Orlando is known for its theme parks and many distractions – not for Gothic Revival Churches modeled after the English Gothic style of the 14th century. Nonetheless, that is precisely what you see here in the Cathedral Church of St. Luke of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida.
Designed by the architectural firm of Frohman, Robb, and Little, a firm whose work includes design contributions to the Washington National Cathedral, St. Luke’s is a rare architectural gem in downtown Orlando.
Construction the Cathedral began in the 1920’s with laying of the cornerstone in 1925. While a portion of the building was completed before the Great Depression, which hit Florida in 1926, a temporary wall sealed the altar end. This wall would not be removed until the building was fully completed as planned in 1987.
About the image
The photo is a composite of 5 images captured during a photowalk with the Orlando Digital Photography Group using a Canon 5DMKII, 24-105 F/4L, and an Induro tripod. The images were merged in Photomatix with additional editing in Lightroom, Photoshop, and the Topaz suite.
The Church of the Cross in Bluffton, South Carolina was established in 1767. The building whose interior you see here, was completed and dedicated in July of 1857. In 1863, Sherman’s army marched into South Carolina burning much of Bluffton; the church was spared but the congregation fled and services were discontinued until 1870.
The church was been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1975 and is still in use today. You can read more about the church here.
At first glance, you might understandably think this is Mary with Jesus, but that’s not the case. This is a statue of Anne (Mary’s mother) with her young daughter located in the Church of Sainte Anne in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.
The church itself is a Crusader church built somewhere between 1131 and 1138AD. In 1187, when the Muslim Sultan Saladin took control of Jerusalem, the church was converted to an Islamic Law School (an inscription at the entrance remains from 1192AD).
The church’s acoustics, designed for Georgian chant, are marvelous, and the voices of visitors can often be heard here.
How the image was created
This is a two-exposure fusion created using photomatix. Topaz Denoise was used for noise reduction, and Topaz InFocus was used for most of the detail adjustment.
![](https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-s7MPCmDXWeU/Tn00Q9ERp-I/AAAAAAAAB0o/qtLd5fynmKU/s800/IMG_6566.jpg")
I wanted to highlight everyone hovering around near the entrance of the church. The effect you see was done in camera by zooming the lens as I pressed the shutter.
This was shot using a 24-70 2.8L at 2.8 1/30
Today’s photo is from the Norway Pavilion at Epcot’s World Showcase. I love the feel of the sky and the color during this time of the day. Heading over to Epcot again tonight. Can’t wait!
© Copyright Ali Elhajj 2014-2020
