The MasterClass Series #7
Composing spiral staircases – Cathedral of Our Lady, Kutna Hora
Equipment
EOS 5D Mark III
TS-E 17mm f/4 L
EXIF #1, 2, and 3
Focal length: 17mm
Aperture: f/4
Shutter speed: 1/160
ISO: 1000
Editing
Adobe Lightroom CC
After last week’s capturing snow texture let’s now look at composing spiral staircases.
The story
Gothic Cathedral of Our Lady, together with St. Barbara’s Church in Kutna Hora (the Czech Republic), made it to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1995. Its construction began in the late 13th-century and finished in the early 14th-century. While rebuilt in the late 17th – early 18th century in the Baroque Gothic style, they took care to preserve its original Gothic atmosphere. This spiral staircase of the Cathedral of Our Lady leads to its bell tower. Though built ~300 years ago, its wooden steps and banister are polished and maintained as new.
Composing spiral staircases challenge
Spiral staircases are a fascinating subject to shoot. Their lighting, textures, and materials offer an opportunity to get creative with your images. The perspective as you look up from beneath differs from the one as you look down from the top. Its composition is the tricky part.
The shots
As I looked up, the spiral staircase offered a likeness of the Fibonacci spiral or the golden spiral. You may recall the Fibonacci spiral or the golden ratio/spiral gives photography the rule of thirds but is better than that rule. Composing it in the shot was easy.
But the top-down view offered immense possibilities.
I included a pointed-arched window as I composed the shot in landscape format. The arched window almost seems like an arrowhead mounted on a spinning spoked wheel. The banister formed a question mark. Despite the strong shape of the question mark, here the eye stays on the spoked wheel shape of the staircase. That dilutes the shot.
So, I composed the frame in portrait orientation. This is when an emphatic question mark shape came through.
In all the three shots, point to note is the directional lighting. While the shapes may reveal themselves with a little imagination, uniform lighting will only produce a flat spiral, lacking the third dimension. The spectacular depth only comes through if dramatic lighting aids the scene.
Next time you come across a spiral staircase, allow your creativity to break free and compose the strongest shape that catches your fancy. But be mindful of how you use the light. The result will wow your viewers.
