Insider’s View of National Cathedral

You will be able to capture this scene and many other unique images of the Cathedral by joining this special safari conducted by Washington National Cathedral in cooperation with Washington Photo Safari.

One of the most beautiful churches in Washington DC, Washington National Cathedral took 83 years to build and was only finished in 1990, A superb example of our 12th century Gothic architecture built entirely of Indiana limestone, the Cathedral offers great opportunities for exterior and interior architectural photography.

Our safari begins with an orientation by architectural photographer, E. David Luria and is led by Cathedral docent Chris Budny, who is himself a very accomplished photographer and knows where all the good pictures are! We are then led to locations inside the Cathedral not open to the public, and we teach you how (and how not) to photograph stained glass windows and church interiors without flash. We take you not only to the rooftop gutters but also to the Choir Loft right under the Rose Window for a spectacular birds-eye view of the Cathedral Nave, and to the Upper Triforium for a straight shot at some of the most beautiful stained-glass windows you will find anywhere on earth.

We then move outdoors to catch exterior views of the Cathedral, with special emphasis on maintaining straight verticals.

At each point on our safari we will review techniques of composition, exposure and lighting. Any camera will do but for the best results, we suggest you bring a wide-angle lens equivalent to about 10-20mm, a circular polarizing filter, a telephoto of at least 200mm, and enough media and batteries for about 200 exposures, at ISO’s varying from 200 to 32000. For the interior shots, you ARE allowed to bring a sturdy tripod for this safari.

Don’t get discouraged if it is cloudy or rainy that day. Cloudy is good and provides evenly lit scenes and rain gives us nice reflections on the sidewalks.

Fee includes $50 donation to the Washington National Cathedral.

Register early, this one always fills up quickly!

Photo: Colin Winterbottom