Sagrada Familia Towers: Best for AFTERNOON Photos?

Posted by qt3dot1416 on 05/23/18 03:09 PM

Hi travel friends,

I've been searching through past posts and pretty extensively on the Internet and haven't found the answer to this question: Which tower at la Sagrada Familia will be best in the afternoon for photography? (ie: LESS shadows on the city views and sculpture work). As of now, the tower facing the Passion facade AND the one facing the Nativity facade are both available for the late afternoon when I'll be touring.

I realize there are many stairs for both on the way down and that posters have been 50/50 on the tower experience. I just have my heart set on one of the towers since I visited 20 years ago and the towers weren't an option at the time. But I would hate to visit in the late afternoon and everything be covered in shadows.

Many thanks for your input!

Posted by Marty

Rockville, MD, USA

05/23/18 04:00 PM

595 posts

If you choose the west (Passion) tower you will be facing the sun. On the east (Nativity) side any buildings you see will have the setting sun reflecting off them. It was raining the day I was there and the towers were closed, so I don't know about shadows and sculpture. Check the Photographer's Ephemeris for specifics on the angle of the sun and when sunset is on the day of your visit. Moonrise might be cool too. https://www.photoephemeris.com/

Posted by Enric

Barcelona (Catalonia)

05/23/18 05:27 PM

2942 posts

... when? As you will understand the sun's position varies along the year, so it makes quite a lot of difference whether you're talking in Feb or in Aug. Secondly, again, when? what is "afternoon" for you?

UPDATE
I've seen another post of yours and you seem to be referring to "Summer", whatever that might be (Jun? Aug?...). During that period of the year, the city is very luminous due to its latitude. From its high in late June -Summer's solstice- there's daylight from 6:30ish AM to 9:30ish PM (8:30ish by the end of Aug) and an average of 13 to 15 hours of daily sunlight -rain permitting, LOL!

Taking into account that SF closes by 8 pm (last ticket 7 pm), and if you remember your trigonometry from your school days, you'll realize that the closest to noon the less shadows, but equally, the closest to sunset -which you wouldn't see anyway from within the SF as they close before sunset- the more beautiful light effects inside.

This is a member of the TA forum of Barcelona who's a photography fan and has a blog with plenty of photos from SF at different times of the day (and the year): http://www.pbase.com/joseantonio/la_sagrada_familia&page=all

Enjoy

Posted by qt3dot1416 OP

05/23/18 08:01 PM

5 posts

Thank you both for the links! Yes, I'm referring to summer--July!-- and was hoping to visit around 4 pm. I'll do some more digging with your helpful links and try to decide!