TITLE: Sunset on St. Elias

Sunset on St. Elias... St. Elias is a Ukrainian Catholic Church in Brampton, Ontario, Canada just north of Toronto. It is nestled in a rural farmland area. It was built in the mid-1970’s and was completely destroyed by fire in 2015. Within two years it rose from the ashes as it was rebuilt to its former glory and beauty.

I drive by St. Elias almost everyday and have photographed it many times from many angles and many light situations but this has to be my favourite. It was around 8:30 pm and the sun was setting with these heavy clouds lurking above creating this wonderful light on the beautiful church domes. The colours were very vibrant but the B&W processing really made the contrast and drama pop. I enjoy using grain on my photos and this one was no exception.

AUTHOR: Franco Magri (Canada)

Hello there. My name is Franco (Frank) Magri and I hail from Ontario, Canada. I was born and raised in Toronto and have lived in the nearby Mississauga and Brampton area all my life. I have worked as a Graphic Designer for 30+ years and along with my drawing pad I have always had a camera by my side. I remember getting my first camera as a gift from my great-aunt and uncle when I was about 12 years old. It was a ‘Diana’-type toy camera and I took pictures of friends and family on school trips and vacations but I also recall shooting many pictures of trees and landscapes, even at that age. At 14, I purchased my first ‘real’ camera - an Olympus Trip 35 Rangefinder. I took that thing everywhere... I was hooked. A couple of SLRs (Miranda and Canon) and a thousand colour slides later, the digital world began. And I was hooked even more.

Today, with my Nikon DSLR and my iMac I am immersed in the world of textures, filters, brushes, grains, layers etc. It’s not enough to just shoot an image, as an artist I find satisfaction in creating one. Many times the initial photo serves as the base and I build up from there, much like an artist builds up the paint on his canvas. With all the tools and options out there creativity has more room to grow. But of course, looking through that viewfinder and clicking that shutter is still my main source of inspiration.

I really enjoy looking for and shooting textures that I could later use as a layer on another image or as its own piece of art. It allows me to see things in a totally different perspective by focusing on the isolated subject apart from it’s surroundings. People would look puzzled and probably wonder why I was photographing a crumbling cement wall or a rusty metal door from one foot away or wonder why I had taken a hundred shots of clouds. (Surely, you can relate to this.) With my graphics background I find myself shooting more for good composition, structure and mood rather than striving for the perfectly exposed and perfectly sharp image - if that makes any sense.
I am always learning and always looking and am constantly being inspired by the many wonderful images we can all see today on... oh wait... look at that cloud! I have to get my camera!
See you!
Happy clicking!