What I really miss about living in Germany during this festive season are all the ” “colors” of the Weinachten: the colors, the lights, the feeling. You just don’t see that here in the U.S., it seems. If you’ve ever been to the Christmas markets in Germany, you know what I mean. This little tree in Vienna, Virginia, which I photographed with my X100 a few days before I came back to California, brought those memories rushing back, as did post processing the shot for today’s post.
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!
Yesterday the kids and I headed to Shasta Dam for a full-on tour of that amazing facility.  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 little 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!  On our way back topside, I spotted this point of view out of the corner of my eye.  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!  Sure, it’s blurry (did not even have time to focus), but I got the shot and I really like it!  Ain’t that what counts?
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!
I don’t think I’ve ever seen as many classic cars on the road as I have out here in Northern California. Â There are so many around here that I have to be pretty discerning about which one I try to photograph. Â When I spotted this classic Pontiac Star Chief I just couldn’t take my eyes off her, which meant I HAD to pull out my trusty X100 to photograph her. Â And if you think her lines are sweet, you should have heard her purrrrrr when she started up. Â Wow!!! Â What a ride!!!
