2025 NE Cruise - St John, Focus Shift with Cross and Stained Glass

 ...a focus-shifted pair using some stained glass in the background.

2025 NE Cruise - St John, Church Throne

Is this a throne?  I guess only certain people of high "rank" in the place get to sit here.  I've always had a problem with hierarchy in a church, as the Bible teaches that love is the great leveler of all the playing fields in life, and the "greatest among you shall be your servant" (Matthew 23:11).  Dunno - all these robes and crowns and hats and sashes - and thrones - the "higher ups" in a church get to use sure sets them apart somehow.  Shouldn't we be uniting instead?

2025 NE cruise - St John, Bookmark with Cross

 

2025 NE Cruise - St John, Pulpit of Church Interior

Church interiors are always fun to shoot.  There is often an abundance of color, good subtle lighting, and lots of art in glass, wood and stone.  Pulpits are interesting, as their elevation and degree of ornateness speaks to the veneration of the ministers that stand and speak behind them.  Plus it's a challenge - due to the usually low light conditions it's a trick to keep a steady hand, especially with a slower, middling lens.  I like photographing the insides of churches.

2025 NE Cruise - St John, Church Organ Pipes

2025 NE Cruise - St John, Narrow Window Exterior Shot

 

2025 NE Cruise - St John Steeple Shots

A peek-a-boo steeple shot here plus oblique angle of another below, on a church which we'll enter in the next several posts:

2025 NE Cruise - St John, Broadside Container Views

A broadside view of one of the containers.  Glowing and Found Edges effects on same below:

2025 NE Cruise - St John, Colorful Container Shopping Plaza

Part of the appeal of going on a cruise to new and (sometimes) exotic destinations is visiting towns and attractions that otherwise you wouldn't even know or think about.  Saint John is for us one example.  We'd never even heard of it, but found it interesting to explore.  Realizing that a lot of what is along ports like these is built just for the benefit of cruise passengers, they are nonetheless interesting to visit and occasionally patronize.

Imagine an entire shopping mall built primarily out of shipping containers!  I couldn't resist going crazy with the colors...

2025 NE Cruise - Portland, Neighborhood Panorama

I debated about posting this one because it's a 4-shot panorama and just so huge.  But I liked the idea of capturing a grove of houses instead of the usual cityscape.  So here it is...click the photo on a larger screen to see more detail.

And this is it for Portland posts.  Next stop:  St. John, New Brunswick