Concrete Cross

A Concrete Cross by Mike Jackobo

A concrete cross hides the sun in this infrared black and white photo. I made the photo at the castle at Pente Pigadia. It isn’t located on the nearby church but outside of the castle itself. This is actually the first thing one encounters as he climbs to the castle. The supports for the two arms make a rather strange design; it is almost like a peculiar “Π”. Only the central beam gives away what it really is. Another clue is also the fact that this is in Greece. Religion in this country dominates every facet of life!

How I made it.

Since this is the first thing one encounters as he reaches the castle, I had to make a photo out of it. It is also something that can be the subject for a photograph so, I had to give it a go. I like to make photos with strong backlight. That way there is greater separation between the subject and the background. At the same time, there is separation between the different layers of the background. Of course, I have to capture the shadowy part of the subject, which adds a level of difficulty. It is worth the try though, because the photo doesn’t look flat; as if everything was glued on a piece of paper.

Another important element in the frame is the tree. An infrared photo without a tree is just a normal photo. On the reverse side of the scene there were no trees to add to the composition. If I was there during late spring or summer it could have been more impressive because the foliage would be full. I don’t complain though, it looks good as it is.

The best place to hide the sun was the cross section. It provided with the most area as to not allow the light of the sun to enter straight the lens and ruin the exposure measurement. It also creates a kind of halo around the cross which is also desirable from a symbolic aspect.

This is no small structure and the lines were really skewed as I had to raise the camera to make the shoot. So in the end I had to make them vertical in order to create the scene I wanted to present.

This is the final result of the photograph of the concrete cross. Enjoy!

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