Blessed Virgin Mary
Experimenting with light, shadow, virgins, and filters gave me this Mary image. I’m actually working a bit to get the lighting the way I want it to produce a more dramatic version of this image (coming soon, I hope).
Closeup of the baby in a bottle
I’ve been on a slightly weird kick as of recent and kept thinking of different ways to express it. It started out with some dollar store doll photos and moved into different ways to express the same ideas with different lighting.
Poor dead goldfish
Off to Heaven
They are not Forgotten
Finally, after a year or so, I’m getting around to photoshopping some of my favorite images of Hawai’i. Although I took a number of images I loved, I also took a few which I didn’t think would trurn out very well. Usually these images are poorly lit, maybe a bit blurred, or have some other technical reason prohibiting them from making me happy. Sometimes, though, you can get a pleasant surprise once you spend a few moments on such images in Photoshop. This is one such case. I was very surprised and happy with the result. I hope you like it.
A little over a decade ago, the story started of the apparition of the Virgin Mary appearing on a semi-regular basis just north of the small town of Springfield, KY. Thousands and thousands of people flocked to the area hoping for a miracle, a cure, or simply a religious sign. During this time, various people began building a shrine to Mary — consisting mostly of plastic or plaster religious figures. A few people even began building a little church there, but after a few years, the walls are still only about two feet tall (though there is a nice floor). I guess they gave up.
This sign, photographed just over a year ago, seems to provide visitors information on the Virgin Mary’s busy schedule. Unfortunately, during my last visit a couple of weeks ago, I found the sign missing. Perhaps it was stolen as an interesting souvenir or maybe the Virgin Mary simply changed her schedule.
The shrine has certainly seen better days. Interest has dropped significantly over the years and now people straggle in only a few at a time. It appears as if there have been a few high school beer parties there and some of the many figurines have been burned. It’s too bad people can’t leave some of these cool places intact.
Some of the other sites found at this shrine.
I’m definitely a summer-oriented guy. I love the mixture of green grass, blue skies, warm breezes, etc., Today, it’s January 4 and it’s an usually warm day of 28F. I can’t head out and take photos of colors — rather, I can go out and capture gray skies, dead brown trees, and trampled snow-mud mixtures. Winter seasons always make me want to escape to warmer climates — but by the time I’m prepared to do so, it’s summer again and I’m happy.