Playing around with the heat. Black cameras can really soak it up!

 

Summer sale. Leica CL. Carl Zeiss 35mm f2.0 ZM.

Ah. Here we go again. An "Excessive Heat Warning" issued for the city of Austin. The air temperature was 102° while the heat index/feels like was pegged at 107°. 

I was rational in the morning hours. I got up and drove over to Deep Eddy Pool at 7:45 a.m. to secure my place in the line. You need to get your swim bag positioned right so when the gates open the committed lap swimmers can proceed to the lanes in an orderly and fair fashion. The bag secures the place in line. First there, first lane choice. Keith and I were the first two in line. He took the nice lane in the deep end and I took the lane next to him. My lane is dicier because it's up against the side of the deep end and there are three ladders that protrude into the space. You want to make sure you don't accidentally slam your hand into a metal ladder while you are swimming. Right? 

I choose that lane mostly because it's in shade for nearly all of my morning swims there. No sunscreen lotion needed. It's so nice not to have to "grease up" and to be able to do at least one swim per week in a "no chlorine" pool. A cool one at that. 

Interestingly, Dr. Keith Bell was my kinesiology coach for the swim team at UT Austin in 1975. His wife, Sandy Neilson-Bell, was a three time gold medalist, at age 16, at the 1972 Olympics. It's an elite swim family! 

I jumped into the cold water and got my mile swim in quick. I hung out in the water for ten minutes or so afterwards, feeling my core temperature drop nicely. Cool for half the day after that. 

After some busy work in the morning and a quick lunch I just couldn't stand the cabin fever any longer. I grabbed the closest Leica CL, put the Sigma 18-50mm lens on it and headed downtown. My intention was to take a short walk through the usual terrain and then head back home to the air conditioning. For all my macho bluster I just couldn't stand the heat in the mid-afternoon today. I tromped over to Mañana coffee and got a large cup and some dark chocolate. I figured I'd sit outside under the wooden awning to at least try to acclimate. I thought I'd be all alone but weirdly there were four different young women, each sitting at their own tables under the shade. All of them were exquisitely beautiful. Tall, thin, dark and athletic. All glued to their phones.... Interesting as it's usually a more typical/varied demographic seated outside (see below). The thing about young, thin, gorgeous women; at least here, is that they seem impervious to the heat. The young men I saw out today? Sweating like pigs. These women? Every indication was they loved the heat. Who knows? 

I started a walk but when I could see heat waves coming off the asphalt a block away I just "threw in the towel" and trudged back to the car. I can't kid myself in heat like this. I have to accept that I am actually 67 years old and no longer completely bulletproof. Sad. 

As I walked back to the car I snapped a few photos on the way. Nothing spectacular but I continue to be impressed by the sensor and the color science in the CL and I continued to be somewhat impressed by the performance of the Sigma Contemporary zoom. It's a nice package. 

When I got back to the office there was an email from the radiology practice. They have two new doctors who need to be photographed for marketing and website use. Another reason to use the Fuji GFX camera and to try out that wacky TTArtisan 90mm manual focus lens. And taking portraits is so much more fun than being bored, staying inside and checking out new novels from the library. 

I took this yesterday. Again with the CL+35mm ZM. It's Mañana Coffee. Midday.

Cooler than today...

All over Austin our grass is turning this stunning shade of yellow brown.

The path of the Summer Pedestrian. A tourist in my own town.

The oppressive heat seems to make me stop and point my camera at different stuff.

A building blowing smoke rings. Naw. Just a cloud.

the quasi industrial landscape of downtown shopping centers.

Tomorrow I swim at the usual pool. The six days a week pool. I'm praying the water is around 82° or lower. But any excuse to swim ---- I'll take it. 

New Gear alert: Ordered a new Godox flash trigger for the Fuji camera. I have a universal trigger but I thought I'd play around with HSS flash via the Fuji 50Sii and the Godox AD 200 Pro flash. Who knows? It could be a lot of fun. 

Now off to water trees so we'll have some left for next year...They do a great job shading the house. I think I should repay them with enough water to survive.

Hey! I think this global warming stuff is real. Maybe time for everyone to decide that for one day each week no one drives their car? it's gotta help. At least a little bit.