Mangaweka Church

your technique has a nice crispness to it which is enhances the subject matter .... I like your series...

Nice shot, but that telegraph pole to me raises the old question - when is it alright to digitally retouch such an image? I know, the purists will say never, people like me will say, well maybe, sometimes.....in special circumstances. The thing is, perhaps if by photographic 'trickery and deception' we can show how much better the urban landscape could be, then are we rendering the community a service by opening the eyes of the general public to the visual pollution we come to accept without question? I don't know, but I thought maybe I might sow the seeds of a forum discussion? Especially if this is to be a series??

I do see what you mean and it's a very interesting point to consider.
I am partially of the purist camp, and don't like to completely remove such large items in a photograph, either digitally or otherwise. On the flip-side, having the lamp post in there does highlight the fact, especially amongst those who haven't seen the church in the flesh and wouldn't know there's a post there if it were retouched, that maybe we need to be a little more mindful of where we place such utilities, especially around historic buildings, if it can be avoided (and I'm quite sure in this instance, it could be avoided).
If I had retouched this image and removed it, would this debate have come up? Leaving it there does highlight the issue and seems to get us thinking!
Good food for thought though, thanks.

Nice print Chris,think you've done a great job on composition,like the open sky with the clouds low on the horizon,great contrasts also. The pole is there,I suppose the church was there first and ya did a fine job with it,tele poles don't brother me to much ,they serve a important purpose and are part of a lot of landscapes.

mike c.

Thanks for your thoughts Chris. Yes, there's points for and against altering photographic images. Especially photographs if we adopt the conventional view, and it is a good one, that the greatest strength of photography is its representational honesty. Incidentally your photo takes me back to NZ, my favorite country for photography! I am in Alice Springs at the moment, which is visually interesting - in isolated places separated by great stretches of.....nothing. In NZ you don't have to spend hours, and dollars, driving to find inspiration!

How do you find the Shen Hao? I have a Linhof Technika IV which is a lovely piece of kit, but it's a fair brute to carry around! I am seriously thinking of changing to a Shen Hao or Tachihara for the sake of easy portability!

I look forward to seeing more of your work Chris! Cheers, David.