Painted Church of Texas

 

Again, forgot to get the name of the church. 

Here, I liked the contrast in colors and the quaintness of this small chapel.  The frosted windows did not help the overall scene and although I took another exposure with the windows less bright, a combination of the two exposures did not really enhance the overall image. 

I applied a “HDR” preset in Lightroom and then adjusted it slightly. 

Enjoy. 

Camera settings:  Nikon D800 on a tripod, 17-35mm f/2.8 lens at 30mm, ISO 100, f/22 at 3 second. 

Post Processing: 

Lightroom 5—applied Nikon vivid preset, set white and black points, added a loft of vibrance and clarity, adjusted saturation of various colors.

Painted Church of Texas

 

Most of the time, I photograph the sign outside of churches so that I can later label them; however, for several of the painted churches that I photographed on this trip, I did not do that.  Why?  Getting really old! 

When I first entered the church, I was taken back by how all the colors worked so well together and the overall symmetry of the church.  I tried to capture both. 

I wished that I had taken a few additional under-exposures so that I could have added more details in the windows, but, alas, I did not.  Getting really OLD! 

Enjoy. 

Camera settings:  Nikon D800 on a tripod, 17-35mm f/2.8 lens at 19mm, ISO 100, f/22 at 0.8 of a second on a tripod. 

Post Processing: 

Lightroom 5—applied Nikon vivid preset, set white and black points, added a loft of vibrance and clarity, adjusted saturation of various colors and used lens correction to correct for distortion.

St. Mary’s Church of the Assumption in Flatonia, Texas

 

St. Mary’s Church of the Assumption in Flatonia, Texas is one of the “painted churches of Texas”.  If you are in the Houston area, I would definitely recommend that you visit the painted churches which are located about 90 miles west of the city.  The following description of the churches was taken from http://www.klru.org/paintedchurches/index.html. 

“From the outside, they look like many American country churches built around the turn of the last century -- arched Gothic Revival windows, facades clad in white frame siding or in stone, lone steeples rising up into the Texas sky.  

“Cross the threshold of these particular Texas churches and you'll encounter not a simple wooden interior but an unexpected profusion of color. Nearly every surface is covered with bright painting: exuberant murals radiate from the apse, elaborate foliage trails the walls, wooden columns and baseboards shine like polished marble in shades of green and gray. These are the Painted Churches of Texas. 

“Built by 19th century immigrants to this rough but promising territory, these churches transport the visitor back to a different era, a different way of life. Inscriptions on the walls read not in English, but in the mother tongue of those who built them: German and Czech. The story of these buildings is the story of a people striving to succeed in a new country and still preserve the values and culture of their homelands. 

“In 1984, 15 of these churches, with their unique style of art, were listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Once taken for granted, the painted churches of Texas, and the people who built them, are now capturing the interest of designers, historians and ordinary tourists, both in Texas and out of state.”

If you are ever in Houston, I would recommend you make the 90 mile trip to see these wonderful churches." 

Enjoy.  

Camera settings:  Nikon D800 on a tripod, 17-35mm f/2.8 lens at 19mm, ISO 100, f/22 at 0.8 of a second.

Post Processing: 

Lightroom 5—applied Nikon vivid preset, set white and black points, added vibrance and clarity, adjusted saturation of various colors and used lens correction to correct for distortion.

Early Morning

 

No.  I did not die. 

No.  I did not contract a life-threading disease—unless you count laziness as a life-threading disease.  

I just had no desire to post anything. 

A couple weeks ago, I had a job west of Houston.  As is my habit, I left well before sunrise so that I would not be late.  Looking through my rear view mirror.  I saw the sun coming-up in a clear sky.  Since I had my Nikon 80-400mm lens packed in my bag, I decided to stop and try to get one of those classical sun-rising shots. 

Enjoy. 

Camera settings:  Nikon D800 with white balance set to 10,000K on a tripod, 80-400mm f/4.5~5.6 lens at 400mm, ISO 100, f/5.6 at 1/750^th of a second on a tripod. 

Post Processing: 

Lightroom 5—applied Nikon vivid preset, set white and black points, added vibrance and clarity.