St. Joseph - Spire and Cemetery

St. Joseph is located between St. Henry and Fort Recovery. The church does not set directly off of 119 but is not too far off the road. You can see the spire from 119 during the day. I have made several trips to this church but have not been all that happy with the pictures. I am publishing these but I do not feel that I have found IT. "IT" being picture or pictures that best represent the church. Not to mention some of these were taken at ISO 1600. In addition to these I also added another picture of the church to the Description Of The Byway post. I went ahead and published these because it may be a while before I get back out that way and a feature on this church was long overdue.

The church has a cemetery right behind it. This picture is one of my more interesting cemetery captures. I found the snake-eye view to provide a unique perspective.

Cross Tipped Spire and Cemetery 

Saint Joseph Catholic Church 

Saint Joseph Ohio

Gethsemane Matthew 26:36-41

 
Matthew 26:36-41

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray. "He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed. "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet Not as I will, but as you will."

Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak."

Stained Glass Window Scripture - NIV
Holy Trinity Catholic Church
Coldwater Ohio

Mary Visiting Elizabeth

Luke 1:39-45
At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear. But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!

Stained Glass Window 

Holy Trinity Catholic Church 

Coldwater Ohio

Holy Trinity - Candles

The emblem at the left is from a candle holder and is practically life size. It never ceases to amaze me at how well my Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro performs. It's the little things like that and the candles pictured above that make each outing unique and fun.

Candles and Emblem

Holy Trinity Catholic Church

Coldwater Ohio

Holy Trinity - Church

When I go on a picture outing for The Land of the Cross Tipped Churches, I have a plan/goal. This outings goal was to re-shoot the brick relief arches on the school by St. Augustine and revisit St. Henry. I got the pictures of the arches but St. Henry was in use.

I decided now was a good time to visit the Church of the Holy Trinity just 4 miles to the North in Coldwater. To get to the church take 118 North out of St. Henry. While the church is not part of the byway it is part of The Land of the Cross Tipped Churches. The Ohio Scenic Byway only features 8 of the many churches that are included. As time allows I plan to feature some of these other churches.

This was my first visit and I can easily say it was not a wasted trip. It is definitely worth the small detour to visit if your touring the churches. As you can see from the picture above of the church I am really missing my polarizer. A darker blue sky would of looked much nicer.

Holy Trinity Catholic Church

Coldwater Ohio

Station 7 - Holy Trinity

The stations of the cross are one of my favorite subjects and this church's is my new favorite and probably my best capture to date. I just love the color and rich detail. I was able to take advantage of the available light, so I did not have to rely on flash or a very long exposure. Unfortunately this was the only one that was well lit.

Station of the Cross

Holy Trinity Catholic Church

Coldwater Ohio

What A Relief

These brick relief arches are found on the side of the school next to Saint Augustine. They are just one of many unusual finds that I have encountered on my exploration of "The Land of the Cross Tipped Churches" byway. According to this placard it was a joint effort between the school and the Ohio Art Council. This is definitely a story worth further investigation.

The arches are made up of pictures of places and events local to the community. See how many you can recognize. You can click on the picture for a larger view

 This is the first arch. Can you find the Volleyball Players
.

This is the second arch. Can you find the Veterinarian


This is the third arch. Can you find the Juggler



This is the fourth arch. Can you find the Barber


I used a seven foot step ladder instead of a tripod to take these pictures. The first two were taken with my 18-55 kit lens. The last two were taken with my Canon 50mm f/1.8. I wanted to compare the two. Not surprisingly the pictures taken with the 50 were much better than the Kit lens. It is by far the best lens for the buck in the Canon line.

Minster School House Relief Arches
St. Augustine Catholic Church
Minster Ohio

Statue at Sunset

I got out tonight and took some more pictures. The setting sun was giving me a great sky to work with, but I was in the car and running out of time. I made a quick stop at The Shrine of the Holy Relics and captured this.


Sun Set and Statue  Shrine of the Holy Relics  Maria Stein Ohio

Cemetery at Twilight

The phone rings, I pick up and it's our oldest son Ryan. "Get your camera and go outside the sunset is awesome." That was pretty much the whole conversation. So I grab my gear and head outside. My son lives in town, we live in the country. Were not that far apart (15 miles) but I wasn't seeing what he was seeing. Still maybe just on the other side of the tree line. I decide what the heck I'd drive west and see what happens. I figured I'd go as far as McCartyville and if nothing was going on I'd just return home and watch NCIS.


The Sacred Heart of Jesus is in McCartyville and has a wonderful cemetery. The Station 12 of the Cross or as I like to call it memorial to Calvary is one of my favorite subjects. This one came out very muted in twilight.

The picture at the top was taken when I first got there while there was still quite a bit of light. I think it came out with a very spooky feel. Of course I wanted to try and capture some of the sunset so I turned my attention on the monument that first caught my eye. On this shot I experimented with my flash compensation and backed my flash off by about 2 stops. The resulting picture is not too bad, but still not quite what I wanted.


This last picture is another twilight shot. Shooting late at night is a bit of a challenge but can produce some interesting images. All these pictures were taken with my trusty Canon f/2.8 100mm Macro lens. By the time I got there; its about a 15 minute drive, I did not have time to setup a tripod. These were all taken hand-held so I was not sure if I would come back with anything I could use. Over all I was happy with the outing. The top picture is my favorite out of the bunch.

Cemetery Crosses
Cemetery Crucifix
Sacred Heart of Jesus Church
McCartyville Ohio

St. Francis

One of the surprising features of this church are its large stained glass murals. This is just one of several you will find on your visit here.

These pictures were taken early in my exploration of the byway. At this point in time I was still trying to get by without using a tripod. In fact it was these pictures that made me start lugging it around and using it. Case in point this altar picture was taken at ISO 1600 to get the shutter speed fast enough so I could shoot hand-held.

The image quality on my camera at ISO 800 is barely acceptable....1600 just was not going to cut it quality wise. This picture looks fine for the web, but trying blowing it up and you get grain and loss of detail. Live and Learn.