10-24-12 The Voice

Behind the altar and looking the opposite direction of yesterday's photo, is the choir and above that are these beautiful trumpet-like pipes of the pipe organ of the Basilica of St. Mary. I couldn't resist posting a third, and final, hdr image from my shoot last Saturday.I have never been in this church during a service. Generally, I've been there on a Saturday morning and it is, well. . . , quiet as a church. But I imagine the sound of the organ and a full choir in this space would be enough to inspire, even if the architecture didn't.

10-23-12 Behind the Altar

I took several HDR photos while I was in the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis. The photo I posted a couple days ago was my attempt at a photo that shows the whole dynamic range of the Basilica from shadows to highlights.Today's attempt used the same software (Photomatix) but I've chosen the "Surreal" filter. Why? I don't have a good answer except that it's trendy right now. And, like other trendy things, it will no doubt look outdated and odd before long. Some will say that it does already. . .

10-21-12 The Basilica of St. Mary

My original post was to be a black and white photo, but I just found a new HDR processing tool and I am thrilled with the results. As far as HDR goes, I would say that this photo is a very pure example of what can happen when you take three exposures for varying degrees of light and shadow and put them together to show a photo of a room the way our eyes would see them.Heres a version that stretches reality a little bit.Canon 5DIII 1s f/8.0 ISO400 16mm

Peace

The Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis has many fascinating architectural details, including the confessionals in the vestibule I walked through. Each confessional door had "Pax" carved into the stone that surrounded the door. Pax means "peace" in Latin and I thought that it was the perfect way to welcome a parishioner to the sacrament of reconciliation.