Grace Cohen  

Early Morning View of Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús by Grace Cohen

November 2025 - Early Morning View of Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús

About the Image(s)

Subject: Early Morning View of Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús
Submission: November 2025
Location: Quito, Ecuador ??“ The Old City
Shot: October 2025
Photographer: Grace Dunklee Cohen
Gear: Canon R5, 100-500 123mm f / 11 ISO 50, Handheld, no filters
From the roof of my hotel, I could look across Quito’s Old City (settled early 1500’s) toward the most recent volcano (last erupted 186 years ago). A primarily Catholic nation, this city sports a plethora of exquisitely architected cathedrals, both old and new. The domed roofs of the majestic Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús cathedral are a lovely mosaic of stone and copper (the green) which kept drawing my attention from every angle.
A combination of coal, auto exhaust and woodsmoke keeps this city hazy most of the time.
Edits include closer cropping, adjusting light, shadows and light nudges to color.

4 comments posted

Larry Treadwell   Larry Treadwell
Having never heard of the church before I looked it up. Of all the images I saw your is the only one to shoot from this angle. And I think this shows a unique and interesting view of the building. I also like the rather soft and moody look of the scene and the fact that you do not have a gleaming stark white building. from my vantage point Ifeel the two domes of the church are nicely balanced by the "dome" of the tree on the right. A nice compositional achievement. If I were to suggest anything (and this is only a suggestion) I might crop off the bottom and get rid of the flat white panel. It looks too modern and at least for me detracrts from the old look of the church.   Posted: 11/12/2025 21:21:03
Bill Peake   Bill Peake
Grace, I really like this image, the church is beautiful. I agree with Larry that the foreground panel looks really modern and out of place with the church so close by. I am also not really a fan of the flat lighting. The dome on the church is so colorful but it is really muted by the lighting. I did a little treatment of what I would have done if this were my image, mainly applied masked curve layers to the sky and church to let the shadows and highlights pop a bit more as well as a light dehaze just on the foreground. I also incorporated, Larry's crop suggestion and applied a 5% warming filter.   Posted: 11/19/2025 03:37:09
Comment Image
Michael Jack   Michael Jack
This is a well composed image. The tree on the right balance the domes; there is enough sky to let the crosses breathe. To my eye, it appears flat because of the smog so I agree with Bill's treatment to add detail. The white structure with the two stone structures intruding into it are incongruent. Maybe try changing the white structure to a really dark structure would keep the eye from going there.   Posted: 11/19/2025 21:12:36
Adi Ben-Senior   Adi Ben-Senior
I have been gazing at this picture for a few minutes. There is something about the the high key and the color that is beautiful and calming. I cant say exactly what but it all works lovely together. Very nice !!   Posted: 11/22/2025 17:05:31

 

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