The first brownstone cathedral was built in 1854 and named the Cathedral of Saint John and Saint Finbar. It burned in a great fire in December 1861. The rebuilt cathedral was named for St. John the Baptist and was constructed on the foundations of the earlier structure. Architect Patrick Keely designed both the original cathedral and its replacement.

The building was of special interest to us being built out of brownstone. We could almost see the quarries for the stone from our home in Connecticut.  Portland CT stone was used in most of the NYC buildings as well.

All the images in this article were taken with a Tamron 18-400 lens, certainly not made for interior photography. I do think it worked out but on another visit I will be sure to have a few short prime lens in my pocket.

For me the images in a church is all about the lines. That worked for Notre Dame in Paris and Strasbourg, as well as the outdoors tabernacles.  I follow lines and the composition takes care of itself… I might take a bad shot, but that’s my fault.

Charleston, South Carolina has incredible churches everywhere, the trick is to find them empty and available for a shoot.