I was able to get outside for golden hour a few days ago and capture some images of Central’s church building. The stonework of the building is stunning when the Sun hits it at that time of day. All the reds and oranges in the structure pop against the growing shadows, which creates a brilliant contrast with blue skies and the greens and yellows of the grass and bushes.

I have some favorite angles I like to capture of the building, and enjoyed the time I was able to step away for a bit and compose. When I was able to process the photos a few days later, however, I noticed something interesting when I began to play with the color adjustments.

The entire stone structure is nothing but reds and oranges. So when those two colors are fully desaturated, the building becomes gray scale, with the foreground and background remaining in color ¹. It’s a cheese-ball gimmick, but I couldn’t believe how fast I was able to make it work.

And right now, it fits.

The church remains connected and active but our building is dormant–and the life this space enhances is diminished a bit. The church is not the building, but the building feels lonely. Much like many of us are feeling as we’re separated from one another’s physical presence, and the spaces in which we are used to gathering.