Harry Potter – Magical architecture

The architecture is so spectacular they used these cloisters for a set in Harry Potter. Architectural photography at Gloucester Cathedral is an absolute delight. Yes, it a photogenic hot spot, but if you are patient enough you will be rewarded.

To create this shot the most important part of the workflow was how I captured the images to create it. I bracketed my shots from -6 to +2 with one stop increments. I also decided to use a panoramic head as my 14-24mm wasn’t quite wide enough for the ideal composition.

This meant that I had a good range of exposures for creating an HDR, but also valuable exposures I could use for masking and manual blending. Sometimes it’s too tricky to get the exact tonal values you want using HDR alone, which is where by adjusting single exposures and then manually blending them can give you a little more control.

As I’ve mentioned in other a previous post. When visiting Gloucester Cathedral it was surprising to discover they had an art exhibition on. Initially I was a little sad as I had pre-visualised the type of images I was hoping to create and capture.

However, it wasn’t long before I throughly embraced this ‘change’ to the aesthetic appearance of the Cathedral. In fact, I began to realise that the architecture and this temporary art exhibition was inspiring me to create something magical.