The Mission at Bonaventura

Third stop on year end trip.. which happened on day 2 morning was the Mission at Bonaventura. It is the number one tourist destination in Ventura. 

We also like to go see the Missions. Someday I will finish Photobloging all the Missions. We were talking about how 200 plus years ago Juniperro Serra managed to walk along the coast and set up a mission practically every 75 miles or so.. and he set up 20+ Missions along the coast.  

Then I reminded my kids of Adi Sankara.. who was born in Kaladi (they have been there) and went all the way to Kashmir by foot, establishing a Mission wherever he went,  around 1300 years ago!

A persons conviction and calling can make them do wonderful things! If you have never been to these missions, you should try to go see them. There is a lot of history in them, but more importantly, they are simple and elegant as places of worship. Not much of gold and dazzle.. mostly wood but there is a peace and serenity in these places that seeps in when you sit there and close your eyes. 

This mission is beautiful. 

 They have a little gift shop and there is a nominal fee to enter like all the other missions.

There is a museum with some of Juniperro Serra's artifacts. 

The wooden bells were intersting!

These beads reminded me of the Rudraksham, which is interesting. Most other rosaries I have seen are just smooth wood beads. This one was different.

There is a matching fountain inside the compound as well as three trees that were planted when the mission was started. They are still flourishing. 

Next year when we revisit San Diego, we will to go the one in Oceanside.. 

There are a lot of boards that explain how life was in this mission and the aquaduct that brought stable agriculture to this region starting from this mission. It was very interesting.

There was a baptism going on inside. We did not know if the bagpipe was part of that function or not, but we enjoyed it all the same!

He played for a good 10 minutes to entertain the crowd in the courtyard! 

The main sanctum was quiet. We sat there quietly for a good 20 minutes and I got a chance to meditate.

The priest showed the kids that one of the important relics in this Church was a piece of the Cross of Jesus. The little one was confused as the wood was not obviously visible but inside the metal. Think priests everywhere have a tough challenge when it comes to explaining things to kids! 

This is how it looks inside. The inside was dark, so placed the camera on the floor and did a 15 second exposure. Jr. was very impressed with my "skills" after seeing this photograph!

If you have a few hours to spare and happen to go by Ventura, strongly recommend the Bonaventura Mission. 

Pismo beach - a short stop

Our road trip to round off 2015 had its first stop at Pismo beach. We had lunch at the pier and let the kids play in the beach and in the swing sets on the beach!

At first they were complaining about the "cold", but warmed up to the place. 

The beach was beautiful but the temperature at noon was a lot lower than what we were used to seeing along the coast for last week of December. 

The last time we stopped at Pismo beach was 10 years ago! 

after spending an hour there, we moved on towards Santa Barbara...

Boston in HDR.. and a few other shots

As most of you know, every trip presents subjects that are amenable to HDR (High Dynamic Range) processing. HDR does not appeal to everyone. In our house Jr. and my mom appreciate it. They think it brings things closer to "3D" or realistic view of detail. My wife and the little one think it looks too "made up" or artificial. 

To each his own. Nevertheless, here are some HDR pictures from the Boston trip..

but first, pictures of two plants that we don't see on California parks.. these two were on the sides of every walkway in the lighthouse parks.. 

This one reminded me of egg plant.. 

Clouds make a big difference on HDR shots of buildings. Not much luck this time.. 

another tip to self and others.. you get great shots in HDR just before sunrise or just after sunset.. 

A little movement of some folks and cars makes for better HDR.. 

Before I turn this post into a full blown "how not to do HDR".. this one was taken from a moving boat.. er.. moving duck.. that creates a better effect also.. 

City skylines will work only with clouds. Still worth a try, no?

Loved the Yacht's in the water. 

This shot had clouds.. but instead of trying Tone mapped HDR, I should have shot multiple exposures on this one and combined them into a single image. 

Same here.. but the trees made up for it..

Brick buildings really work for HDR.. 

as do Flags and really old stone buildings and shiny statues..

Photography is a continuous improvement project. You take the pictures, you process them a month later, try to connect your thought when taking the picture to what you are doing at post processing and hope to connect the right dots in your brain to get the result you were hoping for a month ago. 

The good thing is, you always learn from your shots and apply it another time. Some of these photos stand out in a black background. Have to figure out how to change background color for select posts on squarespace. 

On the plus side, almost felt like I was in Boston yesterday while going through the photographs.