Henry Heerschap  

Country Bible Church by Henry Heerschap

January 2020 - Country Bible Church

January 2020 - Henry Heerschap

Original

About the Image(s)


I shot this last June on a trip to the Palouse region of Washington
State. My wife and I get over there every couple of years and are always
looking for new locations and subjects. This was located near the town
of Dusty. The Wikipedia page for this community states: "Various reports
put the population of this tiny hamlet at either 11 or 12 people and 2
horses (+/- a horse)."

I liked the way this little white church was nestled among the hills and
trees. I took a number of images from a variety of angles with both my
main camera and my infrared-converted Sony A6000. When I got home and
worked my way through the images, I really liked the way the IR images
popped against the asphalt parking lot and textured sky. The particular
conversion I had done on this camera renders most foliage white, making
the grass growing in the cracks in the parking lot really stand out. I
loved how it created well defined leading lines.

Sony A6000, converted with a 72nm infrared filter. Sony 18-105 f4 lens.
19mm, ISO 200, f/9, 1/125 second. Used a tripod.
Processing was done in Lightroom Classic. I applied a custom profile I
created for this camera. I cropped and straightened the image and did
some basic exposure adjustments. I took it into Photoshop and cloned out
some power lines and a few minor bits. I then used Silver Efex Pro 2 to
do the B&W conversion and playing with the contrast and structure
sliders. Finally, I added a vignette.

This round’s discussion is now closed!
13 comments posted

Tom Pickering   Tom Pickering
(Groups 0 & 53)
Excellent capture, Henry! I've never done IR myself, but iot's fascinating to see the different perspective it gives when the greens become white.

I instantly noticed the lines in the asphalt and that becomes the focal point of the image, but I wonder if that's what you really intended. As the rest of the image is largely white, the seeks refuge in the dark areas initially. I also found the darker ground to the right out of place in this IR view.

I suggest cropping some from the bottom and right to focus the eye on the church and increase the contrast a bit to better differentiate the church from its surroundings.   Posted: 01/05/2020 14:10:24
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Henry Heerschap   Henry Heerschap
Thanks for your comments, Tom. I confess to really liking that X in the parking lot and am reluctant to give it up, but I can see your point. I don't love putting the church in the center of the image, but I do like what you did with contrast.   Posted: 01/05/2020 15:17:25
Tom Pickering   Tom Pickering
(Groups 0 & 53)
Oh, I completely agree about the church being in the middle. The only way to correct that would be a different angle when capturing. I also find the asphalt very interesting, but overpowering to your subject.

I had to try Photoshop CC's new feature within their Libraries tool and turned your image into a shape - sort of a woodblock from your image. What do you think?   Posted: 01/06/2020 14:12:55
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Henry Heerschap   Henry Heerschap
Love the "woodblock". I've played with the patterns in that new tool, but not the shapes. I'll definitely be spending way too much time in Photoshop this week.   Posted: 01/06/2020 14:30:31
Allen Tucker   Allen Tucker
Good scene for IR. The asphalt adds tonal "weight" to the bottom of the image, balancing the unsettling IR tones. But I react to the bright white lines as confusing, not leading anywhere.   Posted: 01/07/2020 15:47:52
Henry Heerschap   Henry Heerschap
Thanks, Allen. I guess I'm going to have to take another long, hard look at those lines.   Posted: 01/08/2020 13:03:38
Jim Hagan   Jim Hagan
I like the IR image a lot but since the image is of the church I feel the X has to go as I have done in my version.   Posted: 01/08/2020 20:02:53
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Henry Heerschap   Henry Heerschap
Thanks for your thoughts, Jim. I'll be looking at this image with fresh eyes.   Posted: 01/08/2020 21:35:26
 
This is an outstanding image Henry! I smiled when I read the +/- a horse :) Each and every one of the edits appeal to me greatly! I like yours as I too am interested in the criss cross lines in the pavement. IR had me zooming in to try to understand what they consisted of. So I say keep it.
But, I also like the crops as well. The only thing that I would have changed is the vapour trail above the roof line. To me it adds a sense of rush and also one too many lines in the image. Kind of kills the tranquility of the image. Awesome find Henry and well done :)   Posted: 01/18/2020 17:18:12
Henry Heerschap   Henry Heerschap
Sharron - thanks for your comments. That's a good point about the vapor trail.   Posted: 01/21/2020 19:39:08
Lisa Hlavinka   Lisa Hlavinka
I really like the leading lines and the X. It gives the shot interest and makes me want to really study the image.   Posted: 01/18/2020 18:00:47
Henry Heerschap   Henry Heerschap
Thanks, Lisa.   Posted: 01/21/2020 19:39:20
 
I like the IR image, to me it gives a wintry look. To my eye the hills in the background could have been lightened slightly to give then a sense of being snow covered complimenting the feeling of snow on the foreground grass , trees and shrubs. I feel the white lines emanating from the center of the X expanding the funnel to focus attention on the church and gives the foreground a look of age with its cracked appearance. My apologies for not providing an example of the modifications I am referencing.   Posted: 01/27/2020 09:20:49