The Demolition

The other day, a friend and I went to Gloversville to photograph an old church that is being demolished.  It is (was) a beautiful old building built in 1890.   Years ago the congregation dwindled to such a small number that they couldn't support the upkeep, and the church eventually closed.  For the past 10+ years, the building has stood vacant, going to rack & ruin.  The city determined that it would be too costly to renovate and restore it, so instead they're paying a huge amount of money to have it demolished.

Pretty heartbreaking.  

I wandered around to the front of the building and made some images of the street.  This lampost shot is just one of those images.

I took several images of the building unobstructed by the fence, but then I wanted to try to do something creative.  I love shooting through chain-link...

Then I thought I would try some hdr.  This first image is the straight shot using the exposure that the camera indicated.

This next image is a 5-exposure composite put through the hdr processing.  I love the look, and how great is that sky?  Even in the short time it took me to change my exposures only 5 times, you can see how much the clouds moved.  Still...I love the effect, even if I don't love what they're doing to the church.