We had the privilige to participate in the Mission San Antonio Workshop last April with Al Weber as staff and teachers. The setting was amazing. This mission is located near Fort Hunter Liggett in south Monterey County of CA. This site dates back to the early 1700's but currently is still operating as an active Catholic congregation as well as museum, gift shop and overnight campground and retreat center. It is located on 80 pristine acres next to the fort in the Valley of the Oaks on the Central Coast of California. The rooms are converted from old dorms, storage rooms and monk cells and each one has 2 single beds, sink/mirror, small closet and huge window. We ate well and the historic location was a good communal experience.

The group who attended the 2 weekend workshps had the opportunity to participate in a portfolio that is a collection of images from the Mission San Antonio. If I have my facts right, 2 portfolios got to the Mission for fund raising and historical purposes, one will go to the sister mission in Italy and each participant receives one and the Steinbeck Center in Salinas will have one on in their permanent collection. 

The reception for the exhibit will be Dec 2 2011 at 5PM at the Steinbeck Center in Salinas. Please join us to see this wonderful look into the heart and soul of one of the Cenral Coast's historical treasures, the Mission San Antonio de Padua. You can meet a lot of the photographers, ask questions and hang out with some really great people during the holiday season.

The following images are the ones we submitted to the porfolio.

This first image is titled "Primitive Cross". It was shot with a 4G iPhone, processed through Vintage ap and photoshop, printed on Epson Cold Press Natural Matte Paper, 6x81/4 inches.

Fernando and I were walking out to the front of the mission to join a group who wanted to photograph at night with the full moon and paint with light. The walk out took us right by the side of the main church and Fernando saw this image. We set up the camera and waited for a few minutes. We were suddently transported back in time to the spanish colonial era. The adobe wall bathed in moonlight, the warm light glowing from the window so high up and the pungent cool night air all wrapped us in a time gone by. Fernando talked about how it reminded him of the night back in Brazil when they visited his grandmother on the "farm" and the light that came from the kerosene lamps and the adobe structure she lived in. This image really lives in his memory of his childhood.

This image was shot with a Canon 5D Mark II, f/6.3, 30 seconds, 1600 ISO about 10PM with a 28mm lens and printed on Epson Cold Press N atural Matte Paper on an Epson 2200 Printer, image size 6x9 inches. Working title "Moonlight".