For many reasons, Christmas is my favorite holidays of the year. One of those reasons is the beautiful pageantry of the Christmas (or now more commonly just prior to Christmas) worship services. Most of those I remember growing up involved candles, a lot of singing and often children acting out the story of the birth of Jesus in a manger. While I don’t unfortunately have any photos of those services from when I lived back East (most likely it didn’t even occur to me to try and take photos then), I have enjoyed capturing the services at Menlo Park Presbyterian several times now.
The photo above and just below are from the Christmas Eve service in 2004, and were shot with my film Leica M7. While I wish I had easy access to the negatives, they are in storage, however, the scanned images come across almost as well. The pictures make me miss the colors of film, yet it’s helpful now to see images as I’m shooting them in very low light situations, like all of those during these services.
This was the last year that Pastor Doug, with the candle below, was one of my pastors, before he took an assignment in Tennesee. This occassion was one of the first times I brought my Leica to church (though I’d shot in the church before with the camera I used more then, the Canon 10D. At the time I’d brought it both to test it out fully, as I had just bought it a month previously I was still learning how most effectively to use it, and to be somewhat stealthy. However, just prior to the service Pastor Doug saw me, I did have a very good seat about 6 rows back, and thanked me for taking photos for them, so I had to concentrate on making them especially good even though I had no idea what the service would entail (every year they change it).
Although I attended the Christmas services between 2005 and 2008, it wasn’t until last year’s services that I returned with camera in hand to take the photos. This time I had my new Leica M8 (which had debuted in 2007, I just took a little longer to adopt it into my camera bag), and had the pleasure of my friend Colleen’s company. We sat roughly in the middle (the best seats we could get for the service) and I shot more with the 90 mm then I had the previous year with film.
That year, having seen several services simliar in their lighting (though not all of their content), I really appreciated the subtle moods created by the lighting and effects.
The finale that year, with the children’s choir joining the adult singers and worship leaders onstage was my favorite of all of theirs. Since we were sitting in the middle I had to dodge standing proud parents in my frame, so the framing of this one isn’t perfect, yet it’s among my favorites for capturing the action and enthusiasm onstage.
This year when Colleen and I planned to return to the service we discussed in advance which one we should go to and decided to go to the earliest service, that at 5:00 p.m. and to get their very early to get good parking and a good seat. While we got an amazing parking spot, even though we were in the church an hour and a half early, all of the seats near the center of the church, in fact most of the seats in general were taken or being saved (in some cases someone was saving all of a row for their friends and family. At first we tried to sit in the middle, several rows back from where we had been last year. Since we had plenty of free time I decided to shoot some detail shots.
For this one I briefly went up on the main stage. The only person to ask for permission was a musician, and while he gave it he probably wasn’t the right person to ask. Still I took this and quickly went back to my seat before anyone could object.
Colleen who knows me very well knew I didn’t think I’d get the type of shots I wanted from our seat, so she asked if I wanted to sit in the balcony. I liked the idea and went to scout us seats and we finally sat there. While waiting for the service to start I asked the soundman who I was sitting right next to what cute things the service would have this year. He told me there would not be an elaborate candle lighting service, nor a children’s choir. There would however fog produced during the song “The Darkest Night of the Year”.
With our seats up high I certainly got a different perspective than I have in years past. In some ways perhaps a ground seat may have been better for capturing this, though I may have had many people in my frame as it was so crowded.
by Danielle Stolman
no comments