Ghosts in the Cathedral

[SMB2]

I had a chance to take some morning shots at the National Cathedral on a day that they allowed tripods and access to photographers before the public.
After shooting the main area I went down the old stairs to the lower crypts. There is just hallway lights and flash I don't think is allowed so I tried a few slow shutter speed shots to get the depth of field I wanted. I was pretty sure after a few shots that I wanted to convert these to B&W.
Then somebody came down the stairs and I got the idea of trying to capture some ghost like images on the stairs. By luck a school group came down the stairs shortly thereafter so I had a chance to take multiple shots.
So I have a shot of Ghosts on The Crypt Stairs.
Tripod, 70-200mm lens @ 70mm, 5 sec exposure.

ONE.jpg

TWO.jpg

THREE.jpg

[Second Hand Pat]

Damn Stan, that is so cool. It is a perfect subject for B&W. Love the "ghost-like" images.
Pat

[SMB2]

Zombies!

[CrazyAngels]

That's crazy. love it..

[Phillydubs]

That is really amazing!! Great work and thinking there!! What a shot!

[rickztahone]

Great DOF here Stan. Personally I feel like that last one is just a tad bit overworked but the idea and capture of it is spot on. Just a little too much contrast for my taste, ymmv of course

[Discus-n00b]

I love the first shot, perfect! I actually like the ones without the "ghosts" in them the best.

[discuspaul]

Your B & W ghost shot on the staircase is superb !
Hollywood, and especially Steven Spielberg, needs you !

[SMB2]

Ricardo, I agree completely and if I was going for the architectural shot I would never have processed it the same way. But as I began to play with the Ghosts, I decided to go with the heavier processing which for me gave it a more "gothic" feel.

Matt, I have to tell you that these stairs get photographed a lot! I have been there several times and have tried different lenses/angles etc . This was the first time I had a chance to interject people into the images, so the last shot was sort of whimsical but fun to go through the process.

Thanks Paul, as above, Spielberg/Goth/Halloween is what was going through my mind as I began to play with the processing.

[laborelch]

very nice! May I ask for ISO and aperture?