Ta’ Pinu
The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of Ta' Pinu is a Roman Catholic minor basilica and national shrine located some 700 metres from t...
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The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of Ta' Pinu is a Roman Catholic minor basilica and national shrine located some 700 metres from the village of Għarb on the island of Gozo, the sister island of Malta.
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Jan, 2018Views
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Awards
Contest Finalist in Black And White Compositions Photo Contest vol2
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Superb Composition
Superior Skill
Outstanding Creativity
Genius
Magnificent Capture
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Behind The Lens
Location
The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of Ta' Pinu is a Roman Catholic minor basilica and national shrine located some 700 metres from the village of Garb on the island of Gozo, the sister island of Malta.Time
It was on the last day we were spending on the island of Gozo on a recent business trip to Malta. It was a cold afternoon and after I took some images from the front and side of the basilica. I soon realised I needed a different perspective. I moved to a field close to the basilica and setup the tripod to take a few long exposure images. These images were taken on the 28th of January 2018 at just after 3 in the afternoon.Lighting
As this was in the middle of the day, I used some ND filters to enable a long exposure environment. This also enabled the soft cloud background due to cloud movement. I specifically moved to the side of the basilica that were in full sunlight. I had a few challenges with clouds covering the sun which influenced my exposure times. I had to compensate on these while the lens was open.Equipment
I used a Canon EOS 6D with a Canon EF 24-70mm F/2.8L USM lens. It was mounted on a Mefoto Classic travel Tripod. (I don't think the colour is that important). And I stacked a ND 10 and ND 3 filter to give me a 221 sec exposure time at F/9.0.Inspiration
I saw many beautiful churches on this trip, but most of them were in small alleys and between building. This basilica sits on a hill and has a view of the ocean, which makes it unique. This was the image I saw when we approached the church originally, but I had to do the close up areas before I realised that I will have to take a bit of a hike through a land to get the correct perspective for the shot I envisioned.Editing
Yes. I had to do a fair amount of post processing to get to the final image. I normally take several shots from the exact same position when I'm doing this type of work. This give you the freedom to use bits and pieces of different images to get to the final envisioned result. My normal workflow would start in Lightroom and then move over to Photoshop. For the Black and White conversion I used Silver Effex Pro and the final result made use of Luminosity Masks and a composite of 2 images.In my camera bag
I have a Canon EOS 6D as my main camera body. In the bag is a bit of a difficult problem and is often dependant on the environment I work in. I always carry a Canon EF 24-70mm F/2.8 USM. For Landscape work I use a Tamron SP 15-30mm F/2.8. For wildlife I use a Tamron SP 150-600 F/5-6.3. For Portrait work I use a Canon EF 70-200 F/2.8 II USM and I almost always have a Canon EF 50mm F/1.8 in the bag. I sometimes carry 1.4x and 2x tele converters from Canon but only use them when really needed. I Always carry a tripod and when I'm doing architectural or landscape work I also carry different filters.Feedback
Due to the fact that this is a long exposure taken in the middle of the day the process is fairly simple. It is best if there is some cloud coverage that will give you a more interesting background. In most of these cases I use a 10 stop Natural density filter, but sometimes stacks a 3 stop with the 10 stop or a 6 stop with the 10 stop to get sufficient time to get the effect required. I also recommend that you take a few normal shots off the same position to use in post processing if needed. This image took a fair amount of time in post processing to get the balance correct and get rid of any unwanted and distracting components.
