IN THE FIELD: New Discoveries

Now that we are pretty much settled into our new home, I’ve had a chance to get out and do a little exploring. My last post featured the view from our backyard at sunset on our first night, which showed a church steeple on the distant horizon. And yesterday, I found the church. Turns out the original church was built in early 1700’s and has gone through renovations and expansions over the last couple hundred years.

We now live closer to civilization where running errands is not an all day affair as it was in the past. And at the same time we are still in a rural area with plenty of elbow room. So I’m pretty sure I will be able to make many new discoveries in our new locale.

I can’t wait to see what’s out there!

f8

1/2000

ISO 400

cloudy WB

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IN THE FIELD: Subtleties Of Light

By now you have probably noticed I have been on an architecture kick. Lately I have focused (every pun intended) on photographing older churches. I am fascinated with the steeples that reach for the sky, the traditional arched doorways, and the stained glass windows.

The stained glass window pictured in my previous post is one of a dozen in a church I recently spent several hours exploring. After photographing the exterior and several statues in the cemetery, I went inside. Upon asking if I could photograph the the interior of the church, I was told to have at it…just don’t break anything. I will say I thought that comment was a little odd, but I went inside anyhow.

I finished up the shots of the windows, then began to look for other details, hoping to find a good close-up. The interior was not ornate, and was more simplistic in style. All the pews were angled towards the center aisle. Six hand-made wrought iron and white glass lamps, about two feet in diameter, hung from the ceiling. Wood accent mouldings were minimal, except around the sanctuary, and even that was not fancy. The organ was featured at the front of the church, with its pipes standing out against the stark white of the plaster walls.

The light filtering through the windows illuminating the organ pipes caught my attention and I knew I wanted to capture the subtleties of light and patterns. I made a number of exposures and each one depicted the pipes in a different way. Some brought out the detail in the shadows while others emphasized the contrast of dark and light within the shapes of the pipes.

I chose this photo because I like the metallic texture and tones, and the way the violet decorations are featured. It is more subtle, with less contrast than other exposures, but still has a strong light source, and maintained the drama I wanted to capture.