work. Also, in many cases when photographing old homes, historical homes, I will pick out a particular feature and photograph that. I get so into that small detail that I forget to photograph the entire structure. I will sometimes do the same thing with flowers. I may get fascinated with the pistol or stamen and not photograph the whole flower or arrangement. Drives my wife crazy when I hang a 16×20 of a shutter hinge instead of the whole window or for that matter the whole house. LOL

        Reply
        • Alpha Whiskey
          July 15, 2014 at 11:01 am

          I think it’s often a good thing to pick out individual details. In macro work it can lead to all kinds of abstract possibilities, or simply open up a world that is beyond human eyes. With historical buildings it can bring people closer into the scene and help them appreciate the textures and artistry that went into the architecture. It’s all good :)

          Reply
  15. Eve
    July 18, 2014 at 3:51 am

    What software do you use for color grading?

    Reply
    • Alpha Whiskey
      July 18, 2014 at 5:42 am

      I only use LR for my processing and CS5 for borders and watermark (as a single action). Nothing specific for colour grading.

      Reply
      • Eve
        July 18, 2014 at 8:14 am

        I saw you nature photos here: alphawhiskey.slickpic.com/personal#1.
        They seem to have FILM colors. Film colors looks totally different from digital colors and I love them. How do you manage to get that look?

        Reply
        • Alpha Whiskey
          July 18, 2014 at 8:47 am

          In all honesty, Eve, I wasn’t aware they had filmic colours. I just processed them in LR or CS5, not so much for colour (although I may have enhanced them slightly with the colour sliders or vibrance slider) but more for contrast. :)
          Sorry if I can’t help! :)

          Reply
  16. Gonzalo Broto
    July 27, 2014 at 2:27 am

    A very well though and written article with perfect examples to showcase every point discussed, well done!
    Oh! And you arise the desire to go to those places to see them and photograph them ourselves, which is what you ultimately intended, I guess, so that’s proof that you succeeded! ;)

    Reply
  17. Anirudha
    April 13, 2016 at 11:50 pm

    Superbly written article and a beautiful pictures, composition is perfect and neat with minimal and no distraction. Thank you so much for beautiful ideas.
    however I have one doubt. Did you use circular polarizer while clicking the pictures.

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Alpha Whiskey
      April 14, 2016 at 1:13 am

      Thank you Anirudha.
      I probably did use a polarising filter for the outdoor shots. It also helped to cut out reflections in glass.
      Cheers.

      Reply

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