THE GARDEN OF ALAMO

Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XS, Tamron 28-80 lens @ 28mm, ISO 100, 3 Exposure HDR @ f/9

  While examining the Alamo Tuesday trying to find a shot that worked I had two things working very much against me. One was all of the people walking around looking. Unless I am absolutely taking pictures of a person or group of people, I really don't want people in my photos. So finding a perspective on the Alamo grounds without someone sneaking into the shot was almost impossible.
  Second was that it was just before noon and the harsh light and dark shadows at noon are always a hurdle that is difficult to get over.
  As I made my way around behind the Alamo I came upon a garden. In the very center was an old well that looked just as old as the Alamo itself so I am assuming it was the mission's primary water source. Creating a canopy over the well was a huge tree that bent all over the garden providing shade that shielded the scene from the harsh sunlight.
  The branches of the tree gave me a great framing tool for the scene as well and unlike East Tennessee right now, the bushes and trees still had some color left to add a little kick to the shot.
  The shot screamed HDR with the darkness in the shade and the thick blue mid-day sky so I bracketed several shots and settled in on the f/9 series of brackets for their depth of field and the fact that there weren't any people in the shot.
  Would love to find this scene in evening when the sun was low on the horizon. You never know, someday I might get back there and get that opportunity.