Photo Challenge: Repeating Patterns

It’s time for another Brenda Photo Challenge! The current challenge theme is Repeating Patterns. As one who spent a career as an engineer, you can quite imagine how much I adore repeating patterns! Yes, yes, I admit to a wee bit of Melvin Udall obsessive-compulsive tendencies (“As Good As It Gets”). But at least I try very hard not to count out loud, LOL! I see repeating patterns everywhere I look, and my camera doesn’t miss them either. Our recent New Mexico jaunt was no exception!

This first photo is of the San Francisco de Asis Mission Church in the historic district of Ranchos de Taos Plaza. If the mission looks a little bit familiar to you, it’s because it has been a favorite subject by such greats as Ansel Adams, Georgia O’Keefe, and other image artists. The crosses, steeples, arches, and the support pillars all show how repeating patterns can enhance a scene. The camera settings were f/8.0, 1/400 second, and ISO 320.

The next example is the old church steeple of the Quarai ruins at the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument. This structure was built after Spanish explorers arrived in 1598 and later abandoned in the 1670s. Wild grasses grow helter-skelter on the top of the structure. The four windows, the irregular stones, and the feathery sky all evoke repeating patterns. This image was taken in broad daylight, but I gave it an eerie feel by performing digital trickery with my Topaz Adjust filter plug-in for Photoshop. The camera settings were f/7.1, 1/80 second, and ISO 200.

This last photo was captured at the famous Bandelier National Monument. The primitive ladder goes up to one of the cave dwelling rooms of the Ancestral Puebloans. I would have liked to have included the cave entrance in the frame, but we were surrounded by a large swarm of very young and bouncy schoolchildren. As it was, I had about 3 seconds to take this shot! The image was taken at f/8.0, 1/40 second, and ISO 320.

Now that you have seen my contributions to the challenge, please click on the link at the beginning of this post and find some other great images of Repeating Patterns!