Mattitos's 2010
Ever since it opened, I’ve wanted to photograph Mattito’s Cantina in Frisco. The exterior is brightly painted in fluorescent colors and the marquee is done in vivid neon. I have seen several published images of this edifice over the years and every one has left me entirely underwhelmed. Seeing it at night, the colors are most impressive. You would think a photo of it would virtually jump off the computer screen. Or off the page.
But no.
Not until today (actually last weekend…) after I braved 45 degree weather with a 20 mph wind chill to photograph this year’s installment of Jeff Trykoski’s holiday light show spanning all the Frisco Square / Simpson Plaza buildings. Since I was schlepping a 15 pound camera rig through the frigid arctic blast anyway, I figured I might as well get this little project off of my bucket list.
And so, I moseyed on up to Mattito’s and settled into place with an ultra wide-angle lens on a very short tripod, calculated my settings and tripped the shutter. And waited about half a minute for the results. Perfect. And vivid. Just what I wanted. Just to be sure, (not my first rodeo) I decided to take a couple more. I fired the shutter… and the door opens to the restaurant (not what I want) and stays that way. As (I’m not exaggerating) around 20 people exit the premises while a member of their party holds the door. It was like the clown car at the circus — except a LOT slower. I know everything seems like it’s going in slow motion when your freezing in a gale, but this was silly. I don’t think I’ve ever seen people move this slow. Two or three minutes later, the crowd has cleared in time for the third shot. And I’m done now.
I am very happy with the results of all the shots, but I felt the framing on the third was just a bit more to my liking.
And here is is in all it’s glory, soon to grace the pages of my fully-redesigned Nocturnal Visions website.
Click on the photo to see the enlargement