Sainte Apolline's Chapel

Friday in Guernsey was a complete write-off as far as photography was concerned.  During the day we ran a Photoshop course: approximately 50% of the one we run over three days in Cambridge, so it was fairly intense for everyone concerned.  In the evening, Ann and I each gave a talk to some dedicated souls from the collected camera clubs of the island, so it was midnight before I managed to crawl into bed.  The image below was taken on an iPhone during Ann's part of the evening.  It was a scary prospect to be following the quality of her superb nature images.

Saturday was rather easier in that we had the afternoon off.  The morning was spent giving an Advanced Image Processing course and the evening was spent running a Low Light workshop, but between the two we managed to get to Sainte Apolline's Chapel in St Saviour.  Three of us, including camera bags and tripods, managed to squeeze into the tiny 14th century church, famous for its wall paintings.  Time for a spot of HDR, methinks...

The paintings themselves were quite faint, but a bit of digital jiggery-pokery makes them much more visible.

Two shots taken down the "length" of the nave with a 17mm lens.  The second shot shows Carl Symes, with whom I was staying, setting up a set of HDR shots on his new D800.

 There was some serious mixed lighting inside the church, so white balance was a bit of an issue.

The (modern) altar was made from a beautiful fossiliferous limestone.

I don't know why, but I kept being attracted to the rather elegant metallic vase and its multiple shadows.

Sainte Apolline (and, no, I hadn't heard of her either) is, apparently, the patron saint of dentists.   One of the stained glass windows depicts an angel pointing to her molars...

It was a beautifully sunny afternoon, although still rather chilly.  Quite a shock to photograph a clear blue sky after months of overbearing grey clouds.

Another  couple of shots of the west end of the chapel, complete with a single bell, and the very elegant modern door made from etched glass.