hdg Loc: Boston

I would set up a tripod and carefully take the shot at multiple exposures. Then you can layer the best exposures in Photoshop and mask out the parts you don't want...just as you would do with interior shots or shiny surface shots.

lowkick Loc: Connecticut

Try shooting in HDR.

revhen Loc: By the beautiful Hudson

For tilt and shift look for "skew" in help.

StephanA

While I've been enjoying reading topics for some time, I've never been compelled to put my 2 cents in before. I believe I can help with this subject, having a bit of experience in it. Granted, I'm old school (a filmy), so be repectful. I've found that lighting stained glass only from behind will give a very flat look to the picture, with no personality of the glass itself. It has to be backlit for the main light and harshly side lit ACROSS the front to pick up the waviness of the glass and show the lead between the pieces as well as the stone or concrete framework. I use an averaging reflective (selenium) meter to get the exposure right. There is no exposure setting that can be universally used due to the properties of the glass. This should get you going in the right direction. Everybody who's seen my pictures of stained glass in 2-1/4 square slides projected always asks how I got them. And there it is. Good luck.

the f/stops here Loc: New Mexico

Lima Bean, As a photographer that specialized in Architectural for many years, I had the pleasure of photographing hundreds of stain glass windows and developed a simple technique. Simply, hang a white bed sheet 4 feet behind the window, place a flash, with a wireless receiver, on a light stand about 6 feet behind the sheet and place the camera, with a wireless transmitter, in front of the window at a comfortable distance depending on the lens. ISO about 320, f/stop of about 8, shutter speed of 1/250 and the white balance set for flash or daylight, but NEVER AWB. If you don't have access to a wireless transmitter & receiver and you're doing this in the evening, you simply can put your shutter on bulb and have a friend fire off the flash when the shutter is open (at your command). No filters are needed, nor any other equipment except a shutter release. I know you'll do well, J. Goffe

sidpearce

I was recently commisioned to take shots of 12 stained glass windows.
I found it was better to wait for a dull day so that nothing was burnt out.
I also braketed by 1 stop up and down. I then either used the best shot or used HDR in Photoshop to get the best or matching shots. The church were delighted with the final results which have been placed ito their archives

manderson Loc: Northeast Nebraska

Try using HDR. That way you get 3 different exposures and combined they should look right.

Lionel1954 Loc: Brampton, Ontario, Canada.

If you're shooting mid day surly you can expect wash out in some colours, I recommend taking the photo 2 to 3 hours before sun set, this will increase the exposure but that's not a problem since you have been given permission to bring a tripod. Insure that there are no shadows falling on parts of the stained glass window. The object here is to get even illumination with a light source that will render the most pleasing colour.
I have been working with stained glass for about 3 decades and even longer as a photographer (ammeter). This is quite a simple photo shoot and if you're lucky to get an overcast day you smooth sailing.

fantom Loc: Colorado

Save your bleeding heart, politically correct, libby nonsense for the chat section.

Lima Bean Loc: Finger Lakes NY

Thank you and others for ideas about lighting. Getting diffuse natural outside light at any time of the year is just a matter of a waiting a few days, for a day when the sky is a uniform gray, sort of like being inside an integrating sphere. Front lighting is iffy, I'll have to look at that more closely, incandescent lamps are on for 15 minutes or so after Mass. Out side lighting not really possible the bottom of the windows are at least 12 to 15 ft above ground level and large bushes run along that side of church.

Apaflo Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

Let me re-emphasize the point about shooting in RAW mode and using ISO 100. There is a very specific reason to do so, but it's easy to miss the significance.

When the scene has more dynamic range than the camera you end up clipping whites and/or blocking shadows. Hence a scene with 14 fstops from shadows to highlights, which is not uncommon for anything with a light source in it, simply cannot be captured with a Nikon D60 because the largest range it can record is only 8 fstops.

You want to get the entire 8 fstops the camera is capable of. Otherwise it is as your initial article said, the dark areas are too dark and the bright areas are washed out.

The D60 get 8 fstops at ISO 100, it gets 7.1 at ISO 200, and 6.4 at ISO 400. So ISO 100 is the only option for this project.

If you really need a good picture, rent a D600 or D610!

Here's a chart that shows Dynamic Range vs ISO for a D60 and a D600. It pretty much tells the story... :-)

http://home.comcast.net/~NikonD70/Charts/PDR.htm#D60,D600

Look at the vertical distance, at ISO 100, between the graph for the D60 and the graph for the D600. That is 3.5 fstops better on the D600 (or virtually any Nikon FX camera). That's a huge improvement.

DON PRYTHERCH Loc: Stroudsburg PA

Lima Bean, I've had excellent results photographing stained glass window by using a telephoto zoom lens on my camera mounted on a tripod; a cloudy day outside provides more even lighting usually rather than bright sun to illuminate the stained glass. This worked on a Tiffany rose window at the Flemington NJ Presbyerian Church.