Ribbon in the Dark

This is part of an art installation, found on a wall in downtown Round Rock, TX while walking around with my Fuji X100. Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter | Google Plus

Grid

I liked the pattern and the way the light was hitting it. Part of an art installation, found on a wall in downtown Round Rock, TX. Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter | Google Plus

Closed for the Night

The stools in this coffee shop that was closed for the night caught my eye. There was a nice bit of light illuminating the interior, creating a contrasty night scene that I've come to appreciate. Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter | Google Plus

B.D. Riley's

The bar was quiet at BD Riley's this night. It was Mardi Gras weekend but still a little early at about 10pm for the late night Austin party crowd. The image is a B&W JPEG from my XF1, processed for contrast and toning in Lightroom. Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter | Google Plus

605 Brazos

The doorway to the Firehouse in downtown Austin caught my attention. Then I noticed the shadows cast on the wall by a tree behind me. A light in the alley provided some nice illumination of the neighboring building's brick facade. Taken with the Fujifilm XF1 in EXR mode. Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter | Google Plus

Frost, Driskill, Tree

This scene made for a good test of the dynamic range and image stabilization of my recently acquired Fujifilm XF1. I noticed the Frost Tower and the Driskill Hotel pair initially. Then I decided to position myself with the tree in the foreground for an interesting juxtaposition. With the slow shutter speed (1/8), the camera had a lot of work to do with me hand holding it. There is nothing really sharp in the image but I like how all the elements come together. Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter | Google Plus

Chloe

It was a cold and drizzly day yesterday. It's that weird time of year in Texas - 70F one day, freezing the next. Our poodles hate it. My wife got them pajamas to help take the chill off. They were both laying by a window, dreaming of warmer days. Chloe recently celebrated her 11th birthday. Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter | Google Plus

Lucy

It was a cold and drizzly day yesterday. It's that weird time of year in Texas - 70F one day, freezing the next. Our poodles hate it. My wife got them pajamas to help take the chill off. They were both laying by a window, dreaming of warmer days. Lucy recently celebrated her 12th birthday. Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter | Google Plus

Everybody Wants In

It was early in the evening and party goers were arriving in the 6th St. area for Mardi Gras weekend. I myself was in town to catch a couple of old flicks at a film noir festival. Boisterous crowds aren't my cup of tea so I left downtown before the serious partying started. Had the street not been quite so busy with revelers I might have lingered a bit longer for some more noir shots of my own. Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter | Google Plus

Lines Through the Mist

It was a gray and misty evening as I travelled home from work this day. The power line support towers in this farm field were veiled in the thin mist. I pulled over to snap this shot of this dreamy scene. With the help of VSCO Lightroom presets I processed this Fujifilm XF1 file for a Kodak TRI-X look. It is interesting how the native noise pattern of the XF1 resembles the grain of TRI-X 35mm film I've shot. Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter | Google Plus

Ross Carts

Something about this line of shopping carts in an alley behind a shopping center made me stop and snap this shot. This is one of few shots lately that was a difficult decision to process in black and white vs color. The carts were a nice blue but I'm in monochrome mode lately. Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter | Google Plus

Crappy Seats

At least the bathroom is conveniently near the parking lot. Spotted while driving around during a lunch break one day. Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter | Google Plus

Hutto Farm Remnants

I pass by this old barn often and I'm always struck with how lonely it looks as it decays in the middle of a field. The field is still tended to and yields various crops throughout the year. The barn is all but forgotten and the barren trees accentuate its lonely state of being. In the background new power lines now span the horizon. I doubt this land will be used for farming much longer. This image is JPEG out of the Fujifilm XF1 camera I recently picked up, shot using Fuji's EXR mode. The EXR technology is used to "expand" dynamic range. It did seem to keep the sky from blowing out and details in the shadowed face of the barn were preserved. All camera JPEG settings were at the default except for noise reduction, which I set as low as possible. I processed the JPEG in Lightroom for a sort of sepia look. Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter | Google Plus

The Quiet After the Show

I caught a show with my wife at the Paramount Theater in Austin. Afterwards we enjoyed dinner at a nearby restaurant before heading home. One the way back to our car I snapped this image in from of the theater. It was eerily quiet then, a big contrast to the crowded sidewalk just a few hours earlier. This image is JPEG out of the camera, shot in the default B&W mode. All camera JPEG settings were at the default except for noise reduction, which I set as low as possible. I cropped and straightened the image in Lightroom, in addition to minor adjustments to black and white points, a bit of sharpening, and a little vignette. Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter | Google Plus

Pick Your Poison

I was out with my wife for dinner and snapped a few shots to test the dynamic range of my latest camera acquisition, a Fujifilm XF1. If you can still find one, these little advanced point and shoots are being cleared out for $199! It's a quirky little beast but the JPEGs are amazing. It captures raw files as well. I haven't felt the need to work with the raw files as of yet. This camera is meant to be an informal capture device for me - better than a phone and a little less than my bigger camera rigs. This image is JPEG out of the camera, shot in the default B&W mode. All camera JPEG settings were at the default except for noise reduction, which I set as low as possible. I cropped and straightened the image in Lightroom, in addition to minor adjustments to black and white points and a bit of sharpening. Quick and simple, which is my intention with this particular camera. Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter | Google Plus

Paramount Mural

I was with my wife last night at the Paramount Theater in Austin. She wanted to see Craig Ferguson for a Valentine's Day outing (romantic, right?). Anyway, I had a small camera with me that I recently acquired - a Fujifilm XF1. They have these things going for $199 as Fujifilm dumps remaining inventory of this discontinued model. Like my other Fujifilm cameras, this one is a little fiddly. Probably more so. Like the other cameras, it also makes great JPEGs and I bought this to carry around as a point & shoot. I'm not crazy about the mechanics of it so far and I'm still learning its idiosyncrasies. Still, the image quality is amazing for a compact camera. It did well in this dark scene. The shot is a B&W JPEG from the camera, adjusted slightly in Lightroom. Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter | Google Plus

Man Cave

I stopped by Hanover's bar in Pflugerville, TX the other night to check out a buddy's band, Mike Truth and the Replacement Killers. The guys tore it up that night - helluva show! I caught this shot of Mike stretching before the band went on. He's rather animated up there on stage and in the audience! Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter | Google Plus

Main Street Noir, Round Rock, TX

I snapped this shot while wandering around downtown Round Rock a while back with my friend Tony. I loved the streetlight softly illuminating the street and barely kissing the front of the small car. The restaurants and bars were packed while the street was oddly quiet at that moment. Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter | Google Plus

Safe Ball

I was wandering around downtown Round Rock one evening with a good friend. We ended up having some drinks at the Brass Tap bar. As we were leaving I noticed an old safe in a back corner with this ball sitting on it. No idea why it is there. The light was nice and hard, perfectly bringing out the texture of this object. Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter | Google Plus

Texas Stars Hockey Club 2013-2014

Team Photo for 2013-2014 Texas Stars Hockey team. Strobist info: 2 Nikon SB-28 on either side of camera at 1/2 power, aimed about 3 seats in. 1 Nikon SB-28 above camera at center at 1/4 power. All flashes positioned about 8' high to fire over group and feather light. More info on this shot in a Strobist discussion thread here. Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter | Google Plus

Capitol Corner [Explored]

I took this shot a while back while roaming around the Capitol area during the Texas Book Festival. Some clouds provided a nice diffused light that day. I like the convergence of lines and windows in the inner corners of the capitol building. The detail in this massive granite structure always fascinates me. Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter | Google Plus

Capitol Reflected

I was looking for a different view of the Texas capitol building and didn't stumble upon it until I walked to the main gate. The capitol was reflected in the mirror, creating the certain twist on an often photographed subject that I was looking for that day. Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter | Google Plus

Texas Capitol Building

I took this shot a while back while roaming around the Capitol area during the Texas Book Festival. Some clouds provided a nice diffused light so I took the opportunity to get a daytime shot of the Capitol building. Lots of folks were out that day enjoying the mild weather. Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter | Google Plus

5th and Trinity (BW) [Explored]

It's not something I do often - revisiting a color photo to do a conversion to black and white. I wasn't completely happy with my last posting and I decided to look at it from a different perspective. Now, I have a lot of respect for black and white photography and I dislike the idea of converting to black and white for the sole purpose of "saving" a photo. That's not why I did this. It just seemed like something wasn't right and I questioned my own original vision. Normally I shoot something with black and white in mind. I didn't do that here; I shot for color. I think I might have been wrong so I put it to the test. I'll let you be the judge as to which is more appropriate. Update: Since this version was propelled into Flickr Explore, I'll take that to mean that you guys like this one better. Thanks so much everyone! Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter | Google Plus

5th and Trinity

The Frost Tower is one of the most distinctive buildings in downtown Austin. I always enjoy looking for new vantage points to photograph it when I'm wandering around town. This view is from the corner of 5th and Trinity. Oncoming traffic made some nice light trails. A lot of photographers shy away from headlight trails but I don't mind them myself. Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter | Google Plus