The stained glass windows at the Kensington Methodist Church were lit tonight by both Christmas and Taize candles. I decided this might be an appropriate time to play around with the Stained Glass filter. I used the Difference blend mode, then selected all the white dividing lines generated by the filter and filled them with black to create windows with essentially the same design, but a more abstract character.

As we were leaving Mass this evening, I turned to see a crescent moon riding over the church. The pastor was turning off the lights, but the stained glass windows were still glowing. I had only my point-and-shoot with me--no tripod--and John was urging me to huttry as we had guests coming for dinner. The resulting photo is grainy, but I liked the light and color. Using Posterize and Glowing Edges distills it down to those two elements.

This is the stunning rose window that's over the altar at St. Dominic's, one of the two churches we attend. I started to play around with filters and then I realized: this is a beautiful work of art. To try to alter it would be hubris. It is perfect as it is.