HDR'd from 3 exposures (+2,0,-2) from jpegs because I find I get better results than with raw for some reason. I definitely pushed the editing just a touch too far to make it a bit punchy and otherworldly, without going overboard.
Hope I don't get punished too badly for the singular church, but the buildings behind are parish homes. Also I think it works as a title as part of a series, but hey, I'm not doing well atm so what do I know. I also just realised that this is an album title, not a song or lyric...oops.
I hope this image is colourful, easy and appealing to the masses enough to make it past a 6. I need a 6 baaaaad...anyone will do... :)
PP: hdr from jpg, healed dust spots from sky, levels, noise ninja, levels on the roof, sharpen sky, sharpen building, brighten building, resize, sharpen, save for web.
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Lovely old structure nicely presented (though if I recall, "Houses of the Holy" had little to do with churches.) An interesting tidbit from Wikipedia: Lyrically, the song is an ode to Led Zeppelin concerts, with the "Houses of the Holy" referring to the arenas and auditoriums in which the band performed. Despite this, the song was never played live.
Lovely symmetrical composition, and great colors. I especially love the details in the roofing. Only thing I can suggest is to use some dodging/burning to bring out the details in the clouds (and to disguise that blown highlight in the sky). That contrast in the sky would look great with the rotting, mossy roof!