10 Years Of Christmas Card Photos

2006, the first one. Might as well start with The Alamo, our most famous landmark. Luckily the tree had white lights so it's brightness in relation to the Alamo is as good as it can get. This year's Spurs-themed tree is very dark.

2007, Tower Of The Americas, San Antonio's other iconic landmark. We made a point to come downtown closer to sunset, for more color in the sky.

 2008 San Fernando Cathedral.
This was the only year this photo was possible because sick trees that would have been in the way were removed and not yet replaced. The fountains had just been installed, too.
Probably the best remembered picture, but it set the bar impossibly high. Sold and gifted a lot of 8x10" prints of this.

2009 The Riverwalk.
Right in the heart of downtown. To get our card photo we go all over town looking at decorations in the weeks after Thanksgiving, then return to the best spots at the optimum time to refine the composition and exposure. I put a lot of work into this project, so it's gratifying to hear that most people save the prints every year and look forward to the next one.

2010 Sneaky Santa.
One of our favorite ornaments, posed on the little silver tree in our front window.
I was looking for a change from "downtown SA at night" and having to drag a heavy camera and tripod all over the place. Super easy, and fun.

 2011 The Riverwalk again.
This was the first year the city used LED lights, to mixed reception. Under the impression that they could leave them up all year, the crews went all-out wrapping the trees almost completely. Unfortunately, the color of these first-generation bulbs leaned pretty far to the blue end of the spectrum. Then squirrels ate the wires when the weather warmed up, destroying hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of lights.

2012 St. Vincent De Paul Catholic Church.
Taken a couple of years earlier after Christmas Eve Mass.
I was working 60 hours a week that year, and didn't have time to search out something. Also wanted to go in a religious direction. I also took one where the tree is out of focus but Jesus is sharp, then let Sylvia choose.

2013 Little Church At La Villita.
This pic was maybe 5 years old, and is the only daytime shot.
We weren't finding anything else, then quickly ran out of time.
While printing them, the machine got stuck and wouldn't stop. By the time staff got it shut down there were over 100 extra prints that I still have. This was the year my brother Ken died right before Christmas, and I drew some comfort from this picture.

2014 Blanco County Courthouse, Johnson City Texas.
I had been wanting a shot like this for years, to get a small-town view.
Sylvia left work early so we could make the hour+ drive north in time to catch sunset.


2015....to be continued

A Lovely Setting

My band played a wedding last night in this event center on the Guadalupe River in the Texas Hill Country.
After setting up our gear I turned around and realized that maybe...just maybe...I should have brought a real camera.
On the other hand, then I would likely have shot it horizontally and sacrificed the reflection on the floor.

When viewed on Facebook--on a smartphone--it's quite effective since it fills the screen.
On a laptop or desktop--not so much.

Merry Christmas

I really wanted to have a religious photo for our Christmas cards this year, but with my work and band schedules gone all crazy we just didn't have the time to go 'in search of' besides the one trip downtown mentioned in the previous post.
So I rooted around in my big external drive for stuff from years past, knowing that there are more than a few really good ones that have never been shown to anyone.

Lo and behold, the shot I intended to make this year was already in the bag--I had forgotten it. There are two versions from right after Christmas Eve Mass 2011--the other one had the forcus point shifted to the giant crucifix at St. Vincent DePaul Catholic Church, with the tree being blurry. I let Sylvia pick which to use and am very happy with the result.


It's been an amazing year for me.
Never in a million years would I have thought that I would be in a position to gift a 47" Vizio TV. (We had decided on 42" but they were all gone, and the bigger one was only $30 more...)
OMG it's HUGE and the most amazing picture anyone has ever seen!
All our friends and family went HD years ago, but since this TV is new and has all the best specs (like 120hz refresh rate) it's picture quality is insane.

When I enable 1080HD on the cable box, we were both stunned. "Look at the blades of grass! Look at the beads of sweat! It's so pretty!"

Sylvia loves it and was completely surprised (she said "What the crap?") but make no mistake--in this house the living room TV is ALL hers until late at night. I didn't buy it for me at all.
Sadly, it's so big that the giant lazy susan I built for our last set doesn't work cuz it can only be rotated a little before hitting a wall, meaning I can't turn it towards the kitchen during dinner or when I'm camped out at the counter fixing stuff or stringing a bass or tuning a trigger.
Looks like I need a smaller flat screen in the dinette running off the splitter I put in the cable (after our DVR so there's no time delay in the sound).
Oh darn! I think a 26" ought to be about right.


This Holiday Season has been such a joy, not stressing about money for gifts and supplies. Despite my hectic schedule I was (mostly) calm and relaxed.
The best part was all the pleasure I got from giving to charity and helping folks spontaneously.

I hope y'all have had a joyous holiday season, too.

Mission Accomplished

The grain mill building:
If you're lucky they'll actually be grinding corn when you visit.
It's fascinating, intricate, primitive, and beautiful.

A first for me: Restroom window in infrared.

This is why many people stop using the lens that came with their fancy big cameras.
The curving walls give this lovely church a fun-house feel that I find very distracting.
Makes me a little nauseous, even.

There are wide angle lenses that don't do this, but you have to pay a lot for the extra complexity. If you sell your photos, it's often worth it.
If there's room, simply backing away from your subject and using some zoom will usually straighten things up again.

Ahhh, that's better!
Not only did I back up, I also switched to my infrared Sony F828.
A version of this shot from a few years ago is hanging on many walls around town, so I thought I would give it another go.
That one has a stormy feel to it that really works, but I like this, too.

That's all from my most recent Missions visits.
There is nothing in the pipeline until I get a chance to shoot something new.
Maybe by the weekend.
Thanks for visiting!

Mission San Jose

Following the Mission Trail, San Jose is next.
This is the most complete and impressive of them all, so if you have visitors from out of town and limited time, bring them here.

On my fourth or 5th visit I finally noticed the similarity between the visitor's center....

...and this.
All of the doors on the right lead to little 2-room living areas built into the outer perimeter walls. The wood poles supported whatever they used for shade.

Most people miss this unless they're on a guided tour.
As primitive and crusty as all the Missions look today, 250 years ago they looked a bit better.
When San Jose was completely plastered and painted like the fragment seen here it must have been the most beautiful building in all of south Texas.
I can imagine the indigenous locals thinking "Wow, these people who worship the man on the tree must know what they're talking about!"

With all of the church interiors restored we have an idea of what they must have looked like, but this last surviving section of exterior somehow gets overlooked.


Imagine if this part of the church was still in original condition?
BTW, I take this same photo every visit and have yet to beat my very first attempt.
That was over 5 years ago, and I made so many technical errors that it took a lot of PhotoShop to get a decent 5x7 print--an 8x10 was out of the question.
But the light and shadows were perfect.

Beginner's Luck.


More to come...

Mission Concepcion

Took some Missions virgins on a tour last weekend.
We managed to hit 2 of the 4 not named Alamo before I had to go home and get ready for work. The rest of our crew stopped to eat and before they knew it, 5pm had arrived and the doors got locked by the National Park Service.

I took two cameras and wished I had thought to put a strap on one of them so I could do without carrying a bag.

First up is an infrared shot using the F828:
It took just about all of my patience but I got this shot without any people in it, and they were all over the place. I think I had 2 seconds before someone walked into the frame again.
Sometimes I wonder if y'all think I go shooting at weird times on days when the whole world is busy to keep random folk out of my pics, but the truth is that I just stand in my spot and focus my powers on the weak minds of every other person around me, compelling them to move out of the frame.
Much like Obi-Wan Kenobi's Jedi mind tricks, but with more liberal use of swear words. "You need to seek shade right now, or your sweaty ass will betray you to the Empire".



The recent restoration of the interior looks fantastic, and again I had to "influence" a lot of people to leave in order to get these photos.

The pic from my "Happy Easter" post on Sunday was also taken here at this time.
It was my favorite for many reasons, and while it was supposed to be the highlight of this post I'm not sorry that I ran it early.

Happy Easter!

This door stays open



Mission Concepcion
San Antonio Texas
April 3, 2010

A Quick Detour

The night before Loud Nine's last show I dropped a carload of equipment off at our practice facility so it could be loaded into the trailer, saving me from making 2 trips the next day.
Luckily, I realized before leaving home that this quick mission would leave plenty of time to shoot a new church on Loop 1604 that had caught my eye, so I packed my tripod but forgot my jacket.

My teeth were starting to chatter and it would have been a long walk to get close enough for some creative angles, so I settled for this basic view before turning around and heading back to the car:


As often happens, turning around changes more than your direction of travel:
This little tower pre-dates the church by several years, and has been on my list of subjects since it was brand-new.
But without it's own lighting, I always felt it would be too much trouble to shoot at night.

The new church's parking lot lights changed all that--unfortunately at the price of having to make much longer exposures and not being able to get reliable focus-lock 3/4ths of the time.
Even though it was probably in the mid-50s I froze my ass and quit after 1 keeper, although I really like it.

It's below freezing right now and I'm sure I won't go out un-prepared again.

Wedding Highlights

Julie and Eddie Brown's wedding--these are a few of my personal favorites.










Everyone had a great time and there was less drama than at some of the weddings I've been to.



Good morning, Selma. How was the drive?

Remains

The heroes of the Alamo aren't buried there--instead their remains are across town at San Fernando Cathedral.


Busiest week of the year so far, and I daresay it will hold the top spot for the rest of 2009.
But by Sunday night things should return to normal.

I have some stuff from the wedding I'll be posting soon.


Then there's a wild, dark, macabre and technically challenging idea that's been rattling around in my head for a few weeks.
This (hopefully) frightening test shot will involve multiple exposures carefully blended into one, but in keeping with my preference for solid camera work versus Photoshop trickery the individual exposures will have to be composed and lit perfectly for it to work.
My Photoshop skills will still be crucial, and since I'm just picturing the methods and results in my head right now there might be a flaw in the plan.
One goal is to offer something different for a certain client of mine.
The other is to prove that Live View (an important feature of my particular camera) has advantages that nobody else has exploited yet.
We shall see...

What Is An Alfombra?

It's a giant tapestry made of sand.
Or a sand painting.

This particular one was made under the protection of a huge white tent on Main Plaza, in front of San Fernando Cathedral.
(Remember the church in my Christmas Card photo?)


The media is over 300 pounds of naturally colored volcanic sand, which I asume was brought from home by the artists.
They're Canary Islanders.

The occasion is San Antonio's 278th birthday; on a date which conveniently falls within a week or so of the creation of The Republic of Texas (in 1836).
We get to celebrate important stuff twice in March--a month that lacks proper holidays for most people who aren't Irish or drunktards.

The connection between San Antonio and the Canary Islands is a little-known bit of history that's actually very important.
Canary Islanders founded our city.
A short Texas Almanac Article
All of their family names are instantly recognizable, and fill scores of pages in the local phone book.
Many people usually think of Mexico when San Antonio's history and population is the topic, but in reality Spain is our true mother country through her Canary Islanders.



Upper right is Spain and Portugal.
Moving south is the Straights Of Gibraltar, which is the entrance to the Mediterranean, then Morocco and the rest of Africa.

It was possible to watch the artists at work during all of last week.
I shot these photos on Saturday once it was finished.
After the official unveiling ceremony on Sunday this beautiful work of art was destroyed during a ceremonial procession led by Archbishop José Gomez.

I really wanted to see that but had an important photo shoot scheduled, with tacos.

Merry Christmas

Our Christmas card picture, with some added type just for this site.


I was thrilled to be able to combine my loves of night photography featuring both architecture and fountains, as well as fulfill my goal this year of combining religious with secular holiday imagery.
A year ago this shot wasn't possible because main plaza was being renovated to it's current state, thanks to Mayor Hardberger's vision. Despite widespread skepticism, (some people were saying he was ramming a terrible idea down our throats) I have to admit he was dead right--the results are wonderful even though the designers 'forgot' to comply with the disabilities act. (What's an extra quarter million dollars when we have a city manager that has saved us close to a quarter billion in the last few years?)
Before the renovation you couldn't shoot San Fernando Cathedral in a clean and direct manner like this because of the big old (diseased) red elm trees blocking the view.
Now there are fountains and restrooms and space to hang out.
Love It!!!
When Main Plaza is truly finished I'll be bringing you more views, as there are many interesting photo-ops and we've figured out free parking nearby.

I wish you all a Happy Holiday, and thanks for visiting my humble little corner of the interwebs.

Holiday Wallpaper

This is an alternate picture from our Christmas card photo shoot.
Everyone probably has received their cards by now, so I hope I'm not spoiling anyone's surprise--the card is totally different even though it's from the same location.

Click on it for a 1024x768 pixel version that makes a nice desktop.
Hope you like it. If so, send a link to your friends!
(Yes, sometimes I pimp my pics a little...)

Including random strangers in my photos is something I'm trying to do more often, but they have to cooperate by standing still during long shutter speeds like this.
And they must be unrecognizeable so there's no need for model release forms, which would mean I'd have to strike up a conversation and politely ask permission to use their likeness in print and on the internet--yuck!
This couple turned out to be perfect for my needs, and it's great that pictures are silent so you can't tell they were in the middle of a fight.