San Francisco de Asis Mission

[MattBurt]

I attended my office Christmas party near our division HQ in Taos NM over the weekend. It's always a scenic drive and this time was no exception but his post is about the old church on the West end of town. I was staying an an Air BnB place just a couple of blocks away so I walked over when I had a little time to soak up the scene and take some photos.

IMGP6574-Edit by Matt Burt, on Flickr

IMGP6577-Edit by Matt Burt, on Flickr

IMGP6634-Edit by Matt Burt, on Flickr

The light was pretty short lived but I was glad I caught a little of it.
This is a commonly photographed subject so I tried to get some less common perspectives but then when the light came out the classic angle seemed like my best option. Hope it's not too cliche.

[N80]

I like the third one best even though I'm partial to B&W. To me it captures that time of day when things are winding down, it is cold and quiet, maybe a little sad. The downward gaze of the statue enhances the effect, for me. The content seems somber and which is also consistent. At the risk of being cliche'd I might call this one "Benediction".

[MattBurt]

I like the third one best even though I'm partial to B&W. To me it captures that time of day when things are winding down, it is cold and quiet, maybe a little sad. The downward gaze of the statue enhances the effect, for me. The content seems somber and which is also consistent. At the risk of being cliche'd I might call this one "Benediction".

Thanks for the feedback! Hmmm, not sure about that title but I'm rarely sure of any title.

[brandtb]

Matt...the subjects themselves are great. I think the framing is a problem here...although the framing on the first is interesting.  I don't think framing the second like that helps, and for the the third in which the light is fantastic....the right part of building is slightly clipped....but the rest is visible? I think if you're going to frame 19/20ths of a structure like that...you might as well get the remaining 1/20th. Maybe "zooming" in to get illuminated bell towers and statue would have been option...on second image as well....zooming in or getting closer.

[RSL]

Hi Matt, I agree with Brant's critique. Actually, everybody from Cartier-Bresson to Ansel Adams has photographed San Francisco de Asis, but most of them have photographed the other end of the building, which is a study in graphics. Unfortunately they've now put a gas meter on the face of the thing, and run a couple powerlines past it. Duh! I left out the gas meter in this one.

[N80]

The framing of #3 does not bother me. There is no impression that I'm missing something interesting or integral. Different strokes.

[BobDavid]

I like the second image most. I think it would look better if you cropped out some of the extraneous stuff on the right-hand side. And Russ, I like the power lines, especially because they weren't in the pictures that the old masters took.

[RSL]

And Russ, I like the power lines, especially because they weren't in the pictures that the old masters took.

I'm always tempted to clone them out, Bob. Somewhere I have pictures of the whole rear end of the church, gas meter and all. So far I haven't been able to find them. You like the power lines; how would you like a gas meter?

[RSL]

Incidentally, San Francisco de Asis isn't in Taos. It's in Ranches de Taos, a small community south of Taos.

[MattBurt]

Thanks for all the feedback!

I took a lot of variations of framing and angles with these ones being the ones I thought worked out the best. I know I have a lot of competition for photos of this subject! I was wishing for the wide open spaces around it I see in the older photos. The landscaping has gotten pretty big and there were quite a few cars around that I didn't want to include. I would have loved a nice old vintage Chevy truck but no such luck!

The third one is framed like that to eliminate a distraction and fit the back portion of the building with light on it into the frame. That bench was also challenging to work around. I was wishing I had a wider lens to try being closer but 35mm is the widest I have for my 645 gear and that is what I brought that day. There are a couple of wider lenses available but they are out of my price range at the moment.
The other end of the building had a big truck parked right up against it. Not an attractive truck IMO and it didn't suit the kind of photos I was hoping to take.
I would have liked to shoot more but the light was short-lived and people were starting to arrive for Saturday evening mass. I go to Taos at least a couple times a year so I may try again on a future visit. This was the first time I have taken photos of this building in 10 years or so.

And you are correct RSL, this is Ranchos de Taos. Lots of people there refer to the whole area as Taos, even if that isn't technically right.

[BobDavid]

I'm always tempted to clone them out, Bob. Somewhere I have pictures of the whole rear end of the church, gas meter and all. So far I haven't been able to find them. You like the power lines; how would you like a gas meter?

I agree with your choice to leave the gas meter out.

[John R]

I like how you lined up the crosses in the first image, It gives the image an abstract quality and still retains what the crosses and structure really represent. Love the third shot, but not sure about the second shot, however. The main cross seems to overly dominate. Of course some things can be considered cliche, but the way I see it, if you come to a scene and it strikes you in certain way, and you use the principles of good visual design and can depict a scene with a certain quality, who cares if it is cliche.

I have heard the Pentax medium format is quite large. People must see you coming from a long way. Wonder if that is any impediment to you freely photographing as you wander around.

JR