St. Mary's Nerve Center

Taken this past Sunday at St. Mary Roman Catholic Church in High Hill, Texas. The scene in the entrance hall of this church caught my eye because of its muted colors and great wall textures. Also this small entrance hall struck me as the social "nerve center" for the church.

Title: "St. Mary's Nerve Center"


Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105mm L zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro to conver three tripod mounted long exposures into one HDR (High Dynamic Range) image > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin

St. John's

Taken this past Sunday at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Ammansville, Texas. St. John's is one of the "Painted Churches of Texas". I converted this shot to black and white because I wanted the focus of this image to be on the rhythm of repeating pews, shadows and architectural elements.

Title: "St. John's"


Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105 L zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro to combine three long exposure images taken from a tripod into one HDR (High Dynamic Range) image > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin

Holy Restoration

When I walked into St. Mary Roman Catholic Church in High Hill, Texas yesterday to photograph one of the Painted Churches of Texas I was surprised to see this giant scaffolding in place for a restoration of the church's ceiling. I didn't get to take the shot of the ceiling I was there for but I found the scaffolding structure fascinating! I was reminded of restoration projects I have seen on television of some of the great Cathedrals in Europe.

Title: "Holy Restoration"


Camera / Lens: Canon 5D Mark II / Canon 24-105 L zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro to combine three long exposure images taken from a tripod into one HDR (High Dynamic Range) image > Photoshop CS4 > Topaz Adjust plugin

Barry, Texas

This past weekend we went through a small town called Barry, Texas on our way to Grandview from Houston. It turns out that my wife's grandmother was born in this town! If your first name were Dallas or Houston your wife's grandmother may have been born in a town by that name, possibly but not likely, but if your first name is Barry...forgetaboutit! :-)

Title: "Barry, Texas"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro to combine three hand-held exposures (-2, 0, +2) into one HDR (High Dynamic Range) image > Photoshop CS3 > Topaz Adjust plugin

George Observatory

We took the RV up to Brazos Bend State Park in Needville, Texas this weekend. This shot is of the George Observatory located in the park. The weather was uncooperative so we weren't able to actually view any stars but we did enjoy a tour of the telescope and facilities.

Title: "George Observatory"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom

Interior of St. Mary Church

Here is an interior shot of St. Mary Roman Catholic Church in High Hill, Texas.

Title: "From the Pews"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro HDR from three handheld exposures (-2,0,+2) > Photoshop CS3 > Duplicate Background Layer > High Pass Sharpening > Merge Visible to New Layer > Topaz Adjust plugin using "Simplify" preset > Curves Adjustment Layer to improve overall contrast > Levels Adjustment Layer to set Black and White points > Merge Visible to New Layer > Distort Lens Correction Vignette > Black and White Adjustment Layer using Auto settings @ 18% opacity to tone down overall saturation

Merry Christmas!

Last week I stopped in at St. Marys Roman Catholic Church in High Hill, Texas. This is one of the five or six 100 year old "Painted Churches of Texas." I thought this statue from St. Marys would be an appropriate photo to post on His birthday!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Title: "He Died For Us"


Camera / Lens: Canon 40D / Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom
Post-processing: Photomatix Pro HDR from three handheld exposures (-2,0,+2) > Photoshop CS3 > Topaz Adjust plugin using "Simplify" preset + "Topaz DeNoise" > Curves Adjustment Layer to improve overall contrast > Levels Adjustment Layer to set Black and White points > Merge Visible to New Layer > Nik Viveza plugin to increas brightness on the statues faces > Crop (aprox. 50%) into square format > High Pass sharpening > Merge Visible to New Layer > Distort Lens Correction Vignette