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Picture Perfect: San Antonio's Top Photo-Ops

At every turn, San Antonio teems with scenes just waiting to be snapped. Seasonally, Fiesta San Antonio in April is an unparalleled opportunity to capture the heartbeat of a unique city. Bring your telephoto lenses for the charreada, an action-packed Mexican rodeo, and your wide-angle big guns for panoramic activities like the Fiesta Flambeau nighttime parade. Christmas, with the stately cypress trees lining the River Walk all draped in lights, is an especially great seasonal opportunity to capture reflections, light and color. But at any time of year, this graceful city has much to offer amateur and expert photographers alike.

The Iconic Alamo

Alamo What better place to begin than the Alamo? Sure, you need to do the standard, straight-on shot (late afternoon is best), but then prowl the grounds for other possibilities – the weathered main doors of the shrine, for example. The same approach holds true for San Antonio’s other Spanish missions: Concepción, San José, Espada and San Juan Capistrano. At San José, the famous rose (or Rosa’s) window – so intricately carved that the stone looks like lace – must be seen and shot, but of equal interest to photo artists are the skeletal remains of the cloister behind the still-active church. On Sunday, you might even catch a colorful mariachi Mass.

king-william-home From Past to Present

In the historic King William District, Victorian-era houses built by German merchants line streets made for walking, and the pace makes details such as wrought-iron fences as appealing as overall views of imposing architecture. King William can also be a springboard to a less-crowded stretch of the River Walk where long views of structures like the gothic-inspired Tower Life Building are postcard-ready scenes. Once you reach the more popular walkways in the heart of a bustling downtown, the colorful umbrellas at Casa Rio and Boudro’s are obvious targets (try shooting them from street or balcony levels), but so are reflections in the river that creatively distort the surroundings.

Special Places Nearby

Outside of the city center, faux-bois arbors, benches and shelter structures are scattered throughout Brackenridge Park. They were crafted of concrete sculpted and tinted to resemble wood by Mexican artist Dionicio Rodriguez – and in sheer number alone, they have no peers elsewhere. The San Antonio Botanical Garden boasts an ultra-modern, all-glass conservatory, as well as reconstructed dwellings from several Texas subclimates, that make for great contrasting shots. Historic breweries meet contemporary architecture in two unique settings, the San Antonio Museum of Art and the Pearl Brewery complex that’s being turned into a center for culinary arts. Also from the Pearl, you soon will be able to take an extended River Walk back to the historic city center, making the river a physical link to much of photogenic San Antonio.

Murals and Public Art

mcnay-museum Museums remind us that not all art is found within walls; some is found on them. One of the air traveler’s first art opportunities (remember to keep your camera as a carry-on) comes at the gates in Terminal 1 of the San Antonio International Airport. Here, local artist Cesar Martinez has created a series of mosaic murals celebrating San Antonio’s culture. And mosaic murals continue to be important at such sites as the Lila Cockrell Theatre in the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, the Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital across from Milam Park and Market Square, and along the River Walk as a part of an art-in-public-places program. And scattered throughout the city, especially on the West Side, are vibrant examples of contemporary painted mural art waiting to be found and photographed. Cassiano Homes on S. Laredo Street is one example, as is a mural titled “Cultura y Revolución” covering the front of a convenience store at 1013 S. Trinity. (Walking tours for groups may be arranged by calling 210-226-7466.)

And don’t forget to look up when scouring San Antonio’s streets and plazas in search of the perfect shot. One example of unique architectural detail is offered by the Nix Medical Center building downtown. A series of terra cotta faces, some in apparent need of the medical care found within the building, adorn an upper level. They’re a perfect example of the sense of humor that helps give San Antonio its sense of place – photographic and otherwise.

S.A.V.E.

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