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Hard to Shoot


Hard to Shoot
Photo Information
Copyright: Greg Davis (Greg1949) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1153 W: 109 N: 1684] (5634)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2008-07-15
Categories: Daily Life, Ceremony, Architecture
Camera: Nikon D 200, 18-200 1:3.5-5.6 DX VR, Digital RAW, Hoya PL-CIRCULAR
Exposure: f/10.0, 1/125 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): Churches Part 2 [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2008-07-15 15:58
Viewed: 467
Favorites: 1 [view]
Points: 44
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Pardon the title, I have stopped to shoot this church, made special trips there and even gotten up before dawn to shoot it at sunrise, today I succeeded I think, you be the judge.

The Church is on a hill with the steeple on the down hill side and the land slopes away in front as well. Figuring out what is straight or what part should be vertical and how much distortion is acceptable is all part of this equation.

As you can see it is called the Emmanuel Church, it is currently an Orthodox Catholic (Eastern Orthodox) house of worship and it's web site makes the inside look as interesting as the outside, I have not bee inside yet.
dareco, PaulVDV, InasiaJones, goldyrs, shevchenko, Longroute, jonathan_hart, fulvio52, Floydian, Charo, avene, maloutim, Silversnow has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To guitianmiranda: CarlosGreg1949 1 08-27 04:29
To zmey: KristapsGreg1949 15 07-16 10:15
To Floydian: HenkGreg1949 1 07-16 06:46
To fulvio52: FulvioGreg1949 2 07-16 05:52
To redrash: PawelGreg1949 1 07-15 18:36
To InasiaJones: AndreGreg1949 1 07-15 16:58
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Critiques [Translate]

Hello Greg,
I think there's no distortion unacceptable on this photo. It's a very nice picture of this beautiful church. It's all clear and sharp en the colours are really beautiful.
And we also find out that it's 72 miles to Boston.
Kind regards, Paul

Hi Greg,

I'm just returning from a weekend in the countryside, where there was a lot of churches like yours; I had the very same problem, trying to make them fit graciously into a frame. But because I had to tackle this kind of challenge, I can tell you sincerely that you did a great job with this photo.

First, your low point of view is highly interesting for this kind of building. Then you've done a good composition out of the bell tower in the forefront and on a line of third. There's also the green surrounding that seems to envelop the church.

The perspective and the distortion is highly efficient IMHO. I've been through this questioning for a long period of time, asking myself what is right and what is wrong and after looking at thousands of images, I came to the conclusion that there's not a single answer. It's a case by case evaluation, depending on the kind of building, the degree of distortion, the desirable effect, the surrounding and so on.

I also think that whether the building have to be distorted or not. When I see a structure very slightly bent, it looks more like a flaw, a negligence of correction. Or when a single building is tilting in one side, that's also look weird. But here, we can feel the wide lens, it looks good and it certainly have more appeal than if it would be corrected by computer straightening...

Cheers!

André

Hello Greg,
You have made a good use of a polarizer here. The whiteness of the church contrasts very good with the blue sky darkened by the polarising filter.
If you will have a chance try maybe take a picture from this same position but with the sun on your right side. Also, IMO the picture would be better without the small wall in the foreground. It just doesn’t look good and isn’t necessary there.
Regards

Succeed?That is an understatement, Greg!
you've done a splended job here!
Very well done!
Cheers!
Goldy

Hello Greg
I like the perspective you have chosen here, with main steeple reaching nearly all the way up into the beautiful blue skies. Natural colours, and the exposures look spot on everywhere in this image. Like the sign saying 72 miles from Boston.
Well captured
Regards
Jim

Hi Greg,
A beautiful church paint in pure white color, good shoot to show it out the structure and design, nice blue sky, good contrast, thanks for sharing.
Ally

Yes, yes, you succeded very well!
The colours and light are splendid and the church is as straight as it can be. the contrast between the white of the building and the deep blue sky is fantastic.
Well done,
Donato

Hi Greg,
Great architectural shot with splendid quality. The colours and lights are beautiful, the POV is very attractive. Very well done! Have a nice day
George

  • Great 
  • dareco Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1757 W: 42 N: 789] (11183)
  • [2008-07-16 1:03]

Absolutely one of your best. These colors are fantastic!! Wonderful lighting and detail. Excellent pov. And last, but not least, a very beautiful church!! I really love this one! TFS

Hi Greg, it is very difficult one, you've done excellent job avoiding the distortion, perfect POV, I like the contrast and the blue sky. well done.
Sam.

this is fantastic, greg! :-) the wide-angle and the pov are chosen perfectly, the polarizer enhances the blue of the sky
creating a wonderful contrast to the white of the church. the slight distortion does not bother me, on the contrary, i really like the dynamic it creates.
the stone wall in the foreground is a nice detail - the "72 mile from boston" is cool - it just could be a tiny bit brighter,
maybe using the shadow/highlight in photoshop. superb job & best wishes, thor.

Hello Greg!
I like it very much!
Natural and beautiful colors!
The church is really nice and being white made such a contrast with the bluest sky!
The low POV made it very impressive too!
TFS - Congratulations!
Greetings from Brazil,
Neyvan Peçanhuk

nothing is burnt, exposure is perfect, well done, not easy light and subject, you got it
regards
jo

bonjour,
je suis comme toi, je me pose aussi souvent la question surtout les églises; mais là je pense qu'il n'y a pas distortion et que ton cadrage est parfait, cette église est toute blanche et originale mais probablement typique, une belle architecture
a bientôt
juliette

Hi Greg,
doncha worry about nothing, the distortion is more than acceptable. I had something similar in my latest post too, the usual converging angles when shooting upwards... What I see in here is not disturbing at all.
Good shot, fine angle, excellent light management, as I can see those whites retain good overall detail.
Therefore : GOOD JOB!
Have a nice day, see ya soon.
Fulvio.

Hi Greg,
The composition is very powerful with your low pov and the way the church is erecting itself up right in to the sky. I also like the distortion here, which makes it even more dramatic in view than it already is. No need to correct thing, makes it less interesting in showing things straight.
The pola brought you another good deep blue sky...
Regards, Henk

  • Great 
  • zmey Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1307 W: 101 N: 1337] (5180)
  • [2008-07-16 7:40]
  • [+]

hello greg

a nice hallmark shot. the sky is perfect, so is the light you have picked (the shadow does a good job enhacing 3d feel of the church). nonetheless, for me, there is something 'off'. for one, despite what the esteemed folks here say, i feel the distortion is not playing out nicely here. i do not feel that the distortion makes the foto more interesting in this case: it rather creates a 'casual snapshot' feel. if you were going for a distorted shot, i would rather prefer the frame to be filled much more with the church. however, if your goal is to show the church with its surroundings, i disagree with the distortion. & i agree: the church is a hard subject to shoot.

warm regards,
kristaps

  • Great 
  • Charo Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2585 W: 22 N: 4944] (19030)
  • [2008-07-16 7:57]

Hello Greg,
A beautiful church and great perspective from a low place. Excellent colors and contrasts.
Best regards,
Charo

  • Great 
  • avene Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1319 W: 75 N: 1662] (6190)
  • [2008-07-23 19:03]

hi Greg,
I see what you mean by "difficult to shoot", I battle perspective distortion in more than half of my photos. here the distortion is still present, the church is leaning back, and normaly I'd say that such destortion is not enough to work as effect, and too much not to be noticed as defect, but the low point of view helps a lot to maintain "natural" look. not sure if I make any sense here :)
love the clean colours, especially the red accents. I'll have to remember this place.

with best regards,
Kristine

  • Great 
  • gunbud Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 4477 W: 4 N: 3997] (18137)
  • [2008-07-24 19:47]

Hi Greg,
Fine low POV to this interesting vertical presentation to this lovely old New England white wooden church (what other kind is there?) Your colors are brilliantly clear with the great white edifice contrast so wondrfully with the vivid cloudless blue sky, I love the mile marker to Boston.
Regards, Tom

Hi Greg,
Beautiful church, and a really nice photo with that low POV and the contrasting white church in front of the deep blue sky.
Regards, Johannes

Hi Greg!
You did well, with a beautiful blue sky, underexposed, I presume so as not to get the white church overexposed! The result is great with good contrast and sharpness!
Best regards.
MarieLouise.

Quite a dedication to this very nice church :)
The light indeed feels right on this great exposure, the little touches of red add a nice touch to warm it up, and the barrel distorsion is acceptable (it could be corrected by software though).

Hi Greg, I'm not making a correction to your note, but this building looks more like a Lutheranism Western Europe Christianity Church to a orthodox building.

I have been in Finland and soon I will publish some of this type of churches buildings from Lapland region in north Europe.

Best regards.

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