Tag Archives: photography

The Expanded View

Fermata, Photography, ,
Saint Louis King of France Chapel

Fermata often uses media to interpret what we know and see. However, there are times when a particular medium allows us to reveal aspects of a subject that were previously hidden, i.e., what we did not know and could not see.

Here is an example. We have been completing an interpretive brochure for Saint Louis KOF Catholic Church in Austin. The stained glass windows there were acquired from the Church of the Transfiguration in Philadelphia, now demolished. For the past decade, the windows have served Saint Louis as little more than architectural embellishments.

A few weeks ago, I spent two days atop an eight-foot ladder, photographing each window with an architectural lens. Now that we can study each window and pane in detail, we have realized the extraordinary detail contained within each illustration. This detail cannot be seen from the ground level.

Pentecost

Here is an example. This is one pane that shows the Pentecost. Notice the “tongues of fire” descending on Mary and the Apostles. That is the sort of detail that we can now interpret that before was virtually invisible to those visiting the chapel. Here is a link to a gallery of images of these stunningly beautiful windows:

https://www.tedleeeubanksphotography.com/Churches-and-Sacred-Spaces/Saint-Louis-King-of-France-Master

This is an example of how a medium can expand our interpretive vision and opportunities. Now that the photography is complete, the priests are eager to study each pane and to help interpret their meanings and context (how they relate to each other). None of this would have been possible without the detailed views afforded by this medium.

Fermata has been interpreting churches and sacred spaces for several years, and recently we have focused on the Catholic Church in Texas. In addition to developing a presentation on the history of the Catholic  Church in Texas, we have written a history of Saint Mary Cathedral, photographed the Painted Churches in central Texas, and we are now working on a brochure that will interpret these amazing Zettler windows at Saint Louis KOF.  For more information about our interpretive work with churches and sacred spaces, contact us and let us see if we can help.

The Interpreter’s Eye – Macro Photography

Emerging Media, Fermata, The Interpreter's Eye, ,
Eyes of a royal river cruiser (Macromia taeniolata), Austin, Texas, by Ted Lee Eubanks
Eyes of a royal river cruiser (Macromia taeniolata), Austin, Texas, by Ted Lee Eubanks

Macro lenses are to close subjects what telephotos are to the distant. A macro lens magnifies a subject well beyond what the viewer would see in real life. The macro opens a window into the world that exists beneath our gaze.

I bought my first macro lens in the early 1970s. I clearly recall shooting my first roll of film with that Canon 50 mm macro, and how transformed I felt when I viewed the slides for the first time. Those slides of roses were the work of a photographer, I thought.

Little changed in the world of macro for the next couple of decades. The lenses were short, and the film slow. A 50 mm is fine for roses, but for insects, forget it. There is simply not enough magnification or shutter speed to do an insect justice.

Mexican forktail (Ischnura demorsa), Presidio County, Texas, by Ted Lee Eubanks
Mexican forktail (Ischnura demorsa), Presidio County, Texas, by Ted Lee Eubanks

All of this has changed in recent years. Digital cameras, VR (vibration reduction) lenses, and post-processing software such as Photoshop have transformed macro photography.  For a photographic interpreter, this transformation is radical. We are now interpreting subjects that before we could only show with a hand-drawn illustration or describe with text.

Look at the eyes of the royal river cruiser at the top of this article. A dragonfly’s eyes have over 30,000 facets or lenses. A dragonfly can see in every direction, and its eyes are sensitive to all of the colors we see as well as UV. Macro photography allows me to show the opalescent dragonfly eye, and to place my viewer at the conjunction of art and science.

Rambur's forktail (Ischnura ramburii), Austin, Texas, by Ted Lee Eubanks
Rambur’s forktail (Ischnura ramburii), Austin, Texas, by Ted Lee Eubanks

Now look at the thorax of this Rambur’s forktail. Notice those small balls or globs gathered there? These are water mites, parasites that affix themselves to damselflies and spend most of their brief lives glued to the sides of this tiny insect. A Rambur’s forktail itself is difficult to see without optical aids, but the water mites are only visible in a macro photograph such as this.

Technologies such as digital photography are expanding the possibilities for interpretation, but only if interpreters are skilled in their adoption and their use. Technological advances are of little use if the basic skills are lacking. For those with those skills and talent, however, this new age of digital photography is a godsend.

Painted damsel (Hesperagrion heterodoxum), Presidio County, Texas, by Ted Lee Eubanks
Painted damsel (Hesperagrion heterodoxum), Presidio County, Texas, by Ted Lee Eubanks
After the Rains by Ted Lee Eubanksd
After the Rains by Ted Lee Eubanks

Ted is exhibiting some of his Shoal Creek images for the next two weekends in Austin. See more this weekend at Ted’s Austin’s Thin Green Line show at the EAST Studio Tour. The tour is Saturday and Sunday the next two weekends from 11 to 6 at the Austin Parks Foundation office (507 Calles Street).

Custer's Meadow, Shoal Creek, Austin, Texas by Ted Lee Eubanks
Custer’s Meadow, Shoal Creek, Austin, Texas by Ted Lee Eubanks