St. Paul's Lutheran

The different qualities of light and its impact on a photograph continue to amaze me. I photographed this church -- St. Paul's Lutheran in Boone County -- one afternoon and returned the next morning.

While I like the clouds in the afternoon picture (top), the quality of morning light (bottom) creates a much different image of the church itself. The lack of interest in the sky also centers attention on the church and the direction of the light gives the church some dimension.

A plain, blank sky like the morning shot disturbs me a little, but I may eventually decide that I like the way church stands out against it. I suspect that there will be more early morning visits to this church in the course of the project.

From the start, this project was not meant to be a simple photographic catalog of churches. I'm trying to capture and convey the spirituality that I sense when I visit these buildings. In trying to think of ways to capture such a subjective theme, I thought light would be a critical component. To me, St. Paul's in the morning drives the point home.

More Churches

In the past month, I've gotten a good start on the Church Project; unfortunately without funding from the Iowa Arts Council. Perhaps there are other funding sources out there that I can explore.

Although nothing is set in stone, I feel these three images have a good chance at making the final presentation -- whatever form that might be. Please feel free to post comments or suggest churches that you think may be suitable for the project.



In their original forms, the small churches I've visited so far are amazingly simple, yet very powerful. Many of these have had either entry ways or classrooms added on to the original structure and while these don't really detract from the appearance they do spoil completely -- no matter how well done -- the eloquent simplicity of these churches.

Church Project

I suspect I'm not alone in finding myself drawn to the small rural churches that dot the landscape in Iowa and the Midwest. I find their simple design appealing and maybe more appropriate for a place of worship than more formal designs of churches found in large cities.

Many of these churches have been in use for generations. I can't help but feel that after decades of witnessing countless hours of prayer, the joy at weddings and baptisms, and the sorrow of funerals these buildings have absorbed a sense of spirit that truly makes them sacred places.

This is the Palmyra Methodist Church (Palmyra is near Carlisle, IA). I'm posting it because I've submitted a grant to the Iowa Arts Council to fund a project to take similar pictures of churches throughout the state. Preparing the grant proved to be an intense experience. By forcing me to look at the project from different perspectives, it's been worth the time I've spent on it even if funding isn't approved. It was also good practice for applying for other grants in the future.

I tend to work too fast when photographing. I keep trying to tell myself to slow down but apparently I'm not a very good listener. It helps, a little, to shoot in large format because nothing happens quickly in large format. I still find myself moving more and thinking less. This is rarely a good combination.

I'm happy with this picture because I actually did slow down and it paid off with a much better photo. I had composed a shot concentrating on just the three outside window shapes. I was about to take the photo when I told myself to step back and look again. This time I listened. That's when I noticed the sunlight shining through to the interior wall. I had to move the camera a foot or so to get the fourth window shape framed properly.

Chalk one up for patience.

Blog Start

I've been a little hesitant about starting a blog and for several reasons. The first is that there are a heck of a lot of them out there and I suspect the "signal to noise ratio" (sense vs. nonsense) is probably lopsided toward noise.

The second drawback about a blog is keeping it fresh. These things should be updated, if not daily, at least several times a week. And while I and my wife find my life interesting, no one in the film industry -- not even an "indie" producer -- has been pestering me about doing my life story.

But despite that, here I am writing my first entry. One reason I decided to create one is simply about connection. The best aspect of doing art shows the last six years is talking with those of you who have come into the booth. You've asked many interesting questions and have offered both praise and criticism. My hope is that this blog will create an ongoing connection between myself and those of you who have enjoyed my photography.

I'm going to try to write mostly about photography, but I may also comment on anything else that strikes my fancy. You may want to watch out for that. You could find yourself reading about "hidden" history one day to what I think the American character should be the next. Hopefully, we'll enjoy this blog together.

For my first picture, I decided to post "Heartland #1." It's a photo that conjures up my days of being raised -- along with corn and soy beans -- on a farm outside of Conrad, Iowa. If you have walked bean fields with a hoe in your hand, you may remember those hot summer days when a breeze blew just enough to keep things interesting and the cloud formations towering over the landscape were barely enough to contain your imagination and dreams.

It also illustrates an important point of photography; you have to be persistent. You may have to visit a spot many times to get a good photo. This farm is outside of Gladbrook, Iowa, and I drove by it every time I went to visit my dad. Every trip I'd think the same thing "some day there's going to be a photo here." But it took five years before I finally had the time, the camera, and the weather to make this photograph.

I get a lot of comments on this photo. But the one I shake my head at the most is when people say "It's too perfect." I'm not quite sure what to make of that!

Thanks for reading!

Larry