The church is The Episcopal Church of Our Savior, located in the town of Trenton, SC. This is a beautiful church with wood interior. The building was consecrated on June 30, 1882 by Bishop William B.W. Howe. The bell tower was a later addition. The Episcopal Church of Our Savior is one of three churches that make up The Episcopal Church of the Ridge. The Episcopal Church of the Ridge was formed in 1973 under the suggestion of the Diocese of Upper South Carolina. Smaller churches were encouraged to form a cluster under one priest and one governing board. The name "Church of the Ridge" came from a ridge that runs through the area. The other two churches that make up The Episcopal Church of the Ridge are Trinity Episcopal Church in the town of Edgefield, SC and Grace Episcopal Church in the town of Ridge Spring, SC. Worship takes place every Sunday in one of the three churches on a rotating basis.
Members of the The Episcopal Church of Our Savior/Episcopal Church of the Ridge generously opened their doors to a group of photographers in the area known as Chicks that Click. This is a group of women photographers that photograph and share ideas with each other. Dora and I were invited to participate in the outing, along with two other male photographers that are friends of ours, Steve Rich and John Kirkland. Steve taught an amazing photo workshop for the Chicks that Click just prior to the photo shoot in the church. John and I were on hand to help with camera settings and computer setup.
The interior shots of the church were taken using a photographic technique known as HDR (high dynamic range). This is particularly useful when shooting a scene where lighting conditions are such that it is impractical to relight the scene and a resulting image would result in highlights that were over exposed or shadows under exposed. In this case 9 images, each taken 1 EV apart (exposure value), were stacked together to reveal details which would otherwise be hidden in the shadows or lost in the highlights. Exterior images were taken with a single exposure. Equipment used on interior shots: Nikon Z7 with Nikon S 14-30mm f/4 lens. Equipment used on exterior shots: Nikon Z7 with Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 lens.
Those familiar with the Episcopal Church would know that in the front of the church are two speaker positions. Facing the front the position on the left is known as the pulpit and on the right is known as the lectern. You will notice a Bible placed on the lectern in the image above. This Bible has been in my family for generations. It was printed in 1841 and at the time of this writing it is 179 years old.
In the image gallery below you will find additional images of this church as well as other churches I have been fortunate enough to visit and allowed to photograph.
2020 Episcopal Church
