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Mission San Jose--A Technique-Driven Series
#1

There are five of these old Spanish Missions in San Antonio, the most famous being The Alamo.
This is the biggest and most-intact, and all except the Alamo still serve their parishoners.

Since the National Park Service closes the gates at 5pm night shooting (my favorite kind of photography) isn't possible, so I purposely tried to use as many of my other favorite techniques as possible.

First, regular color (with a CP filter):
[Image: msj.color3.jpg]

[Image: msj.color2.jpg]

Low light, low iso color--1/5th second shutter so I had to wedge my tripod in a tight space next to the piano:
[Image: msj.color1.jpg]
(One of the rare times I had bad purple fringing--around the windows--but I got rid of it).

Before leaving I realized I still needed a macro, which is when I remembered the bronze scale model out front:
[Image: msj.macro.jpg]

An infrared version of one of the color photos above:
[Image: msj.IR2s.jpg]

Since this composition doesn't really "work" in 2D I shot a stereo pair to make this 3D. Instead of blending-in, the stone corner in front separates from the background rather well. (You have to cross your eyes until the 3D image appears in the middle to see the effect):
[Image: msj.3d2.jpg]

Daylight Long Exposure--the waterwheel turns a grinding stone in the mill upstairs, for demonstrations. I felt a long exposure suited the subject best so used some ND filters to lengthen the shutter time:
[Image: msj.longexp.jpg]

Off-camera flash portrait:
[Image: msj.flash.jpg]
I used a slave flash as the main light camera-right, triggered by a flash unit on the hotshoe.

It was a very busy visit with all of the filters and mode changes and tripod adjustments and setting up the 2 flashes, but the results were worth the trouble in my opinion.
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#2

Great series K! My fav would be the long exp...
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#3

What a great series - my vote for the long exposure as well. I also like the infared conversion.

Canon stuff.
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#4

I also like the slow exposure, but I'm equally impressed by what you're able to do with the off-camera flash.

matthewpiers.com • @matthewpiers | robertsonphoto.blogspot.com | @thewsreviews • thewsreviews.com
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#5

I appreciate the comments.
The long exposure of the waterwheel is my favorite, too.
The portrait was a joy, since my model didn't want to pose.
I promised "just give me two shots" and could have stopped after this first one, and she loves the result.

The points this post is making are about versatility and preparedness to quickly change methods to best suit the subject and lighting, and using every opportunity to practice different techniques.
Also, the benefits of carrying a tripod and flash equipment.

I know many people find tripods to be a pain to drag with you sometimes, but photos 3, 5, 6, 7 & 8 couldn't have been done without one.
Inside the church, the light levels were very low--1/5th of a second is too long for handheld and high iso graininess (at least with MY camera) isn't the 'look' I wanted at all.
IR uses long shutter speeds, too.
3D requires a high level of precision to match the left and right image components.
For the flash photo, it was either use the timer and a tripod or carry a light stand for the slave flash.

Having a lightweight but sturdy tripod that's quick to set-up has meant that I use it more than most other people do, and I consider it the single best equipment investment a photographer can make.


Sometimes I go somewhere with a clear idea of the type of photos I want, and only bring the necessary equipment with me.
Other times (like here at Mission San Jose) I bring everything and try to use it all (for practice at least)--and I'm usually glad I did.
While I have nothing against going out with just the camera sometimes, I really hate being angry at myself for leaving my filters or flashes or tripod at home (or in the car) when I suddenly find myself in a situation where they can significantly improve a photo.
If I'm going someplace I've been before, that sometimes makes planning easier but it usually means that I'll plan ways to use everything.
I still travel light, with just a very small backpack and the tripod.
Total weight is less than most DSLR users carrying a long lens in addition to a medium zoom or a couple of primes.
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#6

Really great Keith, thanks for sharing. Looks like you really got your money's worth for that trip (photographically speaking) Big Grin

I like the off camera flash portrait too - what did you use to hold your flash? The tripod?
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#7

I held the slave flash in my hand--it was the main subject light source.
The camera was on the tripod, and after shooting a few test shots without flash to frame the background and expose it the way I wanted using ambient light, I turned on the hotshoe flash (which only triggers my slave flash) and set the camera's timer, then walked over to where I wanted my main light to come from.

I knew from experience that at 5 feet away F5.6-F6.3 would work for the flash, so all I needed to do was find the shutter speed for the background at that aperture before making this exposure.
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