Category Archives: Historical Buildings

St. Philips Church, Charleston, SC

By The F/Stop Guy | Published April 15, 2013
St. Philips Church St. Philips Church, Charleston, SC

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St. Philips Church is a historical Episcopal church located in the french quarter neighborhood of Charleston, South Carolina.

The Story

I was visiting Charleston in early April. It is beginning to become Spring here and I wanted to visit the St. Philip’s cemetery across from the main church. When I finished taking photos in the cemetery, I wandered over to the church to see if it was open. It was and I went into to see this spectacular structure.

Established in 1681, St. Philip’s is the oldest religious congregation in South Carolina. The first St. Philips Church, a wooden building, was built between 1680 and 1681 at the corner of Broad and Meeting streets on the present day site of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church. It was damaged in a hurricane in 1710 and a new St. Phillips Church was begun a few blocks away on Church Street. After being delayed it was finished in 1723 but burned to the ground in 1835. Work on the present church was begun that same year and completed the next. The steeple was added between 1848 and 1850.

St. Philips Church Sanctuary St. Philips Church, Charleston, SC

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One of the especially interesting features is the way the pews are set up. Called “Box Pews”, a family would seat themselves and then close the door at the end of the pew. On colder days, this enabled them to heat the pew by bringing a hot brick or stone to church with them. The heat would radiate throughout the pew box and keep them warm.

Processing

These images were created using 5 bracketed images merged in HDR Efex Pro. Once blended, I applied minor finishing adjustments to the images to maintain the balance and realism of the scene.

 

© 2013, The F/Stop Guy: St. Philip’s Church, Charleston, SC

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City Hall, Athens, Georgia

By The F/Stop Guy | Published April 5, 2013
Athens City Hall City Hall, Athens, Georgia

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This week traveling I’m traveling the Southeast with my son looking at universities and reviewing his educational options when he graduates in 18 months. One of our stops this week was in Athens, Georgia to visit the University of Georgia. During the evening, just as twilight was beginning, I was able to take some time to photograph the historical Athens-Clarke County city hall.

The Story

Built in 1845, the Athens-Clarke County city hall is constructed of Lexington granite, brick and oolitic limestone trimmings. The clock tower is constructed of wood topped by a copper cupola, or dome. Perched atop the four-faced clock and the dome is an eagle with an eight-foot wing span. The eagle was originally intended to act as a weather vane, but it moves slowly because of its weight. Of particular interest are the clock and bell connected to it that rings on the hour. This bell was once connected to the Fire Department’s alarm system, but it rang so loud and clear that all of Clarke County would come to a fire, hindering the work of the firemen. It was disconnected from the signal alarm, and the clangor was dulled. The clock was handmade and operated with counterweights like an old grandfather clock until it was electrified in 1943. Before this change, the janitor had to climb five flights of steps once a week to wind the clock.

Processing

This image was created from 5 brackets blended in HDR Efex Pro 2 using the “Deep” preset and refined in Lightroom.

 

© 2013: The F/Stop Guy: City Hall, Athens, Georgia

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The Big House, Smith Plantation

By The F/Stop Guy | Published April 1, 2013
Smith Plantation Home The Big House, Smith Plantation

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When you picture a southern plantation house, one usually envisions a long driveway with live oaks covered in Spanish Moss overhanging it and leading up to a large antebellum house with huge columns. While the Smith Plantation house in Roswell, Georgia is large, it’s not the type of plantation house one might first picture.

The Story

The Smith Plantation house is part of the Roswell, Georgia city parks system. Roswell maintains this site as well as two additional historic houses nearby, Bulloch Hall and Barrington Hall. All of these houses have the founding of Roswell Georgia in their history. On this day, a group of us were documenting the house and the out buildings as part of the Roswell Heritage Days celebration. I elected to take a low point of view to portray some scale in the image. The house is deep instead of wide like most plantation houses.

Processing

This image was created from 5 bracketed images blended in HDR Efex Pro 2. A vintage look was added in Perfect Effects to give the image a more historical look.

 

© 2013, The F/Stop Guy: The Big House, Smith Plantation

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RCA Victor

By The F/Stop Guy | Published March 29, 2013
RCA Victor RCA Victor

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Back in the “old days” having a TV in the house was a big deal. Imagine that the RCA Victor television pictured above was the “big screen” of that era. How things have changed!

The Story

Each year the City of Roswell in Georgia celebrates its heritage in a number of ways with festivals, shows, etc. One of those shows is photography related. To support that show, our local photography club, the Roswell Photographic Society, arranges for a group of us to photograph historic sites around Roswell. In this case, The Smith Plantation was opened for photographers to document some of the history found within the house. This RCA Victor television was in the Study of the main house just off the Foyer.

Processing

This is a single image processed initially in Lightroom then refined in Color Efex Pro before adding a vintage look to it in Perfect Effects.

 

© 2013, The F/Stop Guy: RCA Victor

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