Category: Churches

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Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church

Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Wauwatosa, WI.
Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Wauwatosa, WI.

Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Wauwatosa, WI. The church was designed by Wright in 1956, and finished in 1961, about two years after Wright’s death. While departing from the traditional Byzantine architecture common in Greek Orthodox churches, Wright incorporated the domed structure and traditional colors into his design.

More information about the church is available on their website, http://www.annunciationwi.org/.

This photograph was taken well into nautical twilight, about 45 minutes after the sun set. It was taken with a Nikon D850 at ISO 100, a 24mm PC-E lens at f/5.6,  on a 3 Legged Thing Winston tripod. It is 3 exposures, 1.6, 6, and 25 seconds, and processed with Aurora HDR 2018.

Gear and software mentioned (some affiliate links):

Camera: Nikon D850
Lens: PC-E NIKKOR 24mm F3.5D ED
Tripod: 3 Legged Thing Winston
Software: Aurora HDR 2018

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Thank You

Over the last 240 or so years, many thousands of young men and women have decided that there was something out there that mattered more than themselves. More than their hopes and dreams, more than life itself. They left behind home, family, friends, and the familiar to fight for their country. From the American Revolution, The War of 1812, the American Civil War, two world wars, Korea, Vietnam, Operation Desert Storm, through the current global war on terror, and countless smaller operations throughout the world, they have fought and died so that Americans and others can enjoy the freedoms we have. 

They left behind mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, husbands, wives, girlfriends, boyfriends and children in the hope that they and their loved ones could have a better country and World to live in. Although many of them came home to enjoy that life, many others gave the ultimate sacrifice for us. They forever rest in cemeteries throughout the world, or in the fields or seas where they fell. 

My family has been blessed, the nearest relative I have lost is one of my grandfather’s cousins, Harry Peter Holdmann, killed in action in the Second World War, 36 years before I was born. I thank the Lord that we can remember the service of many other family members and friends on November 11th, instead of today. But that thankfulness is tinged with sadness, knowing that many families have lost loved ones. 


So this weekend, take a few minutes away from the barbecues and family gatherings to remember those who can’t be here, and to be grateful to them, and those who loved them. 

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4-image Composite

holy-hill-composite

One use of tilt-shift lenses is creating composite images. Panoramas are pretty common, and rely on taking images with the lens shifted right and left, as well as a center image if needed, and compositing them in Photoshop or a similar program. Since the sensor plane does not move, the perspective stays very even across the image, preventing some of the weird corners and bends that a moving camera panorama can create. The disadvantage is that the shifted panoramas can not take in the 180+ degree views that moving the camera can.

This picture, taken at The Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Help of Christians, at Holy Hill, is my first attempt at creating a composite image from four images. The four corners are individual images that were joined in Photoshop. The lens was shifted, rotated to four of the corner stops on the lens, with a four second image taken at each stop. I processed the RAW images in Capture One, exported them as TIFFs, and composited them in Photoshop.

I think the next multi-story composite I try will be at least 5 images, with a center and 4 corners. Due to the distortion of the lens, some of the elements in the center needed some special care to get them to line up correctly.

Camera was a Nikon D100, 28mm f4 PC-Nikkor lens, processed in Capture One and Photoshop.