Can't keep out of church!

[stubbsy]

I'm agnostic yet I can't stay away from churches on my travels - go figure. The architecture and the opulence suck me in time and again. The shots below are from Cathedral Metropolitana in Buenos Aires.











This mausoleum built inside the church houses the tomb of Jose de San Martin who liberated Argentina, Chile and Peru from the Spanish.

[aim54x]

Peter, it would be a crime to keep you out of the church!!

I love the treatment that you have used in these. I love the shadow detail and the colours.

[surenj]

Peter this is absolute masterful use of HDR! [Also your composition can't be faulted so makes the pictures rock solid]

2 & 3 especially have great tonality with the subtle combination of yellow and blue. I assume this is an accentuation of tungsten WB?

#4 I'd like to see a bit more blacks (contrast) but again a great use of the fisheye effect.

[wendellt]

was this the first time you have shot non australian churches
the ones overseas are really more spectacular makes you think about how much faith people had in the olden days to conceive and build such works of art

the last one is very smart as you have included a statue in the foreground instead of just framing the dome

were you shooting hand held

usually tripods arent around but with the advent of the d700 and d3 hand held with an ultra wide lens really makes shooting quick in churches a real possibility

before i had the d3 i shot with a tripod with a coolpix 8700 on my last big euro trip and i missed so many shots because i would be told not to take photos

[colin_12]

I like the first and the last Peter. Both nicely done.

Maybe it is a fetish?

[Geoff M]

Great captures of truly masterful craftmanship. Just how long would it take to design and then build these places, and the cost is just not worth thinking about .

[stubbsy]

was this the first time you have shot non australian churches

if I exclude numerous trips to NZ (almost like going interstate ) this was my first trip overseas and so my first overseas churches

were you shooting hand held

All images were hand held. Given the low light I dealt with that challenge by shooting at ISO 1600 using my D700.

Peter this is absolute masterful use of HDR!

Thanks Suren. Each of these is a 1 or 2 shot HDR as you noted. They were all created using a new Nik software plugin called HDR Efex Pro. Like their other plugins it works in either Photoshop or Lightroom. I'm extremely impressed with the results and find it more naturalistic than the results I was getting with Photomatix.

[pucara]

Stubbsy you took great photos in the catedral, especial number 4. Those photos in the Catedral are the best what I see in my whole life .....