Rodney Campbell's Blog

The Lights of Christmas @ St Mary’s Cathedral…

by on Dec.14, 2016, under Life, Photography

I was once again at St Mary’s Cathedral for the annual Lights of Christmas. Hosted by the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney at St Mary’s Cathedral the Lights of Christmas 2016 is a spectacular display of lights projected on the facade of the beautiful St Mary’s Cathedral.

Twilight Contrasts

Twilight Contrasts

NIKON D750 + 12 mm f/2.8 @ 12 mm, 1.60 sec at f/8, ISO 400

Note: These photographs (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger. To see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer click any of the images.

St Mary’s Cathedral

St Mary's Cathedral

NIKON D750 + 12 mm f/2.8 @ 12 mm, 1 sec at f/8, ISO 800

Each year they take one of the Christmas themes of Peace, Joy and Goodwill and develop an animated light show that entertains and inspires.

Running from the 8th to the 25th December 2016 – including Christmas Night. It starts each evening at 7:30pm with a choir performance – the light show commences at 8.30pm and continues through until midnight.

Madonna & Child

Madonna & Child

NIKON D750 + 12 mm f/2.8 @ 12 mm, 3 sec at f/8, ISO 200

Besides enjoying the fabulous display I was able to for the first time use a new lens I’d supported through a Kickstarter campaign. I’d actually received my Venus Optics Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D lens some weeks back but had yet to have the opportunity to use it.

12mm is rediculously wide for a full frame lens with an angle of view of 122˚. Normally you’d expect an extreme level of distortion with such a wide lens. The images here are uncorrected from a lens distortion point of view. The image above show’s why this lens earns it’s Zero-D (Zero Distortion) moniker. Take a look at the steps at the bottom of the frame and notice just how horizontal, straight and undistorted those lines are – amazing. I wish I’d taken some shots with my Samyang 14mm for comparison.

Joy to the World

Joy to the World

NIKON D750 + 12 mm f/2.8 @ 12 mm, 1/2 sec at f/8, ISO 800

I’ll do a more complete writeup on the lens after I’ve had a chance to use it much more. For now however it’s looking very promising.


Comments are closed.

Looking for something?

Use the form below to search the site:

Still not finding what you're looking for? Drop a comment on a post or contact us so we can take care of it!

Copyright © 2015 Rodney Campbell

Images contained on this web site may not be used or reproduced in any way without prior permission.