The Completely True Adventures & Lamentations of OctoGal & OctoPup in Highlands

Shutter Challenge – Shrew and SRO at Immaculate Confirmation

Immaculate Conception, Franklin, NJ

Ceiling

Font

Penny

Last minute instructions before the Bishop arrives

Spectators in the Choir Loft

Spot Open Here

Sorry I am late

Standing Room Only

We are out of room?

There is the man of the hour

Programs ready

Stations while we wait?

Last minute prep

Procession

Got Bishop?

Lotta Pros

A reading

Choir

Staff

Let the anointing begin

I anoint you

And…..Confirmed.

And now for some special words.

Center alter time

In memory of him

Check out my sis with the pros

So proud of my nephew

Go with peace

And no event like this would be complete without a…

Bishop Photo Op! (This image was taken by my Bro-Inlaw)

shrewspeaks

6 responses to “Shutter Challenge – Shrew and SRO at Immaculate Confirmation”

  1. karmardav Avatar
    karmardav

    Being a Catholic whose religious education and experience ended with my own baptism, my knowledge is limited to the ceremonies of others I have attended, (including the baptisms & first communions of my own daughters required by my husband’s family, but that’s another discussion entirely!) My reason for this background information is I’m curious; is confirmation a strictly Catholic thing or do other Christian religions practice it? I’m struck by the simplicity of this church if it is indeed a Catholic one.

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  2. brc Avatar
    brc

    Shrew, once again, your creativity in composition and storytelling astounds me. I don’t always have the foresight to pay attention to secondary details, particularly at an event such as this (I think the instinct is to just take pictures of the people involved). However the details are what make this story complete. I love the photo of the program in the basket with the word “confirmed,” the ceiling and the font. They help set the stage so well. I also like the unusual angles you used in taking photos of the ceremony. It makes it much more interesting. Nice job.

    Karma… Confirmation is not a strictly Catholic thing. My family goes to a Methodist church. My son is currently in confirmation classes and will be confirmed in May. I had no religious education growing up. My family was Lutheran (by birth rather than by practice). So this is all new to me. I decided 5 years ago when my daughter was little that I wanted my children to have some (any!) religious education so that they could have some type of community support system and some basis on which to make decisions regarding their own beliefs when they get older. Confirmation is the child’s decision to become a member of the church and the church acknowledging the child as a member.

    Reply
  3. jenfera Avatar
    jenfera

    In the Armenian church, they have what I have dubbed “the express lane.” A baby is babtized, makes their first communion and is confirmed all in the same ceremony. Unfortunately, that produces fewer photo ops later!

    Lovely story, shrewbie. How much if at all did you manipulate these shots? The colors are beautiful. My stepdaughter goes to a Catholic high school and she will be graduating in the church. I wasn’t overly thrilled with most of the pictures I took of my older stepdaughter’s graduation there. Any tips for the lighting? I am thinking of taking out the 35mm Rebel again for the occasion so I can use the big telephoto. Did you use flash? I don’t know if my attachment flash has enough range.

    I love your ability to capture the slice of life moments!

    Reply
  4. Shrewspeaks Avatar
    Shrewspeaks

    WOW thank you for the kind words. And here I sat last night looking at these images and quite dissatisfied!

    Brc, the unusual angles are a result of my arm cramping holding my camera. I was on the stair to the choir loft…Tiny , tiny stairs! Standing for the entire ceremony because it was the best view for this pint sized gal. Well, I had the 70-300 mm telephoto lens on the 40D and that lens is heavy. So I would rest my left elbow on the banister and tilt the camera to capture the action whenever I grew weary.

    Jenfera, I set the white balnce on the camera to “tungsten” and this seemed to put me in the ballpark. I did correct exposure, color and contrast in Lightroom and/or Photoshop, but, with the exception of the first shot of my nephew and a couple other shots, these adjustments were very minimal.

    Reply
  5. Renae Avatar
    Renae

    I like how you captured the dust and cobwebs on the stations dude. Very impressive.

    Reply
  6. kanniduba Avatar
    kanniduba

    Shrew, thank you for sharing these! I love the first one of the alter…and I think my favorite is the one of your nephew where you kept him in color and faded everything around him to black and white…very cool!
    I really like the variety of angles. I find that lighting in big open spaces like Church can be really challenging…the colors my camera sees aren’t always the colors my eyes see, which as you all know frustrates the heck out of me! Most of your photos captured the brilliance of the colors beautifully! Kudos to you!
    And who knew? We’re both Catholic girls! You wouldn’t know it since on our first meeting we bonded over The Kid from Brooklyn! LOL

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