A Day at the Tigua Cultural Center

During a recent trip to the Tigua Cultural Center of the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo in El Paso,  I took this photo of one of the dance performances.  The Tigua Native Americans currently celebrate over 300 years of tribal history in the local area.  Below I have posted the address, phone number, and times of these social dance performances if anyone is interested in seeing.

Tigua Indian Cultural Center
305 Ya Ya Lane
El Paso, TX 79907
915-859-7700

Dance Performances:  Saturday and Sunday only - one at 11:30 a.m. and one at 1:30 p.m.

Monster Jam

These photos were actually taken during the Monster Jam event in El Paso in early March.  I have been going through about 8 gigabytes worth of photos and looking for the best ones.  This first photo is of Grave Digger jumping a pile of crushed vehicles.

This photo of the vehicle of  Iron Man jumping was one of the first of many photos that were taken.  This was one of the first few photos that I actually was able to get the camera settings just right in order to capture the subject moving focused properly while keeping the background just slightly out of focus.  This is a technique called panning and takes a good amount of practice in order to get right.

This photo is of Grave Digger the Legend.  This is also a slight use of the technique called panning but with the primary subject coming moving toward the camera slightly.  This is one of the most successful photos in respect to composition and other elements of design.

El Toro Loco is among the favorites of the El Paso people.  I would have to agree partly with the exception of Grave Digger.  Until next time.

College Assignment - Song of the Wandering Aengus

I am not sure that many of you out there know that I am going to college.  I am attending The Art Institutes of Pittsburgh Online and pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Photography.  In one of my classes this past week, we were asked to listen to a poem called "The Song of the Wandering Aengus" and then take some photographs of our interpretation of the poem.  There were so many different ways the poem could be interpreted that it was almost impossible to pick just one photo to submit for the assignment.  I decided on this photograph and try to make it seem like a dream state look with everything in black and white with the exception of the strawberries and blueberries.  I tried to convey the dream like feeling in the same way we dream; keeping all the black and white out of focus and the colored items in focus with a lot of clarity.  I don't think that I felt justified in the interpretation of the poem, but with the time of year and other situations that were working against me, this was the best one that I came up with.  But in the end, I was satisfied with the outcome.

The Equestrian

The Equestrian is the world's largest bronze equestrian statue to date standing almost 40-foot tall.  It was dedicated on 21 April 2007 and the name of the artist is John Sherrill Houser (and Ethan Taliesin Houser).  This statue was originally named after Juan de Oñate (AKA Juan de y Oñate Salazar) which was a Spanish conquistador and explorer.  The stature was renamed to "The Equestrian" by the City Council in order to deter growing criticism of the sculpture.  Juan de Oñate, even by his own accounts, had subjected the people of Acoma and other pueblos to horrendous atrocities. 

San Elizario Chapel (San Elizario)

The San Elizario Chapel was named for the 13th Century French patron of the military St. Elzear.  It was established as part of the Spanish Military Garrison of Presidio de San Elzeario (also Elceario, later Elizario).  It was moved to this location in 1789 from its original location, 37 miles to the southeast, after floods from the Rio Grande damaged the original chapel.  It was recorded as a Texas Historic Landmark in 1962.

Old Socorro Mission Cemetary (Socorro)

This cemetary is located behind the Old Socorro Mission in Socorro, TX, about 1/2 mile off Highway 80, and about 5 miles east of El Paso city limits. The Socorro Mission is part of the El Paso Mission Trail which was established in 1683 by the Franciscan Priests an is still in use today. The cemetary itself is small in size when compared to other cemetaries in the area, but at first glance it is noticeable that it is very old. The photo above depicts a couple of wooden crosses that did not even have a name associated with the graves.

Ysleta Mission (El Paso)

La Mision de Corpus Christ de San Antonio de la Ysleta del Sur

Photo in HDR (High Dynamic Range)

This mission is part of the El Paso Mission trail. It was established in 1680 and is the oldest mission in Texas that is still being used today. Owing its heritage to Pueblo traditions, Franciscan Missionaries, and Spanish Colonial life in Northern New Mexico. The Ysleta Mission was established by Antonio de Otermin and Fray Francisco de Ayeta.

This is one of three mission along the El Paso Mission trail. I really enjoyed taking photos of this mission. During the post-processing of the photos taken and trying of different techniques, it was the use of HDR that seem to work best.