England - York Minster, Tea Candles on Shelves

Am really drawn to candles in churches as a subject of stills.  The brightness of the flames keeps the shutter speed fast, depth of field is more noticeable and easy to manipulate, and they are almost always in a setting that is beautiful.  Some of my favorite posts of all time feature candles.  The purpose of these things is a mystery to me, but parishioners treat the lighting and handling of them with such reverence that I do my best to stay out of the way and not distract with shutter noise, etc.

Focus-shifted shot below of same scene:

From Paris - Notre Dame 06

The line of tourists threaded all the way around the sanctuary. This was captured at the far end, behind where the service was being conducted.

It was interesting to observe that these 1-euro tea candles were available for those that could not afford the larger, 5-euro candles that were seen in the previous postings. This is in keeping with the Old Testament concept that if one cannot afford to atone for sins in a prescribed manner, then provision is made to accomplish same using other materials (Leviticus 5:5-13).

Europe 2015 - Lake Como Church, White Candles with Red Glass

Candles are beautiful things, especially in the relative darkness of a cathedral.  One of the top ten photos in my collection is this one, shot at Notre Dame, and this one is right up there, also shot at the famous cathedral in Paris.

Bookmark - Wrought Iron with Candles (Abstracts)

Though this guy cannot be easily identified as a church pic, I'm posting it here because I missed it for the Abstracts series of bookmarks.  Captured in York Minster, those are candles beyond a wrought iron divider in one of the sanctuaries.

From Paris - Notre Dame 02

Due to the lines going in and out of the cathedral, as well as the swarms taking pictures outside, it was easy to view Notre Dame as a mere tourist attraction, and not a functioning church. My perception quickly changed, however, after seeing what was going on inside.

One fascinating thing to me about the Catholic church is the manner in which the offering is done. Each of these candles was paid for by individuals to the tune of five euros. What the significance of the candles is I'm not sure, but they were purchased, lit and placed with great solemnity.

Topsail Wedding 14

These were on the deck and steps leading to the beach. It was quite windy, so was necessary to use the battery-powered variety of candles. When these are turned on the "flame" looks surprisingly realistic, as it actually flickers.

Bookmark - Thirsk Cathedral Candles

Another candle shot in the Thirsk cathedral...off to the side, in one of the smaller sanctuaries.  This is the one most likely used by the Wight family for their wedding.

And by all accounts it was a good marriage, lasting more than 50 years until Alf Wight died in 1995.  She was very good for him in that, after multiple rejections of his book submissions, she goaded him into digging them out of a drawer and sending them in "just one more time" until finally - to the benefit of us all - it was accepted for publication.  Love the storybook tales where the wife will not let her husband give up on himself.

England - Thirsk, Church Candles with Window

Couldn't decide on which of these was better so here they are side by side.  If you like candle shots in churches try this one, this one, or this one.

Europe 2014 - Lake Como Church, White Candles with Edges

Moments later and only from a slightly different angle these guys were compositioned into their own frame.  Then a little trickery in Photoshop yielded the image below:

From 2005 - Girl Scout Candles

A table was set up for a Girl Scout ceremony, and as usual I was tinkering around before the thing got started. There was light coming through a door in the background, which was cloned out with the surrounding darkness. This is the same type of setup that was used for the candle shot seen in the header for this blog (look up!).

2025 NE Cruise - Québec City, Red Candles in Church Interior

We did go into one church, where I got some pretty good interiors.  Above we have the traditional candle stand often seen in Catholicism.  Other church candle pics posted here.

Andrew and Ellen's Wedding - United We Sand

At some point in the ceremony Andrew and Ellen blended these flasks of sand, much as two candles are used to light a common wick in traditional US weddings.  Result below in this post-wedding shot:

England - York Minster, Background Candle Shot

Another candle shot - this time of candles through some iron latticework.