View attachment 190994
Although I went to church a lot when I lived in Greenville, CA (see the previous photo I posted in this thread), that was more or less because it was expected of me as a child. When I came back from Vietnam, I settled in Quincy, CA - same county, but 22 miles apart - and didn't fancy going to church. But my girlfriend and I ran into a couple while shopping one day and we hit it off. It turned out he was the pastor of this Methodist Church. We spent time together as friends, but only rarely as members of the congregation.
Years later, I would begin to spend many Friday evenings in one of the rooms of the social hall behind this church, where I attended AA meetings. Several pastors have come and gone, as have girlfriends, but I keep coming back to this church. They serve the community in a variety of ways, so my trips there haven't always been through the front doors.
It was about 4 years ago that I stood down the street a few blocks and marveled at what the late Fall had brought to the church. I just happened to have my camera and tripod with me and captured this single shot before cars began to park in front for some service or event. In fact, a woman was walking in front, where my signature is now and there was a couple of construction cones in the shot. It's funny that I didn't even notice the power lines and cables - 5 or 6 of them - draped across the front of the building until I got home and looked at the photo on my computer. I also saw the building was in desperate need of paint and the steeple needed repairs from all the Woodpecker damage.
This was one of my first big challenges in Lightroom and Photoshop, well beyond just basic editing. I wanted to show my vision, which was quite different than reality, but I wanted it to look real too. So, I removed the lines and cables, the construction cones and even the woman walking into the frame. I "fixed" the woodpecker damage some and brightened up the paint a little. I spent hours on it and I have re-edited it several times since. It got a second place ribbon at the county fair and lots of likes on facebook. Then people contacted me about buying it. Most, of course, didn't want to pay what I asked (usually $100 for an 8x12 framed print). They didn't want it
that bad. Then I let it be known I would sell it for just the cost of printing and framing, plus an amount of their own choosing to be donated to a local charity. I sold 2 that way, one for a 20.00 donation and another for a 100.00 donation. I was very happy about that, even if the money went to the local crisis center. Then a lady called and asked me to deliver a framed photo to her office, which was the pastor's office of that church. I explained the deal, gave her several charities to choose from and like the others, she wrote 2 checks, one for the cost of printing and the frame and one more to the local crisis center -
for $1,000.00. Wow.
I don't think the photo is all that great. I see the flaws, but am so happy that others liked it so much. That's prob'ly more than you wanted to know about this photo, but I felt like writing about it.
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