If you are travelling, always check the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites to see if  your desination has a featured church, old house, historical landmark, monument  or natural formation.  You will be disappointed if you return home only to discover that you missed photographing a famous UNESCO Heritage Site.

UNESCO gives you the history and reasons why a particular structure was selected for its list.  In my travels, some of my favorite photography sessions have been of UNESCO Heritage churches.

Famous architects design these historical churches and the details are often breathtaking.  The care and craftsmanship that goes into these structures makes for incredible photographs.

Photographing churches is not an exact science. With digital cameras, you can take photos to your heart’s content so experiment.

Photograph wide angle views of the entire church to  macro views of the masonry.  Go crazy with your angles. Add interesting photos to your collection shooting skyward.

Take photos from yards away to 6 inches from the walls.  Frame your photos horizontally and vertically.

Explore for details and interesting patterns.  You may have to find angles to obscure cars or unwanted elements.

Try different lighting.  Night vs day photos can give a different feel to your photographs.

What do you want the viewer to see?  What do you want the viewer to feel? Always remember that pictures are physical memories of what you have witnessed.  You want to capture your experience.

San Sebastian Church  is the only neo-gothic steel church in the Phillipines and is on the UNESCO Heritage Site List.  If you are ever in Manila, visit San Sebastian Church to take photographs.   The first photograph in this article was taken in the early afternoon.  The second was taken in the late afternoon at a different angle.  The church was being repainted at the time of the photographs.

Always look for opportunites to photograph architectural structures of historical or aesthetic value whenever you travel.  You will treasure your photographs.