Anyone who'd ever spent much time in San Marcos will recognize this statue instantly. It's famed Texas Ranger John Coffee "Jack" Hays, for whom Hays County is named after. Born in 1817 and died in 1883, Hays fought in the Mexican War, served during the Texas Revolution and became renowned as a fierce Indian fighter. He also had a bit of a wild streak, to put it mildly.
The statue stands prominently at the corner of E. Hopkins and LBJ, right on the courthouse square. And as statues go, it's quite dramatic. I've wanted to photograph it for a long time, thinking the background of trees on the square would provide a striking image in infrared. Because of the heavily trafficked location (I had to step out into the street to get some of these shots) the old way of shooting in infrared by threading in a filter and exposing the shot for 10-20 seconds wasn't realistic. Have I mentioned how much I like the versatility of my infrared converted camera?
I'm also in love with the results my Canon EF 50mm 1.8 mark I gives in infrared. These images are consistently sharp. It doesn't miss focus. The optics in this lens have a reputation for producing the best image quality for the least amount of money of any lens on the market (at least the mark II version does--lesser build quality of the lens itself, but the optical elements are the same). If anything, I'm starting to think it performs even better in IR. My Canon EF 10-22 ultrawide lense also does a fantastic job shooting in infrared. Alas, the same cannot be said for my Canon EF 28-135, which has consistently produced nothing but soft, slightly out-of-focus images at every focal length and aperture. That's a big disappointment, as I'd hoped to use it as a versatile walk-around lens for infrared shooting. Still, I'm more than happy with the productive lenses I do have, and hope to have more images to share in the near future.
Now Playing: Dire Straits Brothers in Arms
Chicken Ranch Central
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