First United Methodist Church of Richardson, Texas – Part 1, the Sanctuary building

I’ve prepared sets of many churches I’ve visited around the World for viewing at UHH, but had not done so for my own church (where I’m a member). I decided that it was time I did so. I have a large assortment of photos of the facility, so selecting just a few will be difficult.

This is a new facility where construction began in 2001, after a decision by the membership to embark on a move to a larger facility located a short distance away. This was a chancy step since the economy was not robust at that time, but we desperately needed more space (particularly for parking!). I was a member of the Worship Committee (which had input to what the Sanctuary would be like) and the Organ Selection Committee (which recommended an organ builder and basic design). It was decided that the church complex could not be done in one build, but that there would be several phases in the construction; however, building the final Sanctuary as part of the first phase, including the pipe organ, was part of the plan. The 1300-seat Sanctuary was completed in 2006 and the first service there was 26 Mar 2006; installation of the organ, which had been built in Germany, began that June. Funding problems also dictated that the pipe organ be built in 2 phases, as well, and Phase 1 was completed in time for Christmas 2006. Phase 2, primarily the Gallery portion, was completed in 2010. Phase 2 of the complex build was begun in 2015 and completed in 2016. This provided a new Worship and Arts Center (a Great Room and a small theater, where the Contemporary services would also be held) and a big Music Suite with rehearsal facilities for the big music program at FUMCR.

Because it is a large complex, in keeping with my prior concentration on Sanctuary interiors, I will primarily be showing that portion of the complex here (and before Phase 2 build). The roof support in the Sanctuary was designed to give the impression of a cathedral; it involves intricate solid wood columns with branching tops—there are no nails or screws used in these supports, just steel plates as joiners (hidden) and 43,500 stainless steel pins connecting it all together.

There are 2 sets: Part 1 of the Sanctuary building exterior and interior, and Part 2 of the main stained glass windows.

Exterior views
https://live.staticflickr.com/1298/873179621_1e9f22b16d_z.jpg
DSC_0104a by David Casteel, on Flickr (view of Phase 1 from adjacent freeway)

https://live.staticflickr.com/1430/873182643_5f155556da_z.jpg
DSC_0349 by David Casteel, on Flickr (Sanctuary building, Phase 1)

https://live.staticflickr.com/1143/874038864_928d6bfee3_z.jpg
DSD_0012 by David Casteel, on Flickr (dropoff for Sanctuary)

Interior views
https://live.staticflickr.com/1338/873245271_d1442e2995_z.jpg
Klais_0029 by David Casteel, on Flickr (view from the Balcony, showing the Klais organ)

https://live.staticflickr.com/1202/874033304_5f9633d1ae_z.jpg
DSC_0349x by David Casteel, on Flickr (detail of support structure)

https://live.staticflickr.com/1204/873182411_645e920de8_z.jpg
DSC_0347 by David Casteel, on Flickr (greater detail, showing some of the pins)

https://live.staticflickr.com/1286/873181259_bb3ae1eab7_z.jpg
DSC_0337 by David Casteel, on Flickr (view of the Sanctuary the day of the First Services, gathering)

https://live.staticflickr.com/1048/874095342_e5264ccc4d_z.jpg
Klais_0025a by David Casteel, on Flickr (the Main Organ and principal window)

https://live.staticflickr.com/4062/4355521902_7d3ae40aa3_z.jpg
DSC_3102 by David Casteel, on Flickr (Antiphonal Organ, in the Gallery)

https://live.staticflickr.com/4058/4360381390_8830dd7a96_z.jpg
DSC_3112 by David Casteel, on Flickr (detail of the Antiphonal Organ, showing the Fanfare Trumpet pipes)

Link to Part 2: https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-686538-1.html#12017957

A few weeks ago I went to Wilmington, North Carolina for a conference. I caught the sunrise on the beach every morning I could. The city kindly doesn't start charging for parking until 9 a.m., so it didn't cost anything. The beaches were not very crowded until after the sunrise. It helped that it was overcast at least one of the days.

Anyway, the sunrise colors were not amazing most of the mornings due to haze over the ocean from clouds and smoke from Canada burning down, so I shot a lot of black and white. My Olympus OMD-EM5 mark III travels with me on business trips because it's easy to carry and doesn't take much space. It has a grainy film setting that I really enjoy. I hope you enjoy it, too.

Using a Sony A6300 which has been modified to be a monochrome sensor. The lens is an Asahi Pentax Takumar SMC 100mm f4 macro which is capable of a 1:2 macro. The lens was set to f11 to get additional DOF. I will be looking at green Hibiscus flower buds which have not yet opened. Both images were shot in RAW and processed the same way without Demosaicing. PhotoAI was used on both to optimize sharpness. There is also a big difference in background light where it appears that the light must have been mostly visible light, and was not an issue in the IR image.

First image is using a UV-IR cut filter which means that the sensor will only see visible light. Note that the green flower bud Hibiscus is quite dark. I see that my focus was on the left bud.

Second image, the UV-IR cut filter is removed and instead, the camera is using a 650nm IR filter. Green portions of plants strongly reflect IR light which causes the flower buds to look white. My focus happened to be on the center flower bud.

Third image is a cropped side-by-side closeup. What I am seeing is that the fine detail seems to be sharper on the IR image. I have seen this effect before. The fuzz is sharper, and the surface detail is sharper.