That Time I Went To E-Rock and Photographed a Bathroom
I’m gonna channel my inner Youtube Photographer here and say, “I went to Enchanted Rock and didn’t photograph Enchanted Rock.” Because it’s not because I didn’t try. I did. I just failed miserably.
Enchanted Rock is a tricky place to do some landscape photography, especially if you want the rock itself as your subject. The simple fact is, you’re too close (although a new addition to the park property might remedy this problem). So unless you want to photograph some random rocks and cactus, there isn’t much to be done about for a panoramic, unless you climb to the top with your gear and shoot the surrounding flatness. I went to E-Rock a few years ago with the intention of doing some type of photography. The sky was devoid of all clouds, as it usually is whenever I want to shoot something, and it was about a thousand degrees outside. Because in all my infinite wisdom, I decided to go in August in the middle of a drought.
I got there first thing in the morning, but I was over it pretty quick. My desire to get a late evening shot was essentially dead by midday. I actually spent most of the day in Fredericksburg, pretending to shop so that I could stand in whatever air-conditioned building was closest. I returned to the park in late afternoon, after letting the sun sink a bit and hoping the temperatures would dip back into double-digits.
I saddled up my gear and headed up the rock, thinking I would get some good astrophotography, considering there wasn’t a single fluff of cloud in the sky. I sat on that rock until late, getting swarmed by every insect in Central Texas.
And I didn’t get a damn thing.
There’s a little bit of a gotcha when doing star photos. You at least want something as a subject. Being on top of a rock, shooting up, doesn’t really lend itself much to fitting anything below you into the frame. The rock formation that I had chosen as my subject wasn’t as interesting as I had envisioned, and the light was dead-on when the sun was setting, so I didn’t have much depth to the scene. In short, I was in the wrong place. So I descended in the darkness down the rock, heading back to my campsite.
Then I passed the bathroom. It was lit, so it wasn’t completely dark. I was lower than it, so it fit easily into the frame with the sky overhead. It was late enough where nobody was using it. IT WAS PERFECT.
And that’s what I ended up with. A photo of a beautiful starfield over… a campsite bathroom. But I will say this, anyone who has stayed in a state park in Texas can both hear and smell this photo. So, mission accomplished, I guess.