Walking over the bridge at night. Standing in a chilly breeze waiting for the LED lights to change colors.

There is a charming aspect to having more free time. When you are out walking with a camera and you see something that exists in changing light you feel as though you have a license to linger, to watch the evolution of what might be an interesting or fun image. You stand in the perfect spot and wait for the magic to unfold. For someone who spent years tightly scheduled having the opportunity to be in one spot, to breathe and to soak up the feeling of the place is a gift.

I've walked over this particular bridge a lot. Whoever designed it knew what they were doing when it came to making something that has its own particular visual quality. During the daylight hours the large spans on either side of the road arch up like butterfly wings. After the sun sets a series of lights project upwards and change color gradually; going from cool blue to warm red over the course of a minute or so. 

During that minutes the colored lights also bathe the structure in yellows, greens, magentas and purples.

Whenever I walk over the bridge when the lights are lit I am transfixed not only by the way my camera renders the differences between sky and span but also by the changes over time. The colors blend into each other slowly and steadily. 

Last night I was back out walking with a different camera. I brought along the Lumix S1R and set it to shoot Jpegs. My original intention was to see how well that camera does black and white. I had it set to a tweaked profile I've been experimenting with in L. Monochrome. But everywhere I looked I saw color yesterday. From the first hints of sunset to the last brush of blue color long after the sun had disappeared. When life gives you color it's perhaps wise to change your course and find a profile that accommodates those little visual gifts the universe seems to hand out; mostly unexpectedly.

I'm still breaking in the 65mm f2.0 Sigma lens. I like it very much. It's sharp but not clinically so. It's color rich but well behaved. It's definitely one to keep.