A Few Feet off the Trail

I like to go walking. I enjoy it enough to belong to a walking group. Now there are a lot of reasons people join walking groups, but for me, the biggest draw was going on walks that I might not have discovered on my own. A few months ago our group went on a walk that included a tour of this church that was just off the trail we were walking on:

ISO 250 28mm f/11 1/640sec

This church is St. Denis. It is currently under the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches. The link I’ve included leads to specific renovations that the church is undergoing. We were met there by some folks who were pretty enthusiastic about the project and were happy to show us around and give us a bit of history on the building. I honestly had never heard of the charity before, but find their work really interesting. As for the photo above, here is my edit:

ISO 250 28mm f/11 1/640sec

Just like the work going on in the church, this edit was a pretty big overhaul as well. As pretty as the day was, the tones in the original file just didn’t really appeal to me. I started with the shadows slider though, to bring back some detail. I’ve changed the color tones quite a bit and added some grain to give the edit a bit of a vintage look. I chose these particular color tones because once inside the church, the light was warmer and more diffuse than outside, and I’ve chosen to apply that to this edit.

It was worth stepping off the trail to take a look at this church, I really enjoyed my visit. Do you like this edit? Feel free to leave a comment below.

Cheers!

Added to Tuesday Photo Challenge: Trail.

Wordless Wednesday: St Mary the Virgin, Fen Ditton

ISO 160 4.3mm f/8.0 1/200sec

St. Mary the Virgin in Fen Ditton.

A part of Wordless Wednesday and One Word Sunday, Blue.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Heritage

I am a bit of a history buff.  I enjoy thinking about how generations before me lived, which is why I was fascinated by the interior of this church:

ISO 500 4.15mm f/2.2 1/17 sec

It’s a reimagining of what the church would have looked like in 1520 :

ISO 25 4.15mm f/2.2 1/250

The church is part of St Fagans National Museum of History which is just outside of Cardiff, Wales. It’s an interesting collection of heritage. This museum is unique in that they have collected various buildings and homes from different time periods and parts of Wales and moved them here to this site. Visitors have a chance then to view a wide variety of the history of Wales in one place.

The interior of this church was interesting because it brings to life what it would have looked like in the Middle Ages. Usually, churches from this time just have traces of the paint, and you have to use your imagination as to what the original would have looked like.  This particular example brings to life the use of the church almost as a book and guide for those who would not have been able to read.

As for the photos, it was raining that day, and so I had to be selective of when I would take out my larger camera.  For most of the day I relied on my iPhone.  I keep my phone in a pretty decent case to prevent damage from when it gets dropped.  On days like this I also keep in in a very technical waterproof case, a ziplock bag. That meant for the shot of the sign, I just had to slip it out for a moment.  The inside of the church was easier as it wasn’t raining in there.  The low light and the small interior of the church meant that the iPhone was a good choice for getting a representative shot of church.

I did edit the photo a bit in Photoshop.  It’s been sharpened and I also increased the exposure a bit. A large part of why I took the photo was to remember this space.  I’ll probably even come back to look at this photo the next time I am in a church that has remnants of a similar style of painting.  Have you ever done that, taken a photo as a point of reference, to help you better understand?  Do you have a favorite history museum?  Feel free to leave a comment below.

Cheers!

Stained Glass in Chicago

I was intrigued when I walked past The First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple and saw a series of stained glass windows at eye level.  This one in particular caught my eye, so I thought I would share it:

ISO 800 50mm 0ev f/3.2 1/320

The story here is that the third building this church had that was at this location burned down in the Chicago Fire of 1871.  The other windows told of other parts of the church’s history.  I think this was the first time I have ever seen a fire like this in stained glass.

This post was written in response to Thursday Lingering Look at Windows.

Cheers!

Architecture in Black and White

This photo is another in the series I took last week for my digital photography class:

ISO 100 50mm (-2,-1,0)ev f/9 1/5

This was originally shot in color, using a tripod.  I bracketed the exposure because it was so bright and I was hoping to catch some details in the windows.  I ended up liking it in black and white over the color version.  I did my HDR work in Photomatix and then did some final tweaking in Aperture.

Would you have edited it differently? your thoughts are welcome in the comment section.

Cheers!

Photomatix and Architecture

Last week I was working on a architecture project for my digital photography class.  Here is a photo that I edited in Photomatix:

ISO 250 50mm -2ev f/16 1/250

The original image was handheld.  I bracketed the exposure -2 -1 0 because it was really bright out.  The sky was OK, but bright, which is one of the reasons I put this in Photomatix and went with a more artsy look.  How do you handle skies that are not cooperating? any cool tips you want to share? Feel free to leave them in the comments section.

Cheers!

Church Organ

I took this photo as part of an architecture assignment I am working on in digital photography class:

ISO 100 50mm f/2.8 1/5

I shot this originally in color.  I used a tripod and bracketed the exposure.  It has been edited using Photomatix and then Aperture.  I liked the outcome in black and white over what I came up with in color.

Cheers!