Woodstock Opera House Canvas Print

Woodstock is a city in and the county seat of McHenry County, Illinois, United States, located 51 miles (82 km) northwest of Chicago. The city's downtown includes a historic turn-of-the-century town square, which is anchored by the landmark Woodstock Opera House and Old McHenry County Courthouse. The city was named one of the nation's Dozen Distinctive Destinations in 2007 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

I photographed the Opera House using a 19mm focal length lens straight on from across the street. Upon conversion to black and white the sky was washed out. To fix this problem I replaced the sky with one that fit the image yet still maintaining the original force of the sky to the image. To all those purists out there I must remind them of the words of the great Walker Evans:

With the camera, it's all or nothing. You either get what you're after at once, or what you do has to be worthless. I don't think the essence of photography has the hand in it...

Forty-eight of my most popular images (based on views and sales) are found on the front page of my images gallery. Others love them, perhaps you will too! The second page of my images gallery displays my most recent images (unless one or more made the front page and was replaced by a more popular image.) Don't forget to look there and beyond too. _____________________________ I divide my time between Chicago in the summer and Phoenix in the winter. The first hint of cold, generally sometime in late October I flee the dreadful weather and head to Arizona. Conversely, when the temperature reaches 105 degrees for five consecutive days I run from the dreadful heat back to the humidity of the midwest. That, my friends, explains the split...