What a difference a crop makes

Kind people compliment me on the pictures I post on Facebook. I'll admit that I've been given a few tips on how to make a photo interesting but I'm basically a point and shoot picture taker. When I get home I use a very old version of Photoshop Elements to make a few adjustments when necessary. Most often that means straightening and cropping. 

I took this from a moving car by lowering the window and pointing the camera held in one hand out the top of the window. Then I cropped and resized the photo.

This is what went on Facebook.

This was the original. Note the window in the upper left corner.

And I snapped two other pictures from which to choose as well as a couple of others on the other side of the highway which I didn't feel were worth working with. This was one of them.

Why didn't I like this one? There really wasn't anything interesting enough in the photo to make cropping worth the effort. If I did crop, the resolution of the resulting image would be blurry due to too few pixels. You can see that at the left of the top image.

My advice to would be photographers? Check out some online pointers then take lots of photos. Use the software that came with either your camera or your computer to adjust your photo as needed. 

Taking lots of photographs as well as looking at others' efforts provides a new way of looking at the world around us. It's fun.

PS I have a pink Panasonic 14 megapixel Lumix DMC-FH6. You will almost always see the string hanging out of my pocket.

St Peter's Episcopal Church, Westfield, NY, 11 May 2014

There are lots of reason to revisit St Peter's not the least of which is the welcome. The lady who once said she had seen me there before expressed regret that she can't remember my name. The 90 year old man who sat down beside me at coffee hour and rebuked me for not being there recently. Among others. And their willingness to marry people. I posted a few photos long ago but thought I'd take some new ones for your edification and create an official visit page.

The red door entrance to the church is in the park. I've never used that door. There are doors which go to the rest of the building on the street side which I have always used.

There is a little narthex leading to the church.

This is the initial view. St Peter's is a nice size for a church.

The Gospel procession was led by this dear one who kept the staff right up against her nose. What a cutie!

A pair of ducks (really geese I think) represented orthoducks and heteroducks and how we must all learn to get along. Most of the sermon was about shepherding of course.

The choir has several students from Fredonia who were recognized and prayed for. Great resource for the church. Fredonia has a good music program.

They light votives on the way back after communion.

The man in the blue shirt was making a video for the diocese. Each parish has been asked to dance to a specific tune. These people danced and danced and danced for many minutes. They certainly are enthusiastic.

This lovely clock was chiming when I went out to take the photo of the church.

I wish St Peter's were closer than an hour and a half! Not to mention the snow belt. I try to get there every few months to get renewed. The sermons are great. The music is tolerable and they have a choir which is ok. The liturgy is standard with an alteration or two such as "our" which I appreciate. They have a box which comes out after the offering and is used for whatever the congregation needs. They make contributions for birthdays, prayers, thanksgivings, whatever is on someone's mind. The money goes to the priest's discretionary fund and occasionally a specific project. Even tho they are friendly they don't sit and gab for a long time during coffee hour. I don't consider that a problem however.

Links to all the parishes visited are here.