On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
On The Road and In Your Backyard is a weekday feature spotlighting reader submissions. From the exotic to the familiar, please share your part of the world, whether you’re traveling or just in your locality. Share some photos and a narrative, let us see through your pictures and words. We’re so lucky each and every day to see and appreciate the world around us!
Submissions from commenters are welcome at tools.balloon-juice.com
Folks, I’m working my way through backlogged submissions for the next couple of weeks, and we’re hitting the ground running today! Feel free to submit new stuff, and I may run some of it, but for at least a week or so, I’ve got some stuff to publish.
I sincerely hope each and every one of you is doing ok. Losing Schlemazel – so quickly! – was a shock and another reminder to hold your loved ones dear and overlook their faults or slights when you can, they’re precious. Hold his family, friends, and loved ones in mind and heart.
Today we explore somewhere I’ve been, but through someone else’s eyes and lens. Joy!
Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures!
Today, pictures from valued commenter ?BillinGlendaleCA.
Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala
The evening prior to shooting these shots the organizer of the local photo meetup texted me to ask if I wanted to go to San Diego and shoot the sunset the next day. I thought that’s a bit of a drive to shoot the sunset, the sun does set here in LA and we do have a beach here. I replied that I’d also want to shoot some other things to justify the drive: the Mission and the old Point Loma lighthouse. After about a 3 hour drive and a hour and a half before sunset we arrived at the Mission, so the lighthouse would have to wait for another day(the sunset was quite nice). Even with missing the lighthouse it was a good shoot and we returned safely to Glendale without being accosted or killed by MS-13*.
Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala was founded in 1769 by Fr. Junípero Serra(now Saint Serra) and was the first of the 21 Spanish missions here in California. As with all the missions in California, San Diego was secularized during Mexican rule and fell into ruin. The current church is the fifth on the site, though it seems that that count also includes extensive renovations(support buttresses were added after earthquakes damaged other missions, etc.).
*I’ve been informed that this is a serious concern being so close to the border by US Government officials at the highest level.
Taken on 2019-01-26 00:00:00
San Diego, California
Front of the mission’s chapel with the bell tower that looks a great deal like the one at Mission San Gabriel. Only one of the bells is original, the one at the lower right was cast in 1802.
Taken on 2019-01-26 00:00:00
San Diego, California
This chapel is very long and quite narrow. It’s alter is much less elaborate than those at San Fernando, San Gabriel or San Juan Capistrano.
Taken on 2019-01-26 00:00:00
San Diego, California
The mission has a long front colonnade that stretches east of the chapel. There’s a stone cross at the far end.
Taken on 2019-01-26 00:00:00
San Diego, California
This is the inner courtyard of the mission and is, well, a bit of a disappointment. It’s used for parking.
Taken on 2019-01-26 00:00:00
San Diego, California
The obligatory IR shot of the mission chapel. I kind of messed up the IR part of this photo because I had the settings on the camera wrong(IR part since it’s a base IR shot with the same(or close) visual shot used for color).
Thank you so much ?BillinGlendaleCA, do send us more when you can.
Travel safely everybody, and do share some stories in the comments, even if you’re joining the conversation late. Many folks confide that they go back and read old threads, one reason these are available on the Quick Links menu.
One again, to submit pictures: Use the Form or Send an Email
JPL
Thanks Bill.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@JPL: Thanks, for some reason(FYWP), I could only get to this post via clicking on the link in Cole’s twitter feed on the side.
oldster
Great episodes in Twitter handle changes.
Max Temkin makes an innocuous witty comment about weather.
David Frum retweets it.
Temkin changes his handle to “David Frum Killed 200,000 civilians in Iraq”.
And there it stands in Frum’s twitter feed.
Chef’s kiss.
Baud
Pretty.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: It was nice to visit, but I don’t think it’s as nice a mission as the other 3. The parking in the courtyard is kind of tacky. Here’s the courtyard in Mission San Fernando as a comparison.
JPL
@?BillinGlendaleCA: It was interesting because of it’s simple design.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@JPL: Tend to agree about the front facade.
Elizabelle
Interesting to see that wide central aisle in the chapel. Thinking of ornate processions.
Love the IR photo, Bill; really all of them. Re the courtyard: I wish car parking were not taking such a prominent place, too. I guess in centuries to come, it won’t.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Elizabelle: Thanks, most of the mission chapels have wide aisles. I’m pretty sure the car park is a remnant of the 50’s and they’ll fix it up to look more pleasing in the next few years.
stinger
Lovely pics. I see what you mean about the courtyard, but that tree is spectacular.
What is being protected by the black plastic and bricks, and why? Gardeners here in the Midwest protect many plants during the winter, but that’s San Diego! No winter!
Mary G
@stinger: We have winter. It just looks different. You can tell it’s winter in this shot because the aloes in front of the mission are blooming.
ETA: Nice shots, Bill.
arrieve
Beautiful pics. I always especially love your IR shots; it’s such a fun way of seeing the world.
stinger
@Mary G: LOL. So, they’re being protected from excessively moderate temps?
Mart
IR photo? Is that infra-red? (Sorry I have not bought a fancy camera since there was film.) Can you tell if you have a hot connection in your fuse box?, leaking hot air out your door on a cold day? Or am I in another planet?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@stinger: I think they’re trying to keep the dirt under the plastic from getting too wet and running away, we had quite a bit of rain earlier this month.
@Mary G: Thanks, you’re right winter isn’t ice and snow, but rain here.
@arrieve: Thanks, I love the IR shots, I think I’ve got the technique I’m after.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mart: IR is a pretty wide spectrum above what we can see in the visible spectrum. What photographers mean when they talk about IR is the near range IR about 750nm to 1300nm wavelengths. The IR with longer wavelengths is the heat detecting IR that you’d see in a FLIR camera(I’ve got one of the type you put on your cellphone). Most camera have a filter built into the camera that filters IR and UV so you don’t get funky looking images. The camera I’m using has that filter removed and replaced with glass, so I use a filter on the lens to filter out anything below a certain wavelength(in this case I was using a 590nm filter). The effect that you get with near IR is the foliage turns white and haze is reduced quite a bit.