This way up…

As I was going through my extensive backlog of Route 66 digital negatives, I came across this sign I captured with my Fuji X100 at the Midpoint Cafe in Adrian, Texas. While I loved the striking colors of the sign, contrasted against a brilliant blue sky, I also thought it might look pretty good in Black and White. Here is what I came up with. By the way, this place has some crazy good pies (quite famous, I should note). They’re know, affectionately, as Ugly Crust Pies. If you ever happen to be in Adrian, TRY THE PIE at the Midpoint Cafe!

This is how I roll…

A week or so ago, I sent my DSLR and several lenses in to Nikon Service Center for check-ups/maintenance. It’s been nice running around town with just my iPhone and my X100, as they’ve really has forced me to think in all new ways about my compositions/framing, especially since my primary lens of choice, for several years, has been a 14-24mm wide-angle lens mated to a full-frame DSLR. Now that I was constrained to only 35mm with the X100 (and to whatever the iPhone is), I’ve become much more deliberate about what stays in the frame and what is “excess”. I’ll start posting some of the results in the coming days. Â By the way, if you have not already figured it out, today’s photograph is one I shot and post-processed with the iPhone.

The End is just the Beginning

I have long dreamed of exploring the treasures of “the Mother Road”, Route 66. Â Well, that dream comes Â true today, as I embark on my journey along Route 66, though from the West Coast to the East, rather than vice versa. Â I made it to Santa Monica Pier, the end of the line for those traveling Route 66 from the official starting point in Chicago, taking in all the wonderfulness there, including one of the most beautiful sunsets ever. Â What a place. Â I also made some new friends, including a cool couple from St. Louis who had just completed the trip, and Dan Rice, owner and proprietor of the awesome Route 66 to California shop on Santa Monica Pier. Â Dan is a wealth of knowledge about all things Route 66, having made the journey 26 times already, and he’s just dang fun to hang out with. Â The couple I mentioned and I spent several hours just chatting with Dan about all kinds of stuff, including Route 66. Â If you are ever down on the Pier, do look him up, and tell him I sent you! Â You won’t be sorry.

Accidentally on Purpose

Yesterday the kids and I headed to Shasta Dam for a full-on tour of that amazing facility. Â As this was a family outing, and since I’ve kind of grown tired of carrying a lot of camera gear, I was armed with only my littleÂ Fuji X100. Interestingly, one of the guides remarked something along the lines of, “oh, that’s one of those old film cameras. That was pretty cool! Â On our way back topside, I spotted this point of view out of the corner of my eye. Â Sadly, there was no time to stop, compose and shoot (we were behind schedule on the tour, it seems), so I raised the camera up as quickly as I could (while still walking) and accidentally snapped this one on purpose! Â Sure, it’s blurry (did not even have time to focus), but I got the shot and I really like it! Â Ain’t that what counts?

Good Eats at the Snack Shack

You just don’t see places like this that much in the D.C. metro area, where I’ll soon be hangin’ my hat, so I’m taking the time to shoot as many of these sorts of things as I can before I leave Northern Cali. Â I’m hoping to see more on my drive east across the U.S. of A, especially since part of that drive will likely be along historical Route 66. Â As I was out running errands when I found this one, I only had my little Fuji X100 camera with me, when I really could have used a 24mm lens and the D700 so I could include the dumpsters on the right side of the building; stepping back with the old sneaker-zoom was not an option or they’d have been serving roadkill in the Snack Shack!