555 - St. Matthew’s Chapel
There’s something off about this photo and I have absolutely no idea why:
“Tomb of the Church”
Taken with Sony a7rIV+ Sony 12-24mm f/4 G
[ISO 800 ~ 12mm ~ f/9 ~ 1/160s]
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I’ve spent probably an hour total just staring at it, but I can’t put my finger on it. I want to like it, but something about it drives me nuts. WHAT IS IT?
Maybe context will help. The photo is of St. Matthew’s Chapel in New Hampshire. My goal was to get a shot of the church with a yellow/red autumn tree next to it.
But when I arrived on the scene, the tree was pretty much done for.
That’s the way it goes with these fall color scenes. Some places you show up (like Basin Cascade the other day,) and everything’s perfect. Then in some places, fall hasn’t even started yet or is long gone.
But… I was already here. The mission was do or die. So I improvised. The red leaves on the ground could be used for color… And this rock I found could be the foreground. I brushed up a few leaves around the rock to fill in some gaps and loaded up a shot.
And then the unthinkable happened.
A van skidded into the parking lot at full speed, and about 12 asians hop out. All sporting the various cameras and tripods, they swarmed the place like bees. For a split second I asked myself if I was in a CBS sitcom.
I watched as they ran about, talking in Mandarin, taking all sorts of shots. It must have been a photo tour or something. I looked at my watch. Sunset wasn’t for another hour.
Hmmm….
I decided to drive back to town and get some snacks. Since I was at a church, I shot a prayer up that they’d be gone by the time I got back.
And lord have mercy, it worked.
Which led me to get the photo you saw above. Which… I have no idea why I can’t bring myself to fully enjoy. But whatever. Not all days are winners.
I’m on a mission to explore as much as humanely possible.
Want to see my progress? Check out the Adventure Map.
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