Immaculate Conception Church at Night

I had the opportunity to shoot at night at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral which was walking distance from Betty Go-Belmonte station, Quezon City. When you think of cathedrals, you normally associate it with a grand structure bounded by large open spaces, quaint landscapes and gardens. Immaculate Conception however, was bounded by apartment blocks and small establishments. There was hardly a garden and the steps of the church were separated from the pavement by a mere 8 or so meters of pebbles and tiles.

It is true that in the Philippines, towns spring about and grow around churches. As with Immaculate Conception, the city had grown like a noose around the church. Its architecture had long been lost to the confusion of repetitive block-like structures of modern buildings. Whatever façade it may have had, there is not enough space for you to back up enough to get a sweeping view of the structure.

The interiors as well as the crypts are works in progress. It was great shooting there at night when you have the cathedral all to yourself. The crypts located at the basement of the cathedral were a subject matter that is too hard to resist.

The Cathedral is a work in progress of an artist friend whom we call Master Kenneth. He specializes in fiberglass fabrication and interior textures. The detailing in and around the altar as well as those in the vaults are his works. Even if you take a closer look you would probably miss that the chandeliers are not wrought iron. They are fiberglass - also his creations.



Most of the intricate detailing you will find inside this church are his works.



Walking there at night through the soupy warm light, I can't help but feel the awe in the breadth of what he has done. Did I mention he also climb mountains?



I had to bracket for this shot. I wanted to capture the dark ambience of the place. Leaving it to the meter would burn out the illuminated ceiling near the altar.



This was a concept that I was consciously searching for in and around the compound. I tried the shots with stored figures under stairs and cabinets, and those set aside in hallways. I was fortunate to find these in the Cathedral's workshop. I was thinking of it and there it was - almost like a miracle. These statues were not at the workshop for repairs. From the looks of it, they are awaiting disposal. But considering how Catholics venerate these statues, I think whoever is in charge of their disposition is having a moral dilemma - like, how can you even think of throwing out a parent? I believe these statues are in a state of limbo at the back of the church. How ironic.



Though the crypts was dusty and had that choking odor about, I really had a fine time exploring in these dark passages and experimenting with time exposures.



I was taken aback by this scene. Perhaps it is the impassioned look on the sculptured face of Christ, the spent candles, the dried Sampaguita strands. I was disheartened though that my built-in Fujinon lens was displaying some mad barrel distortion here. I guess this is the trade-off for a lens that can zoom from 38mm up to 300mm.

All of these shots were taken without a flash. The Fuji Finepix S5600 was mounted on a tripod and exposed up to a maximum of 15 seconds - which is the longest time value for this camera. There is no bulb setting though I wish there was.

For almost all of these shots, I made use of the camera's timer. This prevented shakes when pressing the shutter button.