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Font + candles
When I use my phone to make a photo and I get a result like this, I sort of wonder why I even bother with the other “real” camera…
Presidio la Bahía
Goliad, Texas
photographed 5.6.2019
the mechanics of the thing
My dad was a civil engineer, which meant that I was exposed to hearing about how things worked throughout my life. (Once, as we were pulling out of the driveway to go see my grandpa, I asked what pre-stressed concrete was. An hour later, when we arrived, he was just concluding Part One: Introduction to Concrete.) Probably because of a combination of hearing things like that from my dad and the fact that our brains were wired similarly (except for the part about how he was an engineer and that calculus made me need to lie down), I am always interested in looking at the details in any setting. I like knowing what sort of minutiae matter to the people who use the place and seeing what kinds of things are needed to keep it going.
And so I was happy to be able to see these things, the ones that mattered.
Presidio la Bahía
Goliad, Texas
photographed 5.6.2019
Left like a shadow on the step
I had plans for shooting this place at night: there would be clouds moving past that I could capture with a long exposure, or maybe the sky would be clear and I could get stars, and the buildings would be dark, lit by only by light accumulating gradually on the camera’s sensor.
Of course – I’m sure you are way ahead of me here – none of those things came to pass. Although it was cloudy through the day, by late afternoon, the clouds had moved on. The building had not one but two giant floodlights on it, which derailed the accumulated-slowly-over-time light inside the camera and made the stars unseeable.
But I had come all this way and had committed to staying the night alone inside the walls of the old fort, so I set up the tripod and camera and set to work.
Presidio la Bahía
Goliad, Texas
photographed 5.6.2019
Night Falls
At last, the sun went down, lighting the front of the old church, and bringing deep shadows to the grounds of the fort. It was just me, a few mosquitoes, and (maybe) ghosts.
Presidio la Bahía
Goliad, Texas
photographed 5.6.2019
Font (many blessings)
The interior of the church, with the font first, and murals on the far wall. It was very nice to be the only person in there, and not just from a photographic, will-you-people-get-out-of-my-way situation. It was quiet and calm, and calming (because those are two different things).
Presidio la Bahía
Goliad, Texas
photographed 5.6.2019
