Church construction, Stenje, Macedonia
Byzantine-style concrete church under construction, Stenje, Macedonia
Byzantine-style concrete church under construction, Stenje, Macedonia
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Jun, 2017Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo of St. Nicholas Orthodox Church under construction was created on a trip from Serbia via Lake Ohrid, Makadonia, back to Greece in a small village on the shore of Lake Prespa. Lake Prespa borders three nations: Makadonia on the northern half, Greece on the southeast and Albania on the southwest. It is part of my long-term project bridging the Orthodox of the Balkans with their diaspora here in California and the United States.Time
Time of day was not relevant for this photo since it was an overcast spring day but it was shot early afternoon.Lighting
Much of the central Balkans during spring have days of overcast and rain so in some ways, the lighting could not be better for this photo. Most of the time during my travels to the Balkans, I don't have the luxury to wait for the light and must shoot while I am there. I tell people constantly when you are presented opportunity, even if not optimal, take advantage. Time is of the essence! Sure, the light could be better at a later time, but realistically, will you spend time and effort to return or find something else when the timing is right while you travel? Usually, it's the former for me!Equipment
My time in the Balkans is limited and precious. Though I bring a tripod, it's only for static shooting when asked to help a parish priest or bishop to assist in a project which requires high-res. In this case, it was nearly a "drive-by shooting". We stopped for less than five minutes., I used the camera with a wide-range zoom, composed quickly using the grid and built-in levels in the viewfinder and shot a few frames. We had to be in Thessaloniki that night for my flight home the next morning and we didn't have time to linger. The metadata tells me it was f/8 and be there... and that I used 12-40mm Olympus lens on a Panasonic GX-7 m43 body. I seldom use supplemental lighting during my travels preferring to use the lighting that's already there to preserve both my stealth and the atmosphere of the situation.Inspiration
Byzantine architecture is timeless and beautiful, inside and out. Combined with the clouds and the bare, raw concrete, the grays I knew would look swell. In the grand scheme of things, it's a matter of when I'm there and I see potential in my mind's eye, that's a opportunity to create a lasting photograph.Editing
Post processing is a must and I start with a raw capture in order to both record the maximum amount of image data and to put my style or "look" during post-production to to my photographs. It starts with taking the best image the circumstances allow then opening into Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) and further refining usually using some burning and dodging adjustment layers, maybe a tweak to the color and color balance beyond ACR, contrast and overall brightness of the image. Each major adjustment is a layer which allows further refinement without starting over, a non-destructive workflow I learned at the start. For my black-and-white conversions, Nik (now DxO) Silver Effects is the go-to plug-in for 99% of my conversions. With my work, I still need to have the ability to return to color for many projects so being able to have both a well-crafted color image with black-and-white is a must and since each image is adjusted and refined with layers, it’s easy to return to color!In my camera bag
I use a small, black long-discontinued Kata bag made for a small m43 system. It holds almost all I need for a month of travel. For my overseas travel, it's simple. Two Olympus OM-D, E-M5II bodies. Generally one body has an Olympus 14-150mm and the second with a Panasonic 7-24mm lens. Both lenses are small and light. I supplement this with two faster lenses, the Olympus 12-40mm 2.8 and Panasonic 35-100 2.8. Both lenses are small but weigh a little more weight each than either of the other two lenses. I have lots of batteries to feed these cameras’ thirst for power, a charger, socket adapter for overseas, lots of SD cards. Usually, when I'm out and about, the bag stays hidden away and I walk with just the two bodies and two zoom lenses, with an extra SD card and 3-4 batteries in my pocket With this I fall below the radar and can shoot without noise and without sticking out! Though I am competent in studio and portable lighting, I carry a small color-correct led lighting panel and small, powerful led flash lights to do some A-roll video and light painting within dark churches when I have the luxury of time and the blessing to use a tripod. I also carry battery chargers, all the small USB cables I need, a power brick and headphones for my iPhone & iPad Mini, which both are back-up cameras and used to shoot snaps for some fine-art work. I also have a small Pelican led light to see in the dark, a few pens, including Sharpies, Moleskin notebook and biz cards, some in English, some in Cyrillic for Serbia and other Balkan lands. Besides the iPhone and iPad being back-up cameras, each carries my diverse and extensive portfolio collection of both still and motion images, have a back-up of travel documents, are used for email, downloading and editing when in a bind. I also have a copy of my camera manual stashed on the iPad along with travel books. There’s a few post cards to mail to clients and family, local stamps and a few prayer cards which I can give as gifts when visiting monasteries and churchesl. The prayer cards are usually of my American-born patron saint, St. Sebastian of Jackson, who founded the church I attend 125 years ago. Sharing these cards have opened many doors to allow photographs during my travels! When the bag is fully-stuffed, my bag tips the scales around 4-5 Kg.Feedback
First, practice your craft not just during your travels but at least weekly, if not daily! Next, know your camera inside-and-out., its settings, strengths, weaknesses. Make it an extension of your vision and your brain. With new stuff, test it all to make sure you know that it both works well and fulfills your needs weeks before your travels so you don’t fumble with settings during the heat of the movement or find out it’s little more than a brick. Know a few words of pleasantry of the language of your destination along with a few of the cultural norms. Mostly, don’t be afflicted with GAS, Gear Acquisition Syndrome. GAS is little more than a useless packing of bricks around. Put your money into photo ops, not photo equipment! During my first overseas travel a decade ago, I thought things out and decided to set my cameras to use more of auto settings including Program, “manual” (back-button) autofocus, auto iso, RAW, etc. knowing that when things changed quickly, the camera would be ready for the moment saves me during changing conditions, including going from candle-light to bright sun in seconds. Then, if there’s time, I can then that time to further refine the settings and fine-tune my image. Make things easy and quick to set! With today’s cameras, most of the auto settings do a pretty good job and shooting raw, adds another layer of capture safety to my photographs that I can later craft and refine later in the comfort of my studio when time isn’t as precious as it is in the field. Most of all, be prepared, don’t just look but see and the pre-visualize the potential of your final image and work toward it. You won't get the shot unless you are out there to find it!
