Chapel on the Rock, Allenspark, Colorado

[Rachel Hollander]

This stone church sits on the scenic Peak to Peak Byway in Allenspark, Colorado with Mt. Meeker, one of the 13,000 footers of Rocky Mountain National Park located behind it. Unfortunately the September floods completely destroyed the land right around the church with hundreds, if not thousands, of uprooted trees coming to rest in the depression surrounding the church. As a result the church itself was closed and the only vantage point for images was along the road or in the driveway. I also had to clone out an orange cone marking an area of damage on one of the porches. This was taken the first weekend in October during an early snowfall.

Canon 5D3
70-200 II @ 98mm
1/800
f7.1
ISO 400
HH, cropped slightly to straighten, cloned construction cone out and filled in very small amount of trees in upper left to eliminate small patch of sky, levels, curves, luminosity masks, selective color adjustments, sharpened in CS6.

C&C welcome and appreciated. Thanks,

Rachel

[Don Nelson]

did you have any room to move a few feet to left or right to make an image that the tree was not blocking the door?

[Norm Dulak]

I agree with Don's comment. Moving somewhat to the left would have produced a better result. But TFS and explaining what the building is. The snow adds interest to the image.

[Don Railton]

Hi Rachel, I agree with the comments above but I still think its a very appealing shot that is nicely exposed and processed...Did cloning out the cone hurt much...?:bg3:

DON

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Don, Don and Norm. I didn't even notice the tree and the door until you pointed it out. I probably could have moved to the left at the time. I chalk it up to that there were several doors and the stairs to the entrance are below the right side as viewed above so I thought that was a side door at the time.

Don - removing the clone was good practice and since this is a hand of man shot, it didn't hurt too badly. :w3

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Rachel, ditto on the door but I also think the image is fine as is. In fact, I could see this making a lovely calendar shot. The early snow fall adds a very nice element to the scene and probably help improve it based on your description of the damage from the floods.

[dankearl]

Stately and nicely seen, Rachel.
Exquisite architecture, a nice departure from the norm here, nice to see.

[Roger Clark]

Hello Rachel,
Beautiful image. I agree with Andrew, and the tree in the door, but the tree is a minor thing for me. I agree it could be a calendar image. This is Saint Malo, Chapel on the Rock,
I drive by the chapel often. Sad to hear about the trees being uprooted. I have not been there since the floods.

Roger

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Andrew, Dan and Roger, much appreciated. One of my friends who was on the trip with me is using the image for her holiday cards.

Roger - I Googled other images when I was looking for the name and unfortunately I think you'll be shocked to see the damage when you next drive by. The pond and grass were all gone.

Thanks again,
Rachel

[Carl Walker]

Rachel, for me this has a lot of elements going for it. Apart from the detail captured I love the way the white snow and contrasty areas envelop the building. Very well done:S3:

[Rachel Hollander]

Thanks Carl, glad you like it :wave:

[Lyle Gruby]

I love the composition, what a beautiful setting for a church. The only thing I'd change is cloning out the tree covering the door which has been mention already.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Besides the door/tree that has been mentioned, I like this a lot Rachel. Old-school fairtytale feel here, and nicely exposed.
How did it look if you zoomed out slightly?