Time Travel

On a trip to Austin, TX way back in 2009, I remember taking along my brand new Panasonic LX-3 digicam. I really enjoyed having a small, yet powerful camera always with me to make photographs of whatever happened to strike my fancy as I went about my day. Like this construction project near the UT campus. Of course, I wasn't smart enough (still not) to realize that soon enough my EDC camera would be one small part of a computer that lives in my pocket. It is gratifying to realize that most of the old photographs I made using early digital equipment still hold up pretty well today. This file looks just fine thank you very much on my new 5K monitor. Except for the blown out highlights... but, naturally, that's just part of the digicam aesthetic, you know? I still have that old LX-3 laying around the studio and enjoy taking it out every once in a while. It still works, but I did have to gaff the flash in the down position.

Good light to you this weekend, fellow traveler. Grab the nearest digicam and fire off a card full of photographs. It'll be fun! 

Capturing my mood

We spent some time in Austin in 2009 and I remember taking the little LX-3 with me to the campus of the University of Texas, my alma mater. I also remember walking all over the main campus trying to remember my old haunts from the time I was there as a student. At some point I made this diptych, which I had completely forgotten about. The buildings have no particular meaning to me now, but the color of the morning light in winter and the tones of the bricks sure do resonate.

Tasting notes: Panasonic Lumix LX-3, circa 2009.

Far Out, Yet So Close

From my school days in Texas a few decades ago, I have memories of driving past the old Austin Motel on South Congress Avenue. That's the place with the phallic neon sign that still reads, 'So Close, Yet So Far Out'. Whatever that means. Truth be told, I really rather enjoyed the cosmic hippie side of old Austin, with its groovy vibe that seemed so out of place in the middle of Texas. At any rate, all this came to mind on a recent walk through Algonkian Memorial Park near Washington, DC the other day. There we were, out in the nearly pristine landscape, or as close to it as one can get these days, yet we were also just a stone's throw away from a golf course owned by a former president of the United States.