robcatania

gary catherdral

Aperture f/22 ISO 100 Shutter 3/10 Focal Length 1700/100

upload_date

Aug, 2017

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Same photographer See all Behind The Lens

Fog and chilly temperatures weren't stopping these teenagers from enjoying Lake Michigan.

Always ready willing and able to pose for a treat!

While vacationing in California, we were not going to let an overcast day stop us from getting to the water.

With a hour to kill in early March, 2012, I headed over to the lakefront in Chicago just a spring storm swept through.

Chicago River Walk, art projected on the Merchandise Mart building

Near New Buffalo Mi. A small Lagoon of ice and snow opened up as the lake tried to reclaim the beach.

After everyone had left I imagined the loneliness that may have existed in being the last worker to remain on the job.

A beautiful spring day in South-western Michigan.

In Midlothian Meadows, just outside of Chicago, on a misty snowy morning.

A unique place of worship in Muskegon Michigan.

Wanting to create some long exposure images for a while, I finally found myself with time and the proper gear with me.

Early July 2017, sunset near Union Pier Michigan.

Just a nicely lit moment at Kankakee State Park

Behind The Lens

Location

City Methodist Church, Gary Indiana.

Time

Early Afternoon between 2-3 pm

Lighting

Highly contrasts situation and in need of long exposure for indoors. The only solution at the time was HDR. However, I have since edited this image in Lightroom as a single image with very similar results.

Equipment

Canon 5D Mk II, 17-40 L lens, Tripod, cable release, available light.

Inspiration

I had heard about this church and knew it to be in disrepair. I've always been a fan of architectural photography and indeed I worked with some wonderful Architectural Photographers in the 1990's. The opportunity to see and photograph a structure like this was way too inviting, and indeed, not long after this, the City of Gary stopped access to this building as it continues to fall apart. All of that made trying to get in there more attractive.

Editing

Post, in this case was simple as a seven frame bracket was combined via Photomatix. After that tweaking in Lightroom and export sharpening were all that I did.

In my camera bag

My bag consists typically of a sensor cleaned camera, at this time Canon, 5D MkII, several lenses including a solid prime like the Zeiss 50mm1.4, the 17-40 which has been replaced by the 16-35, the 70-200 2.8, and often a filter kit geared toward long exposure photography.

Feedback

The less you bring to places like this the better. There's an element of safety that should not be overlooked and treading lightly is super important. Clearly, crossing do not enter signage is not encouraged, but I can tell you at the time I got access to this building, I walked in right off the street and there was nothing marked that said I couldn't. Try to be prepped with clean minimal gear, full batteries, empty memory cards and luck.

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robcatania

robcatania

gary catherdral

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow robcatania

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