Antiquarium

The Antiquarium is a breathtaking barrel vaulted hall inside the Munich Residenz, the former palace of the Bavarian dukes in the centre of the city. Built in the 1560s to hold Duke Albrecht V's collection of ancient sculpture, it stretches out roughly 60m end to end and is the oldest room in the palace, with its grand Renaissance interior. You can stand at one end and shoot straight down the center of the vault with its rows of antique busts in their wall niches, plus the lines in the floor will pull your eye deep into the shot. The curved ceiling is covered in painted panels so it pays to shoot upward too, either filling the frame with the vault or catching the way the painted ribs arch overhead. Windows run along both long walls and let in daylight, which mixes with the warmer interior lighting, so expect a cool-to-warm colour shift across the room. Like most palace interiors this is now a museum with an admission fee and tripods are usually not allowed, so plan on shooting handheld at a higher ISO. Early in the day or on quieter weekday mornings you stand the best chance of a clear floor before tour groups fill the hall. A wide lens is the key piece of gear, both for the full length and for the ceiling. (Munich, Bavaria, Germany)