River Walk Photo | TrekEarth

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.

molla, ymrk, Buin, Vasa, dareco, jean11-3, fanni, tyro, asajernigan, scroller, Kielia, ellelloo, macondo, snunney, holmertz, npecanhuk, COSTANTINO has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

ymrk (8285) 2008-10-25 12:05

Hello Gunnar;
Very nice color,contrast and lights balance!İnteresting architecture and nature!Have a nice day,congratulations.
Regards,

YAĞMUR

mesutilgim (36210) 2008-10-25 12:17

Hi Gunnar,
Very good pov ! Nice urban scene with many nice details and perfect light.
Good notes as well.
TFS and have a nice weekend
Best regards
MESUT ILGIM

BWJ (1771) 2008-10-25 12:17

Hello Gunnar,
What a nice note to explain this inviting scene of the River Walk. Your picture is well composed and the colors natural and pleasing especially the colorful buildings. Walking along the river or sitting at one of the cafes to enjoy coffee or a snack would be so pleasant.
Kind regards,
Betty

Buin (36786) 2008-10-25 12:24

Hallo Gunnar!
There you have been! ;-) Welcome back!
I think this scenery also could be in "Good old Europe"! Your photo shows a not very "American" place. It seems to be very cosy and you show it in a wonderful - but difficult - light. KIn combination with your excellent note a very good contribution to TE!
Greetings from autumnal grey and humid Germany!
Frank

jurek1951 (25708) 2008-10-25 13:17

Hi Gunar,
Great evening light and good exposure,great colours and a good composition, well done.
Georg

Vasa (4764) 2008-10-25 13:26

Hej Gunnar, friend,

good position in the wonderful light for amazing picture. Romantic bridge, the choice of your romantic soul. Should be nice to have coffee at the restaurant on the right side. So glad to see it. Many thanks for charing and for your visit this afternoon. Friendly

Branko

dareco (17024) 2008-10-25 14:02

This has such a cozy feeling to it, a very pretty place and a lovely bridge. Very nice lighting and detail. TFS

fanni (8709) 2008-10-25 15:43

Hej Gunnar,
welcome back from the USA? :) Or you posted this shot while staying in the USA?
I like this photo very much: its colours look so natural (especially the wonderful colour of the water and the reflection of sun rays on its surface); the whole atmosphere is filled with freshness and sunshine - very inviting! I wish I could walk along the water and breathe some fresh air...
Very good composition including the most important parts of the surroundings!
Best regards,
Elena

DariaK (641) 2008-10-25 16:32 [Comment]

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tyro (2578) 2008-10-25 17:01

Hello, Gunnar.

Your new "toy" is working well!

Congratulations on your new acquisition of a Canon G10!

This is a beautiful scene and perfectly exposed and with, as usual, lovely colours and contrasts. Sharp as a pin too.

I look forward to seeing many more pictures from your new camera.

I hope you had a very nice holiday in the U.S.A.

Kind Regards,

John.

P.S. An interesting note too!

asajernigan (13865) 2008-10-25 18:34

Gunnar,
I have also been to San Antonio and enjoyed the river walk. I found the lighting to be a big challenge but you seem to handle it well. Your composition is great using the river to lead the eye though the shot.
I hope you had a chance to visit the missions while you were there. We found them very interesting and worth the time.
TFS,
Asa

emka (21131) 2008-10-25 23:54

Hi Gunnar,

Interesting note and a nice shot of the urban life. Very pleasant view of the bridge, good light and colours.

Warm regards

Malgorzata

scroller (2877) 2008-10-26 0:10

Hej Gunnar ,
and welcome back. I hope you had a great holiday.
The light is very nice and I like the fact that you manage to not get it over or under exposed under theese difficult conditions. Good sharpness as well.
I also notice that you now passed 7k p. Congratulations!
Hälsningar
/Stefan

Kielia (8159) 2008-10-26 0:16

Hej Gunnar,
great and interesting history of this bend! And a very beautiful capture of it in the bright light and with so many nice deatils. Excellent POV! My compliments!
Warm regards
Harriet

ellelloo (4646) 2008-10-26 0:17

Hej Gunnar,
You have been to US! Welcome back! A beautiful view as your first photo from the trip. Good POV and composition. You have controlled the difficult light very well. What caught my eyes immediately was the very natural colours. Also the sharpness is excellent. Thanks for the good note too.
Congratulations for your new camera!
Greetings from stormy Espoo,
Lasse

macondo (12935) 2008-10-26 1:36

Hi Gunnar.
It is a pleasure to see this picture of one of the few US cities I always wanted to go to visit. Your photo reminds me of that song, 'San Antonio Rose'. And it makes me want to see it even more. I love this little bridge and the river flowing past the Spanish style terrace. Your shot is a good exposure because of the very bright light reflected from the water and the umbrellas. There is good detail in the dark areas on the left. The colouring looks very natural. You've really done an excellent job of this, and the note is good too.
Regards,
Andrew

snunney (33988) 2008-10-26 2:19

Hello Gunnar,
A very appealing composition of this lovely bridge under the trees. A very good light and some interesting light and shadow contrasts. The people sat outside the cafe add a human touch.

holmertz (9242) 2008-10-26 10:15

Hej Gunnar,
This looks like a nice place for a dinner or a cold beer. The houses look fine and the bridge looks like a historical monument. Interesting contrast between the green and shady nearest side of the river and the sunny street across the bridge. The light is well handled in all parts of the picture.
Hälsningar,
Gert

skoogmi (39) 2008-10-29 8:31

Hej Gunnar,
Mycket bra ljusbehandling och väldigt bra uppläggning av motivet!
Hälsningar
Mikael

MattHz (2) 2008-10-29 17:54

Hi
Beautiful city, very good photo and good note. Everything is good!
M

npecanhuk (12947) 2008-10-30 1:37

Hello Gunnar!
That's a pretty nice photograph! I think you have done such a great job by showing this typical american city with lots of mexican characteristics with important details composed in such a harmonical way, plus excellent light management and sharpness! Colors are natural and beautiful! I really like it!
TFS - Congratulations!
Warmest regards,
Neyvan

mafegan (3949) 2008-11-01 3:09

Hello Gunnar
I was surprised to note this photo was taken in the US. The bridge looks like a steep pedestrian bridge from Japan and I would have expected to see these buildings in Europe. Very informative and a nice composition. TFS, Marlene

molla (6871) 2008-11-04 22:46

hejsan Gunnar,
so you've been doing the land of .... ( fill in your self)
like this Mediterranean looking image with the stone bridge and the old stylish houses in the background. the water has a kind of floodish stilt.
Anders

COSTANTINO (22126) 2009-04-04 6:15

Hello Gunnar
I agree that every city has a river..
This shot is like a postcard remitted to all those people who desire such a place to have some rest..Lighting and colours are really nice,wonderful capture with the small river have a nice week end
Costantino