Vintage tabernacle, Mathews County VA

Here I sit in my living room with the curtains pulled, in front of the fan, amusing myself on a terribly hot and humid morning here in Maryland. I was thinking of grabbing a beach towel and going for a swim in the pool out back but then I remembered there was no pool out back.

Dang.

Yesterday I found a texture over at Shadowhouse Creations that I wanted to put to use. And so, sitting here cooling off in front of the fan after a long hike and a cold shower, I went about turning these photos into a vintage look, complete with old water stains and the like.

This is an old tabernacle that I visited while at a little something called Blog Fest last summer. I loved it there. If I closed my eyes, I could imagine the people of long ago, filling up the long benches on a warm Sunday morning, the women in their good summer dresses, keeping cool with their fans while the minister preached a sermon warning them of the ravages of sin and the temptations of Satan.

Even the sign looks old, covered in lichen. Please disregard those tiny little people behind the sign. You probably didn’t even notice them until I pointed them out, didja?

For the two photographs above, I ran different variations of Totally Rad’s Old Skool actions. Then I used this texture with the layer mode set to ‘multiply’ from Shadowhouse Creations.

Old Skool used on this photo as well, but a different texture, also from Shadowhouse. It’s called Painted Canvas, found in this set (top row far right). If you download any of his textures, please thank Jerry. He creates these for free and only wants a simple thank you.

Inside the tabernacle was quite dark, and I remember setting the ISO to 1250 and shooting away. I ran Old Skool on this one but used a texture I found on Flickr. If you haven’t visited les brumes textures yet, I suggest you do. I wish they were a little higher rez but hey, they’re free. And they’re really cool.

And now I’m off to WalMart where I plan to buy a kiddie pool and some floats. You think I’m kidding, don’t you?

Ok. I am.

Respectfully submitted,

Your grandparents may remember Memorial Day as Decoration Day, first established after the Civil War as a day set aside to honor the dead by decorating their graves with flowers. I remember what our nation’s soldiers did for our country. And for that, I am grateful.