Christmas Card 2017

Sylvia was going to the ATT Center to watch the Spurs beat the Boston Celtics so I dropped her off at The Quarry to meet our friend. 

I had brought my new camera and tripod and warm clothes, intent on doing some recon for our annual Christmas Card Photo. 

Had a few locations in mind, but also slipped into the familiar "bending like a reed in the wind" mindset--ending up in our favorite "secret" parking lot on the Riverwalk behind The Pearl. 

Started walking while shooting with my phone--taking notes, really--and it was fun because we had just gotten new Samsung Galaxy Note 8s which kick ALL kinds of ass. 

When I came onto this scene I set up the "real" stuff, and had this shot in a couple of minutes. 

Using it's built-in Wifi I sent it from the Sony A6000 to the Note 8 and took a good look at it on the big screen. Then I sent it to Sylvia, because I was heading home and she wasn't going to have to follow me around town for a couple of nights, shivering and bored.  

 

I expected trouble, because the search for our card picture is a tradition--something we always do together. 

But Sylvia saw it and loved it and you can't argue with success. 

The Alpha 6000 is by far the finest night/tripod camera I've ever owned. 

It's exactly what I designed in my head many many years ago. 

Love using it, and great results. 

Now to find crazy deals on some more lenses, or the deluxe lens adapter so I can use my 3 older A-mounts. They're at the bottom of the range price and quality-wise, but the fact remains that I really like the results for a lot of what I do. 

As for the Note 8, I have some things to say about it's cameras in a future post. 

Christmas 2015

It has been a few years since I featured the Riverwalk on our card photo, so it felt right to go back there for something new.
Last year, clued in by some nice shots from a member of my camera club, I got some pics that almost made the cut. This is a fairly new section of the San Antonio Riverwalk behind the old and re-purposed Pearl Beer brewery.
On a "scouting mission" I pulled out the camera and tripod anyway, and shot some tests in the area.
One view was better than last year's stuff so we went back 4 days later.
There was a construction crane in the frame, and on our return it was pivoted into a horrible position--so we were out of luck on what I originally wanted.

Trying to stay positive we walked around a bit, hoping that inspiration or good luck would strike.
On our way back to the car, I re-saw a scene that I liked from the previous visit, but had immediately written off as impossible. But it looked SO good, I let my heart overrule my brain.

You can only get this photo from a stairway landing that doesn't have enough room for my tripod.
And there is foliage encroaching from the top and left sides.
Plus a bright light on the right/top just out of frame.
Move the camera more than 2" in any direction, and it all falls apart.
A real prick of a shot, especially at the long exposure times needed.
Anyone walking across the attached steel footbridge will vibrate the crap out of it, leading to a blurry mess.
I had my tripod's legs folded down straight, and then held it in the corner of the guardrail.

We knew we had it as soon as I asked Sylvia to climb back up the stairs and just look at the scene from the landing. After 3 exposures we went to Mama Margie's for dinner.

Watching my new ted2 DVD. Hilarious!
Shot with my phone using the new selfie stick.
Yes, it sounds crazy for a "serious" photographer to even consider such a thing, but I foresee many situations where it'll be exactly what I need. Sometimes "toys" are just what you need, both for fun and a re-thinking of the way things can be done.


My wish for 2016's Christmas card photo is that I get it in the next couple of weeks, to take some of the pressure off.
Merry Christmas.
Happy New Year.
Thanks for visiting.  

Tired Of Waiting

In our search for this year's Christmas card photo, on Thursday we listened to the people who said that the 'Museum Reach' part of the Riverwalk now has pretty lights.
Didn't take a single picture, because it was actually the exact same lame decorations as last year, just seen by people who didn't even know about Museum Reach a year ago, I guess.

On Sunday evening we made one last attempt, heading down to St. Paul Square and Sunset Station. Sylvia had seen the lights all over the locomotive while I was failing to find parking on Thursday--it was too crowded and I gave up.
Our return visit was at the perfect time of night, giving me time to scout around before the sun went down all the way so as to be in-position with a few minutes to spare.

Southern Pacific (Texas & New Orleans) 2-8-2 #794 was fully decorated, and it's headlamp was lit:
This photo was taken about five minutes before the "perfect" time--stars are starting to be visible but the sky is still too-bright of a blue.
When are they going to light this thing up???

As usual, the tree inside the station is beautiful, with the star in the stained-glass acting as a tree-topper.
Clever.



Back to the loco: Sylvia asked the security guards about the lights, and they said that different organizations are responsible for the lights on the grounds and those on the train, and were under orders to leave it alone.
They chuckled when she told them she was about to start flipping breakers if it doesn't get lit in the next few minutes.
Well, the Friends Of The SP 794 were either late or not coming down on Sunday at all, and I had already lost the sky light levels I wanted.

So we took matters into our own hands.
First, Sylvia threw a big master breaker, but nothing happened.
I was very proud of her balls.

After a while I got fed up (and cold) so I opened a steel box and looked inside with my flashlight.
A bunch of the breakers inside were labeled and I started flipping the likely suspects.
Lights started coming on!


The only breaker I didn't flip was labeled "Computer", and I was afraid of it.
Didn't want to accidentally enable the engine's smoke system, but in retrospect it might have been the one that powered all the rest of the lights--as you can see, I only got about half of the loco lit.


I was trying to keep track and return things to the way I found them, but within seconds the tourists started crowding around and "Ooh-Ahh-ing" so I decided to just leave the breaker box hanging open and get away while the getting was good.


Update: We finally put up the #1 tree tonight, and also decided to go in a different direction for the card photo.
I shot it in 5 minutes in the comfort of home, featuring our favorite ornament on the #2 silver tree that's in our front window.
Now we're both very happy with the results.

To be honest, there's only so many iconic SA locations that are decorated, and I've already used the best ones.
The new plan is to look for smaller "detail" scenes wherever and whenever they can be found, with me working hard to nail all the technical details.
My 50mm F1.8 lens is perfect for this approach, and really shined tonight.

What A Difference!

You might remember last August when the San Antonio Museum of Art showed one of my photos:


I get to see the 11x14" print (+ frame) the museum made every single day, and it still gives me a warm fuzzy feeling to remember the honor and excitement.
So, I still love the print.

However...
The photo itself, not so much anymore.

This past weekend I was working practically on top of the old dam's location.
It was the first time I've been there at night since the end of 2009, and what a difference a few months make!
Or maybe I should say what a difference the city's anti-algae crews make.

Here's how it looks now:

My original picture was made right after the new section of the Riverwalk opened, and because it wasn't a natural ecosystem things hadn't stabilized.
A hot-hot-hot summer with no rain and plenty of sunlight combined with a lack of wildlife that eat algae to create the perfect conditions for extreme green muck.

It was quickly obvious that something had to be done, and if I recall correctly the city parks dept outfitted/bought some barges that are equipped to fight the algae while the biosystem settles into harmony.
I must say it appears to be working well.
I also must say that the white lights submerged in blue water looks a hell of a lot better than the murky green.
The duck is a nice touch, too.

I would have tried to approximate the original photo better, but didn't have my tripod. But the color difference just kills me.
Oh well...


Here's a look just upstream:

2010 Is Here--Nothing Changes

Just like 2009 we went to JIM'S for our 1st breakfast of the year.
I ordered the same exact thing.
It was good, of course.



On the 2nd I went downtown just before sunset to try for the next card picture.
Was hoping the new Museum Reach section would have decorations on par with the old part of the river, but aside from a subtle (to be kind) string of LED lights and a bow on random light poles, it was no different from September.
See if you can spot the Christmas decorations in the pic of SAMA above and the art fish below.

FISH! Since it was too late to abort Plan A, I decided to ride it out and try to have some fun.

This shot was only made because a large group of people had interfered with a previous one by walking into the frame and then milling around (moo-ing, actually) even after noticing that I was waiting on them to move. (Moooove?)
This time they came up the Riverwalk from behind me, so I held out my arm and said "A moment, please".
After chimping, instead of letting them pass I pretended to make adjustments and took this identical one just to have them wait 15 seconds more.
Christmas is over, so I'm back to only being nice to people who aren't rude or stupid.

Reaching the museum again at the end of my trip I found these trees lit with many green floodlights that I had never seen before. I don't know if this is Christmas-related or permanent, but I know it's pretty.
There's the edge of an observation area complete with benches visible on the left.
A nice place for kissing.

I had walked all the way to the Pearl Brewery complex, as you'll see next.

Pearl Brewery & RiverWalk

Went downtown last Tuesday to fetch the awesome framed print that the San Antonio Museum Of Art made of my photo for their show.
Now that it's no longer 102 degrees F every day I decided to cruise over to the nearby Pearl Brewery complex to take some pics.
Urban reclamation at it's best, the former beer factory now houses a culinary school, shops, etc.

This old electric engine used to carry beer from the brewery to shipping points and local customers on tracks laid down in the middle of the street.


Leaf & Coil Springs
They did a nice restoration but I've been into detail shots lately so there are no pics of the whole subject.

A cute bird hunting on the river.

I really like my cheap DT 55-200mm Sony lens.
A list price of $229 should trigger warning bells, and getting it for only a mere $100 kit upgrade made me suspect it was utter crap.
But results are all that matter, and except for it's tendency to completely miss focus when max-zoomed it has a certain image quality that I really enjoy.
Spends way more time mounted to my Alpha300 than the 18-70mm kit lens.
Way Way Way more time.
Curved aperture petals help smooth the out-of-focus areas in a nice way.

I Was Speechless...

...but I got over it.
Let me tell you, it's one thing to be told that your photo is going to hang in an art museum--sure you get excited and can appreciate how cool it is--but it's a whole other animal to walk into the gallery and actually see it.
An incredible feeling washed over me, and it lasted for the whole reception.
People immediately started talking to me but I don't remember what was said.

Turned out to be wine and snacks instead of champagne and caviar--the bacon jalapeno things were good and I also liked the pigs in a blanket.

This is my friend Jim getting his picture taken by our museum contact, Cassandra.
Jim is a funny guy, and Cassandra couldn't have been sweeter. When I helped her fix a camera problem she called me a genius, so she must be very perceptive, too.

Proof that I'm an artist.
If an art museum says so, it must be true!

It was great seeing my other camera club friends Susan, Mark and Ken.
We were among the first members after Jim started the group, and I got lucky that they are all kind, sweet, and hilarious. I've been so busy with my bands that well over a year has gone by since I've seen them yet we fell right back into cracking each other up.
Didn't realize how much I missed them.

Our photos were printed beautifully, and the framing was superb.
Of course, it was done by serious professionals.

It won't be the last time.
I want more of this.
The people at the San Antonio Museum of Art had better get used to seeing me.

Champagne And Caviar?

It's finally Thursday, which means we'll be attending a private reception at the San Antonio Museum of Art.
Those of us featured in this weekend's "Museum Reach" RiverWalk Photography Show are being honored in a little after-hours event.
Two of my camera club friends are in the show and two more are on the guest list, so it should be a good time.

Of course I'll be taking pictures and will post them here along with a food and drink review.

In other news, Loud Nine will be at Oasis on Saturday night, so come out and watch me forget a few bass notes.
At tonight's rehearsal we managed to find a few minutes for a portrait session:

Instead of champagne and caviar Loud Nine is more into beer and tacos, but we'll settle for lipstick and bruises...


Don't forget that BLISS will be at Rebar on Broadway Friday night.

The San Antonio Museum Of Art...

...is going to display this photo of mine at a special exhibition during the last weekend of August--Friday the 28th through Sunday the 30th.


SAMA is making a museum-quality 11x14" print and putting it in a museum-quality frame. No doubt using museum-quality glass.
I can't wait to see it!

I've been sitting on this since last Tuesday and it's been difficult keeping it to myself, but the official announcement will be later today so I'm only breaking the news a few hours early.

The photo shows a submerged dam from the 1800's that was rediscovered during construction of the new section of our RiverWalk.
Alamo Mills used a waterwheel to grind grain into flour for early residents of San Antonio.
My photo was one of 12 (out of over 1500) that were carefully selected by museum staff to showcase the best features along the "Museum Reach" RiverWalk extension.

It'll take some creative scheduling since I work weekends, but we plan to attend the opening night festivities, and probably spend some time there on Sunday as well.

Not a bad entry for my resume.

*****UPDATE*****
The official announcement is here.
I like how my name is first.

Where Was I?

Ten minutes after I made the previous post our internet shut off.
It's been 8.5 days with no webbage, and that wasn't cool at all.
Rene just drove off in his ATT truck, and I'm finally online again.

Here's the rest of my Museum Reach photos, which would have been available here last Saturday had ATT not screwed my pooch so hard:

A neat little footbridge across the river, just around the bend from the Museum.

San Antonio Museum of Art.

SAMA again.

While working on this project an old forgotten dam was discovered.
Archaologists dug around and did the research, and their findings are on a historical marker nearby--I'm just glad they added underwater lights or it wouldn't be noticed.

Museum Reach

Museum Reach is what the newly-opened section of the RiverWalk is called.
It connects the older parts to the San Antonio Museum Of Art, and beyond to the Pearl Brewery and maybe even Brackenridge Park and the Witte Museum--we turned back to save some for another day.

Everything is clean and new and modern and cohesive compared to the rest of the RiverWalk, since it was designed and built all at once.
I can't begin to convey how much we love it.
It's wonderful, beautiful, whimsical, convenient, fun...I could go on and on.

What struck me was that unless you read the newspaper very carefully (or read Dave's blog) you wouldn't even know that all this beauty was being built! It's below street level, so miles of construction was hidden from view for years unless you knew where to look.
Then suddenly it's there, and it's great.


We got to watch several barges use the new locks.
When Lila Cockrell was mayor, she suggested that people get out of their barge and walk past the dam, then board another.
This is SO much better in every way.

I have four more photos and some stuff to tell you next time.