Pictures of St Albans with MP and 28 summicron

[alastair_anderson]

<p>A recent post by Alex Shishin persuaded me to take some pictures with my 28 summicron and I promised to post the best ones. Well there's nothing outstanding but I'm quite pleased with some of the pictures that I got back from the high street today.<br>

I really ought to have used my .72 M6 rather than the .85 MP because I was compelled to use an external finder for the 28mm lens and clearly, having seen the results, I wasn't getting the framing quite right.<br>

I haven't done any post processing to speak of. An obvious criticism of these shots is that they are somewhat lacking in contrast. By and large I've left that unchanged better to reflect the grey Autumn day as it was. However I have tweaked contrast a little in a couple of shots, and I've straightened several of them as I am incapable of holding a camera level for some reason. Otherwise they're straight from the CD that came from the lab. The film was Fuji Reala; all hand held.<br>

St. Albans is a very impressive and very old cathedral. It's one of the longest, if not the longest in Britain.</p><div></div>

[alastair_anderson]

<p>Here's another, showing the poor framing and the extreme length of the cathedra.</p><div></div>

[alastair_anderson]

<p>This is a shot of the gatehouse which is now part of St. Albans school, one of the oldest public (private) schools in England.</p><div></div>

[alastair_anderson]

<p>Another shot of the gatehouse. I enjoy the leaves on the steps. The schoolboys are between classes. Interestingly, rooms in the gatehouse are used for history lessons.</p><div></div>

[alastair_anderson]

<p>This one shows the main entrance to the cathedral. I could have done with a 24mm lens for this one. And as you can see my framing is slightly off.</p><div></div>

[alastair_anderson]

<p>This is the gatehouse from the otherside and it's probably my favourite. It's a nothing shot but for me it's very evocative. I love the big and little arches. This building is seriously old. The abbot watched Yorkist troops attacking St. Albans in a battle during the War of the Roses here from the gatehouse (15th centure) and the building was seriously old then!</p><div></div>

[alastair_anderson]

<p>St. Albans School, in addition to being seriously old - at the open day for new parents the Headmaster explains that the school founded in the 9th century (I think) is older than the English language itself - is seriously expensive. Academic standards are high. There's a huge contrast between schools like this and the average state school in England.<br>

This shot is the approach to the school from the town.</p><div></div>

[alastair_anderson]

<p>Although no where near as old as the cathedral the centre of St. Albans has a lot of historical buildings such as this row of Tudor houses.</p><div></div>

[alastair_anderson]

<p>More Tudor buildings</p><div></div>

[alastair_anderson]

<p>Apparently this clock tower was built between 1403 and 1412 (got that from google).<br>

This is one of the pictures that I increased contrast.</p><div></div>

[alastair_anderson]

<p>All of the above were taken with the 28 summicron. If I remember correctly I didn't stop down much beyond f4. The first picture of the cathedral is an exception however; to get the foreground leaves sharp I'm sure I would have used f11 or so.<br>

To finish up here's a portrait of my son taken with the 75 'cron. I can't remember the exif. (probably f5.6 around 1/250th.)</p><div></div>

[tim_bradshaw1]

<p>I had lessons in the gatehouse: thanks for the pictures which bring back memories, not all of them good. The nave of the abbey (everyone called it "the abbey" though it is only the church of the abbey of course) is the longes in the UK, though I think the abbey itself is not. It is a deeply amazing building – it's an astonishing mishmash of styles from Norman to the really horrible Victorian west end. Many of the bricks are roman, scavenged from Verulamium, so must be at least 1500 years old.</p>

<p>Sorry, this has nothing to do with rangefinders.</p>

[saintelmo21]

<p>Alistair, I like the cathedral and gatehouse photos. Nice work.</p>

[evan_dong1]

<p>Alistair,</p>

<p>I guess St Albans, England? I was there at that cathedral about close to 26-27 years ago for a wedding. Beautiful town and Cathedral. One of the friends who was there at the wedding took all of my film and took it back to work (Kodak!) and developed everything overnight for me. Negatives and transparency film (kodachrome!) with 2 set of proofs.<br>

Is the camera store still there at the Watford Parade Grounds? Great stuff at that shop..</p>

<p>Evan</p>

[Rob F.]

<p>Alastair, what interesting and worthy subject matter! As to not holding the camera level, I can see that you sometimes hold the right end of the camera a little low. Guess what, I do the same thing, unless I make a conscious effort to double-check for that. There's a lot to be said for using a tripod for such serious architectural work as this; though a Leica is so hand-holdable that tripods are often not too appealing.</p>

<p>It may just be my laptop screen, but these shots may be just a bit overexposed. Not much but maybe 1/3 stop? I'm not used to this new MacBook yet, so don't take that too seriously, I just wanted to mention it for what it may be worth.</p>

<p>Please try to show us more of those Tudor buildings, OK?</p>

<p> </p>

[HarryBaker]

<p>Nice pics. I grew up near St Alban's which for those who don't know is about 25 miles north of London. I've included a couple of interior shots. Pace, not Leica.</p><div></div>

[HarryBaker]

<p> No. 2</p><div></div>

[Alex_Es]

<p>Alastair! It's pleasant to think I might have inspired you to create this wonderful post. Enjoyable photographs and great history lesson. Amazing to think that St. Albans School is older than the English language. I like your shots too, Harry! Now I suddenly want to come to England. </p>

[alastair_anderson]

<p>Thanks for the comments everyone. Yes, this kind of 'worthy' subject does deserve a tripod and a bigger format and I take the point about over exposure. The abbey is a fascinating place and I may have another go, this time with a Hasselblad superwide. There's a spirit level in the finder!<br>

I realise this is off topic, but, Tim, personally I'm impressed with your alma mater - small classes, rigorous academic atmosphere and high calibre, committed teachers. Worth every penny in my opinion! Of course you have to be good enough to get in.<br>

A couple more shots from the roll.<br>

I deliberately attempted to expose for some detail on the walls in this one.</p><div></div>

[alastair_anderson]

<p>Thanks for the Abbey interior shots, Harry.</p>

<p>Alex, yes. But the school wasn't always in this location. Here's another showing a few more of the school buildings.</p><div></div>

[alastair_anderson]

<p>And another couple of the town:</p><div></div>

[alastair_anderson]

<p>I believe this is the town hall. </p>

<p>I've been living in nearby Harpenden for 6 years. I'm originally from South Africa. The oldest European artifacts that we have there date from the 17th century so I tend to be impressed by anything really old.</p><div></div>

[alastair_anderson]

<p>Another quaint old building. Sorry about chopping off the top.<br>

Next time, I'll bring the super-angulon. Actually I think, I'll take some shots with my Nikkor 14-24 just for the sake of comparison.</p><div></div>

[john_boyle3]

<p>Very interesting photos but they make one wonder how those old stone buildings are heated in the winter. Answers please.</p>

[nee_sung]

<p>"older than the English language"<br>

That makes sense because the Anglo-Saxons were still coming over in the 9th century. The indigenous people were the Celts.<br>

London means "land of the loud barbarians".</p>