The first mission in Texas
I was on a mission - and I succeeded!
Ok, that was dumb...but it's hard to think of something to say a lot of times. Anyways, I went down to San Antonio a few weeks ago and part of the plan there was photographing the San Antonio Missions. No, not the Minor League baseball team. Instead, I was chasing down the historic Spanish missions there. There are four of them and collectively they are known as the San Antonio Missions National Historic Park - and it's pretty awesome.
I have shot the Missions before, but that was years ago and more importantly, a couple of cameras ago. You know, once you have new gear you start wanting to revisit some spots. I've done a bit of that lately now that I am toting around the Sony A7II. So...I hit up the Missions and of course re-photographed the Riverwalk again. It was a very productive 3 days there! It was also a bit overcast with the threat of rain, which I consider nearly perfect photo conditions.
The mission featured here today is Mission Espada, which in my opinion is the most beautiful of the four of them. It's the furthest from town, and I'm pretty sure it's the smallest, but I think it's just bursting with character. It was the first Mission I visited on this trip, and luckily the skies were very agreeable. That was the other thing I had hoped for on this trip - better skies. Last time, it was a bright blue day so this visit was much better. I do love some cloudy skies. So much more interesting.
So I spent about a half hour here (like I said above, it's pretty small), shooting a few angles and different compositions and trying out some things. I like to do that when I am somewhere, just to make sure I capture everything I could possibly want to capture. There's nothing worse than getting home and looking at your shots, only to realize you missed something. That sucks.
After this, it was off to the next one, and then the last two. It's quite easy to get to all of these on the same visit, as just a short drive separates them all. It takes a couple of hours depending on the length to which you explore each Mission. Well, it took me a couple of hours, but I was purely taking photographs and then moving on. It would take much longer if you spent the time to read about and absorb the history of each Mission, tour them completely, and take photographs. But...I was on a Mission, see? ;-)
If you start with Mission Espada (the furthest south of town), when you get to the last one you are almost to downtown San Antonio. So then you can head over to the Riverwalk and shoot there. It makes for a busy but great day of shooting, and a very satisfying one - especially if you get some dramatic clouds like I did.
Thanks for stopping by today. Let me know if you have any questions!
The interior is very small - that's the whole thing!
I have a thing for doors, so I couldn't resist!
