Wednesday, February 24, 2010

St. John The Baptist Catholic Church No. 2

Taken a couple of weekends ago while on a quick tour of some of the "Painted Churches of Texas". This one, St. John's, is located in Ammansville, Texas. I posted another shot of this church on Feb 19 with the sign in front of it and Cindi and Brian thought they might like it better without the sign. The photo from Feb 19 is under this one so you can easily compare both photos by using the rollover feature. Please leave a comment and let me know which shot you like better.

Title: "St. John No. 2" (rollover)


Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro to combine three tripod based exposures (-2, 0, +2) into one HDR (High Dynamic Range) image > Photoshop CS4

7 comments:

Larry said...

The original shot [w/sign] has more interest to me because of the sense of place and repetitive angles the sign adds to the photo. And I prefer it's less traditional perspective. As an "architectural" however, no doubt that the new shot wins out.

Doug Haass said...

As far as the overall scene I like the older version. AS Larry indicated, for purely architectural reasons this one would be better. Maybe Cindi and Brian preferred the same viewpoint, but with the sign not in the photo. It seems you could move to one side of the sign and still get the larger scene without having to go in so tight.

Cindi said...

Well, now that I see the straight on shot, I agree with Doug and Larry that your first one is the more interesting angle. I do really like today's image and I think it makes me look more at the details of the church and all the great symmetry. If I had not seen the previous one I would give this one 5 stars, but when compared to the one with the sign it seems a little less interesting as far as the composition...so maybe 4 and 3/4ths stars! I keep going back and forth between how much I like the symmetry of today's church versus how much I like yesterday's angled shot. I never would have thought I would miss that sign in the foreground but it does add another element and rhymes the shape of the church so well. I can't decide and have to say they are both equally wonderful! You should submit these to Ammansville Chamber of Commerce --- I bet they would love them for brochures and even the church might want them for their programs.

Steve Schuenke said...

I like the one with the church only. I really appreciate the great architecture in that one. Almost looks like snow on the ground too. Really nice image.

Wayne Beck said...

I prefer the version with the sign.

Brian Bastinelli said...

So I am looking back and fourth at these and I think my issue is this...

I am looking at them with a specific set of post processing ideas running through my head. And that may be clouding my point of view.

The image with the sign is great for all the reasons that have been said. And I think may win out for me as the are in a side by side comparison.

That being said, where I see this image going in my head I think the straight on version is a bit more foreboding and strong. Now maybe if you changed the message on the board in the first one to fit the dark processing I have in my mind it might work as well....

Anyway, thanks for posting the second image. It is very cool to be able to have these discussions and get to experience how everyone sees these images and the world for that matter in different ways.

Either way here Barry, both are good images!

Have a great day!

Barry Armer said...

Thanks everyone for the great feedback!

It seems like the version with the sign may be a slight favorite!

Cindi - I like the way you're thinking but the problem is I didn't notice any "commerce" in Ammansville so I doubt they have a chamber for it. :-)

Brian - Hmmm...now I'm curious as to what your idea is! Let me know when you're bored one day and I'll send you a higher resolution version of the file to play with! :-)

Cheers!
Barry