Each October, I
(and usually a few others), try to come up with some kind of Halloween themed
image making use of imagination and some software effects. This is my
attempt for this year...
I found myself after sundown
walking around this old church on State Circle in Historic Annapolis, when I
suddenly became aware of these above ground tombs. Funny I hadn't noticed
them previously even during daylight.
The street lamps seemed to
cast an eerie hue upon the Autumn leaves resting on the ground. The shadows
seemed no less strange as I observed them cradling the uneven contours of the
church grounds.
The property was surrounded by a dark wrought iron
fence... you know the kind, with vertical points like miniature spears that run
along the top railing. The entire fence seemed a bit rusty and in need of
more black paint.
It was too dark for a hand-held shot of the
tombs, so I tried fitting my camera between the top wrought iron spikes and the
horizontal ledge holding the welded iron points near the top. Ahhh, I was
able to secure a steady angle towards the dark and foreboding subject and took a
shot, then moved to an adjacent wrung to complete the cha cha. The
brighter lights from the main street in the distance provided a nice secondary
light source brightly illuminating the leaves of the nearby trees on that side
of the building.
Earlier in the evening I had stopped and gone
inside the church by use of a side door to find a small gathering sitting in the
pews as someone played piano.
Before entering the church, I
thought it wise to remove my Orioles cap I had been wearing and was pleased with
my thinking ahead as I spotted a greeter gazing trepidatiously yet somewhat
anxiously in my direction as I casually but intentionally closed the gap between
us. She was strategically located at a point between the side door I
entered and the main entrance at a right angle to her.
It was a
cool Autumn day and I had prepared by wearing a quilted vest with lots of
pockets I specifically picked out thinking it would be a splendid garment for
photography outings. Over top of that (partially because of possible drizzle)
was my lightweight black Oriole wind-breaker.
Because of the long
walkabout, I was not feeling any coldness and in fact had opened the front to
try and regulate my body temperature as best I could without having to remove
one of them completely.
I always feel self-conscious taking off my
hat around people when I know my hair is messed up because of sweating.
After approaching the church host, my first words were, "I guess I shouldn't
have used the side door?" to which she replied, "Either door is fine". I
then revealed my true reason for being there by asking, "Is there a rest room
around here?", hoping she would still not think that was the only reason I came
in. She quickly nodded, gestured, and instructed, "Right around the corner
there", to which I smiled and proceeded in that direction. When I came
back around I could see she was hosting a small new group of folks and I exited
by way of the main doors. I actually would have liked to have stayed, got
off my feet and listened to the pleasant piano being played but I wanted to
search for more photo-ops before the sun was no longer available.
Cha
cha, Nikon D600, PS-CS6, ACR, SPM, IrfanView, (composite image from a 2009
Renaissance Festival Lady photo)
Cheers,
Brian
My Flickr page:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ur4chun8/
My photos according to "Interestingness"...
http://fiveprime.org/hivemind/Tags/Brian,Wallace,3d
Capture Maryland:
http://www.capturemaryland.com/users/Starg82343