Riverwalk Riverboat Photo

Photographer’s Note

Many cities have a river: San Antonio has a River Walk.

The San Antonio River has been an important resource sine long before the arrival of the Spanish when the area was home to Native Americans. The first mission, San Antonio de Valero was established here in 1718. Following the flood of 1724, the mission, which is called The Alamo, was moved to its present site.

As San Antonio expanded into a major city, floods continued to disrupt the area. A Downtown flood in 1913 forced the city to study the problem. An engineering report in 1920 forecast serious damage and losses of life if a big flood occurred. 1921 proved the engineers right, when more than 50 lives were lost and millions of dollars of damage occurred during a flood. San Antonio took steps to reduce the risk of floods. Olmos Dam was constructed to trap incoming flood water and the horseshoe bend through downtown was cut off.

What to do with the bend became a big question. Many people wanted to fill it in and pave it over, but the San Antonio Conservation Society took up the fight to save the beautiful treeline bend that we now enjoy. Once the bend was saved, San Antonio became a truly unique city. Beautification and development of the bend started with a plan proposed by Robert H. H. Hugman in 1927 and has continued through today.

snunney, asajernigan, holmertz, Kielia, gracious, fanni, JanD has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Giorgio (8708) 2009-02-09 0:31

- Funny Ferry-boat, fun colors too, not very ergonomic shape is really knack to tourists, anyway, a excellent opportunity for a very good shot, well done!
Greetings.
giorgio

snunney (34884) 2009-02-09 0:53

Hello Gunnar,
A jolly summery scene, which is a joy to behold on a wet and windy February day. Excellent colours and sharpness. Thanks for sharing.

TopGeo (21797) 2009-02-09 1:24

Hi Gunnan!I like warm colours here square boat you have here in tourist conducted tour It has interest the curious expression of persons and the place in the plan of picture
compliments
Georgios

asajernigan (14132) 2009-02-09 2:46

Gunnar,
This is a nice shot of this tourist boat. Your managed the lighting well and created a nice photo. I found that the lighting here was a real challenge due to the way the waterway is sunk below the level of the streets. The deep shadows made for difficult photography.
Your composition is nice here showing the boat from an angle that creates depth.
TFS,
Asa

Buin (37656) 2009-02-09 4:55

Hi Gunnar!
A beautiful, a colourful and an inviting scenery - especially when looking out of my window! ;-) Light really was "on your side" when taking this picture. In combination with your excellent note a contribution in terms of TE!
Greetings from Siegen with snow slush and +2°C! Brrr!
Frank

holmertz (9645) 2009-02-09 8:20

Hej Gunnar,
What a funny and ugly little boat. However, it is nicely placed diagonally across the picture, dividing the water into two sections, one green and one blue, bordering to black. The red parts of the boat of course serve the photo well.
Hälsningar,
Gert

Kielia (8501) 2009-02-09 10:18

Hej Gunnar,
I agree to your brother, the boat is ugly indeed, typical for USA! But your photo is lovely with powerful colors and a very nice POV. And there is such a strange expression of concentration on the faces of the passenger! TFS!
Warm regards
Harriet

gracious (20017) 2009-02-09 10:23

Hello Gunnar,
Thank you for sharing the boat ride over the river! the boat and colour is really unique and beautiful!
the image is very sharp with nice colour and superb details
thanks for the notes as well
cheers
Tony

il_corsaro_nero (1361) 2009-02-09 13:23

Hi Gunnar,
it is nice to discover a friend like you on TE. I also like to paint (I made it "professionally" for some years), I lke to play Keyboard in some pop bands (I use to play drums in jazz bands) and travel several times in Sweeden for my past job in telco industry (you may figure out what Company)and now I am not retired, but, say in a sort of forced vacation. Photography is the activity I do now, half as an hobby half professionally.
Sorry for the long talk.Interesting Note.
Your picture is very nice, with very good colors and sharp. It is a good documentation shot.
Benedetto.

fanni (8737) 2009-02-09 16:03

Hej Gunnar,
:) The red side of the boat is simply radiating in the sun! I am much impressed by the water, by the way.
Excellent POV, very nice capture of a faraway daily life...
And a very interesting note!
I wouldn't mind taking a ride in this boat, too... for a while - to relax and enjoy the fine weather :)
Best regards,
Elena

emka (21466) 2009-02-09 23:51

Hi Gunnar, Nice photo of the interesting ship. Great idea to have such a recreation. Nice scene shown in good light, very pleasant. The passengers are relaxed enjoying sun - lucky !

Regards

Malgorzata

JanD (14893) 2009-02-10 5:37

Howdy Saxo!
Nice scene. Very nice people. Interesting boat. Good light and colors.
Regards!

skoogmi (39) 2009-02-12 8:50

Hej Gunnar,
Många färger här också och grönt dessutom. Men turisterna ser lite trötta ut.
Hälsningar
Mikael

nirvana73 (8656) 2009-03-12 6:20

Hello Gunnar,
very nice daily scene
i wish i was in this boat
thanks for sharing
regards my friend
Ozhan