A young man (left) catches an owl and Floyd Purdy (right) takes a photograph of the moment while standing in the ruins of the "great stone church" at Mission San Juan Capistrano. They stand at the intersection of the church's transept and choir at the base of a large column. The young man at left stands facing Floyd Purdy with an arm outstretched, holding onto the wings of the owl. The owl appears to fly towards the choir. Frank Purdy wears all dark clothes and looks down to his camera with his back turned to the right. A large column rises just left of center. The choir extends at an angle to the right and the transept extends at an angle to the left from the column. Each visible wall in the transept and choir has a large archway.
Photograph of the Mission San Juan Capistrano exterior, viewed from the south side of the site. The Mission extends horizontally across the middle of the image. At left, an arcade runs horizontally, then cuts towards the camera. To the right of that, a cross stands atop an arched element on an exterior wall of Serra Chapel. Next to the chapel, four bells hang in arched openings in the campanario or bell wall. Occupying the right-most third of the structure are the exterior ruins of the "great stone church". Tall grasses and brush reside between the photographer and the structure. This photograph is subject to lens flare; the right third of the image is brighter than the rest of the image and a lens flare orb hovers over the campanario.
A group of three women and girl stand just left-of-center with their backs to the camera and look towards two men standing in front of the choir of the "great stone church" at Mission San Juan Capistrano. The women all wear jackets, skirts and hats and the little girl stands rightmost of the quartet. Directly behind them, a column at the intersection of the transept and choir rises towards the top of the image. Two men stand further in the distance on the right. Floyd Purdy is the man in all dark clothes standing closest to the column. He wears a bucket hat and holds a camera in his hands. To the right a man in a white shirt and ascot hat attempts to control whatever (possibly an owl) he is holding in his hands. To the left of the column, a transept wall extends leftward and has a doorway with a large arch surrounding it. To the right of the column, two interior walls of the choir are visible. The wall adjacent to the column contains an archway.
Photograph, from left to right, of Floyd Purdy and Mary Adelbert (Teel) West (later Shepard) posing for a photograph in front of a brick wall at the San Juan Capistrano Mission. Floyd smiles to camera as he holds a camera in his right hand. He is dressed in dark clothes and wears a bucket hat. Mary A. West looks to camera with her hands in the pockets of her coat. She wears a long coat and a hat. Behind them, there is a brick wall that appears to be whitewashed. It sits on slope with slope traveling upwards from left to right. A small sign to the left of Floyd's head reads, "DON'T RING THE BELLS". Ropes hang down on either side of the duo. A rope with a parabola-shaped loop hangs down to the right of Mary A. West and a rope hangs down at an angle in the left corner to the left of Floyd Purdy.