>Photo tour of the La Purisma Mission

>In our neighborhood we are lucky enough to have the historic ruins of one of the oldest Catholic missions here in California..the La Purisma Mission. We enjoyed a self-guided tour over the weekend.

Some of the areas seemed a little over bearing to me and so seemed to hold a somber saddened tone, but it is undeniably an amazing area here in California and I imagine that there have been many many photographers that have thrilled to spend hours shooting here.
The play of light and shadow within the adobe walls of the many buildings is outstanding..there are so many shots here that will go into my resource file for when the watercolors come out again..Lovely~

What an amazing spot! ~here are some of the photos taken Saturday.

Above, my husband within the walls of the cemetery.. an area that held hundreds of bodies of Chumash Indians as well as the Spaniards. There is only one cross to mark this as a burial ground.

and a few inside shots

Outside communal basin for bathing and washing clothes


Vat for melting hundreds of pounds of fat for tallow, an ingredient in soap and candles. The area you see is where the fire was built, above is the vat.

Adobe pillars outside of the buildings

Moss hanging from an Olive Tree

I desaturated this photo to highlight the character of this ancient European Myrtle tree

Adobe tiled rooves.. artified or pushed to more clearly show the amazing texture and color of the weather worn adobe

That’s only a small view of these historic ruins..if you’re interested in seeing more~ and there is much much more to see, visit this site.

Enjoy your week all!