This neon cross glows as a beacon from I-95 in Rhode Island. My husband jokingly refers to the church as 'Our Lady of the Neon Cross' but
it is really the Armenian Orthodox Church.
I took this shot at 10 past midnight on August 17, my 37th birthday. I was born in 1967. I hope those three 7's on my birthday bring me some kind of cosmic luck. ;-D
I did not notice the eerie quality until I opened it in Photoshop. The sliver of moon and the reflection of the cross in the clouds was an unexpected bonus, although, I had a slightly superstitious feeling about having a photo with an upside down cross in the sky. ;-D
I stood in a gas station parking lot, my camera on a tripod which I placed on a 2 foot wall to get as close to the cross as possible. I had the EV mode set to -0.7 (ooh, another lucky 7!) and I used the IR remote to take the shot. I had the color set to 'Vivid'.
I managed to get a good view of the cross without showing any utility wires. The building the cross appears to be hovering over is not the actual church. Fortunately, it is a fine example of old architecture and contributes to the gothic mood. I have another version which doesn't have the moon but which offers the illusion of reddish light from the heavens beaming down on the cross. The light was actually coming from a street lamp but because of the angle of view I chose and the fact that the street lamp was the closest object to my camera, I was able to create the illusion quite nicely. I chose this one because I felt I might get a lot of comments about the reddish cast.
I would like to have been able to do some dodging and burning in the clouds but whaddya gonna do? I did adjust the levels a tad.
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Really cool picture, the way the cross is reflected in the clouds is very unusual. To me the composition might have been improved if the cross hadn't been so centered. The photo also has quite a bit of noise in the sky. That's sometimes hard to avoid with night shots, perhaps some slight noise removal with a program like neat image might help.
erie... i don't really like it, but it feels like a high quality piece of work. i think the building feels a little flat--more contrast would helpt there.
Well, it's neon. Other than that, the composition needs a lot of work - the cropping of the building and all the dead space don't do anything for me. I do like the reflection though.
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