Recently I have enjoyed looking at the blog, Lingering Visions, and one of the things the author, Dawn, is doing is a weekly look at windows. I have found it interesting to look through the various posts and this week I have a photo that fits so I thought I would join in.
This photo was taken at Bellfontaine Cemetery in St. Louis. The cemetery is a beautiful spot. Be sure to stop at their front offices on the way in because they offer a complementary map of the grounds. I took a bunch of pictures but for this particular post, here is my window shot:
ISO 100 50mm 0ev f/10 1/100
As I approached this mausoleum, I could see there was a lot going on in this potential photo. I decided then that I would bracket the exposure to try and capture as much of the detail as possible. First I wanted the peeling frame of the exterior. Then in the window itself you can see several things. The bottom and top you can see the interior, but in the bottom you can also see a reflection of what is outside behind me. The middle of the window is dominated by the stain glass window that was on the far side of the mausoleum through which you can see back out to the rear. So, that is a lot to look at. There is also a lot of contrast here between bright color and more muted color.
So, this is a very busy window. What do you think? Would you have shot it differently or processed it differently? Your comments are most welcome below.
Cheers!
Photography Journal Blog 
I really like it just the way it is – a very good interpretation
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Thanks, and thanks for taking the time to say so 🙂
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I love it…I just wished I could of seen more of the beautiful door handle too…windows are very mysterious arent’ they?
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I agree with you on the door handle, something I didn’t think of when I was shooting. Always look around the whole frame of your picture when it is on the back on your camera right? 🙂
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this is fab, i like it …. i draws my attention to the details of the stained glass….
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Thanks 🙂
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I really like that effect!
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Thank you!
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There are so many interesting things in this photo. I like it very much. I would have also taken another one with a closer view of the window glass.
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Yes, that probably would have been a good idea. I took a few from further away, but did not get any closer.
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Love the textures and the colours! I’m not usually a fan of HDR, but I think it has really brought out the details here, so you made a good call there. Now I’ve got to find my windows!
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Thank you very much. Good luck finding your windows 🙂
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At first glance, I wasn’t sure what I was looking at, but when I read the rest of your post the photo started to look more interesting and rich. Sounds like a fun challenge. 🙂
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Thank you for commenting, you have stumbled upon one of my concerns with this photo, that maybe it needs too much of an explanation. That’s always a bit of challenge because if you have to explain your work too much, perhaps you aren’t being clear enough. Just something I was thinking of when I was making this image.
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Beautiful.
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Thanks!
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A great effort at getting the best out of a very difficult lighting situation. I’m not sure how you are bracketing the exposure. Three ways I know are several shots from a tripod; Three shots using the camera’s auto spread and its hi-speed multi-image setting when hand holding; or single shot and creating multiple raw files within photoshop. There is a fourth, but not one I use. I’m interested to know which HDR methods you are using 🙂
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In this case I was shooting in manual mode. It is a handheld image, there was a lot of light, so I had a pretty fast shutter speed. I did use the auto bracketing feature, which meant one stop between each of the images. I use Photomatix Pro for my HDR work. I have used Photoshop a bit, but in my opinion Photomatix gives a better result.
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Thanks for the info 🙂 I also find Photomatix to be a very effective HDR tool. Having set up a spread of exposures in photoshop I usually process them in photomatix 🙂
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Interesting. If I am creating a spread of exposures, I usually use Aperture, I hadn’t thought to try that part in Photoshop, thanks.
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I really like this image. You did a great job with the HDR to make it realistic looking. Some HDR effects look too processed, but if you had not said you used HDR, I would not have known.
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Cool, I’m glad you like it. HDR is interesting to play around with. I agree that sometimes it can be way overdone but I know that is a matter of opinion.
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What an artistic rendition of this window. I love the seemingly mixture of old and new. Thanks for joining in.
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Thanks, and thank you for hosting 🙂
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Oh I am addicted to this now! I see windows everywhere!
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I can completely see how that would happen. I have really enjoyed the posts that folks have been adding over the weeks.
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