Where Do You Worship?

When I saw Jay'me's post I immediately thought of the tree huggers I know (full disclaimer - I'm a bit of a tree hugger but you wouldn't find me living in one trying to save an owl). Bio-diesel is indeed a fantastic alternative fuel - I should know, I am a commodity broker and have been talking about it for around 6 years now. And it's firmly entrenched in the debate over fossil fuels, drilling, e-cars, solar panels, windmills, and other alternatives. The passion surrounding how we meet our energy needs is incredibly strong and it got me thinking about other things in life that elicit similar passions. Coupled with Dan's great post on the parade he witnessed, I thought of church.

Canon 30d
Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
Shutter 0.4, 1.6, 6
Aperture f/11.0
ISO 400

This is a church easily visible on Lake Cook Road. You'll see it on the south side of the street just west of Brinker, sitting atop a hill and poking the clouds with a magnificent steeple. At night the lights are fantastic. I've never been inside this church but I've often wished I could shoot a few pics in the evening. When I finally got a chance it was well past evening but the lights were still shining bright. It was meant to be!

When I stopped to get a few photos I originally thought I would have a good shot at the steeple and the overall lighting effects. Once I got close, I found the strong shadows and warm light really putting on a show with the textures in the brick and stone. You know me, a total sucker for close-ups. I ended up bracketing the exposure hoping to try HDR. I actually started with just 1 RAW file and thought I had a good shot. But I ran the HDR software on 3 RAW files and the results were just 10 times better. The shadows in particular were suddenly visible and became integral to the mood of the whole shot. I feel like I'm becoming a one trick pony but when it works, it works!

Like Jay'me before me, this is an archive shot (I took this in October). I've been looking for a chance to post but I never really got the chance. Today, I had the perfect opportunity.

So what's your passion? What finds your Nemo? What flies your flag? For me, there are many passions. But certainly one is photography and sharing it with the 3 chicks and our fabulous readers. Thanks as always for stopping by.