Blue hour at The Pearl
Exploring the beauty of the Pearl Brewery before dawn
As you know by now, I love to get up and shoot first thing in the morning. It's quiet, peaceful and still outside, and I can have normally crowded places all to myself, which I like. I'm a bit of an introvert anyways, so it's a good fit. :-)
Back in January, I spent a few days in San Antonio, visiting my Mom and basically cruising all over town trying to capture a bunch of stuff that has eluded me on previous visits. I would say those days were a resounding success (and I still have a bunch of photos to edit and share from the trip). I got some shots I really love and got to go to a few new places too (with the camera that is - I have been all over SA many times, having spent my formative years there).
I shot El Mercado, their famous Mexican market. I captured all the Missions along the San Antonio Mission Trail, including my favorite one, Mission Espada. And of course I headed out one morning to shoot the Riverwalk, gloriously free of tourists.
But I knew my trip there would not be complete unless I finally got to shoot The Pearl Brewery district at sunrise. You see, this is an area of town that has undergone massive development over the years, and I have to admit it's pretty darn nice. I've been there many times, but always in the daytime with the family, enjoying the restaurants, the farmer's market and the shops. So this time I planned to get up early and shoot it in better light.
I arrived while it was still dark, and since I already knew what I wanted to shoot, I just set up and got started. After a short bit blue hour came around, and I was in my element. I love a good sunrise or sunset as much as the next guy, but boy do I have a soft spot for blue hour. Maybe I just like the color blue.
So I wandered and shot here for about a half hour, only deciding to leave because I wanted to get over to The Riverwalk while it was still early enough to have it to myself (which worked out just fine, thank you!).
The brewery itself, which you see in the distance of the photo below, has been converted into the Hotel Emma. It's really a beautiful hotel, and I just realized that on a different visit I wandered in there one afternoon and took all sorts of photos of it. I guess I had been open up my library and start editing. Always so much awesomeness waiting in there, you know? ;-)
A large truck passes my while I am capturing this scene.
