Saturday was a day of firsts... first time to use the new camera; first time to go to Nacogdoches, Texas; first time for Ross to visit his friend Logan at SFA; first time to come face to face with so much of Texas' beginnings.
Nacogdoches, Texas is touted as the "oldest town in Texas" and the only one to "fly under Nine Flags". In other words, Nacogdoches seems to have been the seat of any government under which Texas was ruled prior to modern times. The history of the area goes back to the early 1500s and the Native American tribe known as the Caddo. It is from the Caddo language that the word Texas was originally coined.
We took an instructional stroll through Oak Grove Cemetery, where a veritable smorgasbord of early Texas founding fathers are laid to rest. Signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence from Mexico, fighters at the Battle of San Jacinto, one of the two first U.S. Senators to represent Texas upon its admission to the Union, statesmen who voted to secede from the Union and then went on to be leaders in the Confederacy. It was a course in Texas History to rival any required 7th grade subject.
As for camera time, most was devoted to the drive home. This photo of the swollen Trinity River yielded a surprise or two when uploading from the camera. It seems there are bats on the bridge standards waiting for the right moment to take off into the darkness of night.
This photo was in the Oak Grove Cemetery. This is the base of the largest magnolia tree I've ever seen. It has completely overtaken this family plot and indeed has grown over the marble boundaries.
The remainder of the time was spent playing with silhouettes against the sunset. These were taken through the windshield of the moving vehicle. Full Manual; ISO 400; f/14 (+/- a stop or 2 every now and then to experiment); 1/800 shutter speed.
2 comments:
That tree is amazing and your sunset shots are gorgeous. You weren't driving, were you? One of the guys in my meetup group showed us some gorgeous fall color shots he got in West Virginia WHILE HE WAS DRIVING ON THE INTERSTATE. Mine are blurry at fast shutter speeds when I'm the passenger LOL LOL LOL
Thanks, Robin. No, I wasn't driving. I still say 99% of anything decent that I capture is by accident! I always manage to delete more photos than I keep... the best thing about digital!! If I had to pay for the equivalent in film I'd be on the streets.
But I need to broaden my horizons. The only thing at which I am totally comfortable when shooting is a landscape. I so admire those who take stunning portraits. I need to get more experience with other subjects.
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