Godlight in the theater
A split light beam comes down from an opening in the ceiling to brighten the abandoned theater and create drama.
A split light beam comes down from an opening in the ceiling to brighten the abandoned theater and create drama.
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May, 2017Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This is was taken in an abandoned theater in the city of Buffalo, NY. It was known as the Broadway Theater in it's day and featured a stage, cushioned seats and organ player for entertainment prior to the reels rolling.Time
This image was taken mid day during October so the sun was almost directly above the building. I had arrived at the theater about an hour. The electricity had long been turned off so it was only being lit with daylight from the windows and doors.Lighting
Each exposure was long and lighting was uneven. That resulted in each image needed to be an HDR. The decaying plaster walls and ceiling created a layer of dust on the floors and an infinite supply in the air. While moving about you were bound to stir some up. When I finally went up on stage to shoot back at the theater the sun had moved to it's high noon position Upon glanceing back I saw this beam shining through the dome windows. I took many exposures to make sure I captured this phenomenon.Equipment
I used a Canon 6D full frame camera on a MeFoto tripod, I also used a cable release and manually focused (due to the dim lighting auto focus was a challenge)Inspiration
I felt that beam was like a beacon of hope that this place would not be forgotten and perhaps one day be restored.Editing
I used Photoshop and Photo Matix pro for processing. Then reprocessed it to add some more saturation to the colors.In my camera bag
I always have my 24-105mm or 28-70mm and when I go to shoot architecture I take my 15mm for fun and a telephoto so I can zoom in on detals. I often take flashlight for light painting if shooting abandoned buildings. Take a cable release or learn how to use your self timer. Take extra battery and memory cards.Feedback
Make sure when you are shooting difficult lighting situations where you have light extremes and are shooting a side angle try to not only shoot by bracketing your exposures but also focus stack. When it's a darker room your camera may be fooled so manually focus and several different distances. Don't try to capture the whole room in 1 shoot with everything in focus or if it's darker you will end up with a very long exposure and lots of noise. So I often shoot at like F4.5 and then focus stack.
