Weekly Photo Challenge: Grand

Inside Saint Ignazio’s

HDR photograph of the inside of Saint Ignazio Church in Rome, ItalyIf you are ever in Rome I recommend visiting Saint Iganzio’s Church.  From the outside it doesn’t look very exciting but once you walk through the door you will be amazed.  I’m sure some art history buffs will argue but I thought the ceiling was better than the Sistine Chapel’s and there was no waiting in line and no admission.  What you can’t see in the picture is all of the amazing sculpture that decorates both sides of the church.

The lighting in these churches ranges from very dark to extremely bright.  To create this image I had to blend 5 different exposures together.

Click on the image to see a larger version of it.

Statue in Piazza del Campidoglio

photograph of a statue in Piazza del Campidoglio in Rome, Italy

My friends and I were pass through Piazza del Campidoglio in the late evening when I captured this image of one of the statues in the piazza.  We walked by it earlier that day but the statue was in the shade so the lighting was very cool and flat.  The evening sun cast its warm, hard light on the statue in a way that made for a much better photo.  I considered converting this image to black and white or even just desaturating the colors.  Eventually I decided I liked the warmth and intensity of the colors just the way they were recorded by my camera.

Corolla Sunrise

photograph of sunrise over the beach at Corolla, North Carolina

 

Sometimes being a morning person pays off.  I took this photo during a trip to the beach last August.  I noticed the cloud bank that night and thought it was a shame the clouds probably wouldn’t be there at sunrise.  To my great surprise, the clouds barely moved overnight!  I awoke before dawn and watched this amazing sunrise slowly transform into morning.

Grand Prismatic Spring I

photograph of the Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park

As hot mineral water seeps out of the Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park it leaves tiny layers of minerals.  The heat of the water provides an ideal environment for bacteria, which grow in colorful mats over the wavy mineral deposits.  The end result is an amazing display of color and texture.

Cluster of Roses

photograph of a cluster of roses

This group of roses was one of those small scenes I just couldn’t resist photographing.  The composition probably breaks all the rules but I like it just the way it is.  To me the three roses in the background on the left seem balanced by the larger, fully blooming rose in the foreground and the opening bud in the upper right.

The dark green leaves of the rose bush are riddled with insect damage.  Some photographers might be temped to “repair” them during processing but I like the imperfection of the scene.  It reminds me that, upon close inspection, even the beautiful things in life are not perfect.

Rose Buds

photograph of red rose buds beginning to bloom

Sun, rain, plant, earth, and gardener all played a part in producing these magnificent buds.  How many hours of sunlight, drops of rain, atoms of nitrogen, and beads of sweat have gone into them?

Blue Orchid

close up photograph of a blue orchid bloom

These blue orchids have an almost unreal color.  That’s because the stems are injected with a blue dye before the flowers bloom.  While the color may be a bit surreal, they are quite captivating.