Today is starting out well. For the first time in weeks we have no heat alerts or heat warnings. It'll be hot today but not much hotter than it normally is this time of year. I celebrated by going out for a "traditional" walk. And I took along a Leica CL. Stripped of all accessories.

How glorious to have a day on which you don't start sweating before 10 a.m. How wonderful to have the air temperature match the "feels like" temperature. And how wonderful to leave all the heavy and "perfect" cameras at home and reacquaint myself with the tiny and uncluttered Leica CL and an equally tiny and uncluttered Carl Zeiss 35mm f2.0 ZM lens. 

It's fun to park the car in the shade and wonder around aimlessly but at the same time respectful of the usual loop through downtown. I set my camera to make Jpegs and at first I set it to make black and white images. But I am able to change my mind so when I encountered stuff that might look better in color I shot that instead. Or in addition to. 

The focus peaking in the CL works crazy well and from time to time, when my anxious brain would fight for supremacy, I'd punch in and magnify a frame, worried I would not have sharp focus otherwise. The focus peaking verified or unverified by magnification never failed me. Nor did the light meter.

I walked from one side of downtown to the other and shot well over a hundred frames. I knew I wouldn't keep them all but sometimes it's nice just to see what stuff will look like when it's been photographed. And how familiar things will look if one changes between cameras, or camera formats, and takes them again. 

In some ways it felt as though this morning was a bit of time off in order to save up some energy. Energy I'll need when I take the big Fuji MF camera and the even bigger TTArtisan 90mm f1.25 lens out for a spin. I hope to do some of that this weekend. 

I used to think it was a waste of time to walk without a plan and to take images without the benefit of a formal framework or project to guide me. Then I read something about one of my all time favorite photographers, Josef Koudelka. Magnum photographer, David Hurn hosted Koudelka at his house for an extended visit. During his time there Koudelka would load and shoot a minimum of three 36 shot rolls of film each day even if he was just puttering around the house. He told Hurn that he needed the daily practice and the daily routine in order to be ready. Ready to capture some fleeting image at some future time. Like katas or swim practice or barre exercises. Staying in tune. 

Add to that the much reported benefits of being outdoors and the even greater benefits of walking and you've got some compelling reasons to embrace an un-agenda'd day to the fullest. 

Proud of being able to so well rationalize the frittering away of another nice morning with another nice camera in hand I rewarded myself by stopping at Mañana Coffee for a cup and a decent croissant. It was pleasant enough to take the coffee and pastry outside under the shop's expansive awnings. A nice way to spend a morning without getting anything substantive done. Be sure to try it. Often.

some of the images below captioned. some not.

I have no idea what this object does. None at all. I've begun to think it might be an alien relic. 

Set in the middle of the city to monitor us. But it probably has something to do 

with railroads since it's right next to the train tracks. 

I  have seen this bus in the parking lot of the Amtrak Train Station here in Austin for the 

last few weeks. People are currently living in the bus. There are signs of life. 

An unusual dwelling for our city. But interesting.

This is very unusual. It's a shot of the four lanes of Lamar Blvd. A street that is usually 

full of cars. But I stood on a bridge looking down for several minutes watching no traffic.

Just looking at the strips of asphalt running north and south.

This is what a dozen coats of silver paint look like when photographing a metal

utility box in black and white.

the path from the railroad tracks back into civilization and .... coffee. 

I was happy to see the lens resolving dried grass so well. f5.6 is our friend.

four bad styles of architecture in a row. How droll. 

Blue.

Blue, red, yellow and teal.

"I look at taco shacks from both sides now...." (see below).

Only NSFW in red states.

It's really not an aquarium. It's a bar. On Sixth St. One tiny fish tank does not

an aquarium make. Fish Tank Hyperbole. 

this is a mobile Starbucks trailer. I'd never seen one before. 

I guess they drag it around to places where people line up to buy tickets to 

see live music performances. Not sure if that's a feature or a detraction. 

I'm so, so over the Pike Place blend....

My interpretation of the 1950's overlayed on 2023.

This photograph which I've taken is easily as exciting as anything Stephen Shore has 

ever shot. No. It's more exciting....

Now, by switching angles we overlay the 1960s on 2023.

From my future exhibition. "Lounging by the Colorado River." 

It has always been my desire to live in a surveillance culture. 

The federal courthouse building does it with vigor.

the unfettered happiness of good diagonals. And barbed wire.

I shot this originally as a black and white image. It was boring as hell. It's still a bit boring if you don't particularly like urban architecture but at least you can rest your eyes on stuff that's blue. That's the most popular color for paintings across all cultures. We, as humans. like to look at blue.

I'm trying to trademark blue as my own. I thought of this after Elon grabbed for the letter X. I think Blue is more valuable. It will be the name of my "everything" app.