Return of the Swallows 3-19-06

The Return of the Swallows Celebration takes place every March at Mission San Juan Capistrano, California. Historically the swallows arrive on the 19th from Peru to the Mission but in recent years the swallows have gathered in the parking lot next door because Mission has been under construction to ensure the buildings are preserved for future generations. Experts predict that the swallows will return to their traditional home once the construction is completed in several years.

I didn’t know this beforehand as I went to the Mission and was looking around for the swallows but didn’t see much happening. I heard many birds chirping, but saw only several flybys of few birds. The celebration on the other hand more than made up for the lack of birds I saw. Native Americans were performing Aztec traditional dance routines, and the local mission parish school performed traditional dances on a large makeshift stage. For a photographer, (of which there were many) the festivities provided many opportunities to capture colorful cultural images we wouldn’t have local access to otherwise.



I arrived around 9, and the streets were already packed with cars so I drove around the neighborhood and ended up parking near the freeway overpass. Not bad, about a 10-15 minute walk. I didn’t drive 50 miles just to give up and go home that early in the morning. When I got into the mission, there was a mariachi band playing in front of the koi pond. My pictures were mediocre as the sky was overcast and sun was behind them. I would have benefited from bringing my flash along but somehow elected to bring my 70-300 instead when I couldn’t fit anything else into my bag and photo vest. Foolish mistake as I never needed the 70-300. I took all my shots with the 17-35mm and 60mm lenses.



Next I went to the chapel as I knew it would get more crowded as the day progressed. I shot several photos of the candles but since I’d already had plenty of those types of images I tried to do something new by including people in my prayer candle shots. Yes! That’s what I’d been missing. When I finished with the chapel, I went outside to the courtyard, and there were hundreds if not over a thousand mainly kids dressed up in costumes waiting to go on stage. Very colorful outfits but was difficult to photograph because there was so much extra “junk” (aka. tourists, trash cans, concession stands, folding chairs, etc…) cluttering up the scene.



I managed to work my way to the stage and after some time evaluating the openings in the crowd I made it to the stage side. I stayed low about stage level and shot upwards with my wide angle for the majority of my images. If I needed close-ups, then I brought out the 60mm lens. What got my heart racing was the Aztec dancing. Their performance was a rush! The tribal music and huge head pieces were amazing. I was in the rear portion of the stage with the other photojournalists there jockeying for position. I think I got the most intimate images as I was really up close with the wide angle trying to capture the action. I worked and worked a scene with an Aztec woman’s headpiece feathers filling up much of the frame ala. David Muench composition-style and tried to balance it out with a dancer in the background facing her but wasn’t able to get my desired results after viewing the images back home. I really thought I had something there but it failed to materialize as visualized. That is what I find most challenging about shooting people. To pre-visualize and not have all the elements fall into place. With landscape photography, it is fairly easy to visualize and put things where you want but live action is very spontaneous and unpredictable. With a landscape there are two variables you can count on every day. The sun will rise and the sun will set. Everything else is up to you. With people, anything goes.



I wonder what the other photographers in my area managed to get. One guy had two D200’s outfitted with a zoom and wide angle presumably, while several others had medium length white zoom lenses. I’d never buy a white Canon lens by the way. Too ugly. Judging from the perspective of which they shot from, I think my images were significantly different from theirs. Mine were mostly low, wide and close, had foreground elements and filled the frame with a mass of people. This had to be the most difficult shoot I’ve ever done and one of the most exciting. There were so many elements not to mention the PA speakers and crowd in the background waiting to creep into every frame, that half the battle was just finding a composition to minimize that stuff. For the last song, I managed to work my way from the rear of the stage to the front. I spent almost as much time looking for a spot I could sneak into without pissing anyone off. Luckily I’m not that big so I was able to sneak in fairly discreetly and get my low and wide perspective. I’m not sure about my results from the day, as my biggest accomplishment from the day was probably being able to maneuver from all four corners of the stage all during one song but it was time well spent. I truly enjoyed myself. My heart really was racing after the final song.

Tips:

1. Open your eyes and try new things - If it works it works, if it doesn’t it doesn’t. This is my 5th visit to the Mission SJC and what worked for me in the past bored me this time. Boredom is the catalyst for change in my experience.

2. Bring your flash and get one if you don’t have one - I left mine at home and regret it. Noobish mistake on my part. Next year I won’t make that same mistake.

3. Don’t be shy in taking people pictures - There is a lot going on during the festivities so people are too busy to worry about you as a photographer anyway.

4. Manual focus is your friend – With so much going on, I would have lost a lot of shots with the autofocus misfocusing. Thankfully I didn’t use AF that much.

5. Get there early! Otherwise you won’t be getting in. – It’s busy enough on the weekend, and the Swallows Celebration is the busiest weekend of the year at San Juan Capistrano. After I finished, it took me over an hour to drive the three blocks back to the freeway by the way.