Voronetz in Spring Snow
Romania 2012
Voronetz Monastery is one of Romania’s famed painted monasteries. Both inside and out are covered with folk art depictions of Bible stories as well as stories of the lives of the saints. The paintings are more than 400 years old and were intended to teach the illiterate about Christianity. After all those harsh winters, the paintings are still bright. This may be due in part to the huge overhang of the roof and also to the composition of the paint itself.
I tried to get back as far as I could to shoot the entire church. There were lots of trees on the grounds and they interfered with my viewpoint. When shooting snow, you’ll need to open your aperture two stops or slow down your shutter speed to get the whiteness you want. The camera will try to make the snow gray. This is the time to think for yourself.
A man staying in the same B&B as I was showed me his photo of one of the painted churches. He had a fish eye lens and his shot was dramatic. I wanted a fish eye, too! I haven’t bought one though. I don’t think they are an everyday lens. And you need a full sensor (which I didn’t have at the time) to use them to full potential.
I did get Topaz Labs fish eye software, but it’s not the same. Still, it’s fun and makes a mundane image interesting. I’ll show you one later.