Christ Chapel by Joe Lencioni

This photo of Christ Chapel at Gustavus Adolphus College was actually stitched together (in Photoshop) from three separate photographs.

I would have liked to have waited until summer when the grass is all green and there are actually leaves on the trees, but I think this post-winter version works as well. I actually got pretty lucky for this photo… For about two weeks, the weather was entirely dreadful and constantly cloudy. My deadline was approaching when I noticed a break in the clouds. I jumped out, grabbed a few shots, and got back inside before the sky went entirely gray again.

Advanced techniques like stitching and HDR are great ways to stretch your photography equipment into doing something more, if you know when to use them. Thankfully, with today’s technology and a little know-how, stitching and HDR are far easier to use than they were even a few years ago.