Too hot to think straight. Way too hot to go out for a run.

seems hot.

98° by lunch time.

Last week wasn't too bad. Sure, it was up over 100° in the afternoons but the nights cooled down. Mostly into the high 70s. It made the pool water bearable. But I'm looking ahead to this coming week and I can see the forecast trending back toward the high discomfort range. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not in any danger here unless I decide to do something stupid like going out for a ten mile run in the middle of the afternoon. Or undertaking a new job in the roofing industry. 

The house is well insulated. The new windows are absolutely amazing. In fact, we just got our electric bill for the last month (which was the hottest on record here...) and the bill was lower than last year's in spite of our new plan to make the house comfortably colder at night. The main refrigerator is working as it should and the smaller, back-up refrigerator stands ready to jump in should a refrigeration emergency arise. If I stay inside life goes on as happily as usual. It's just that, by nature, I really love to be outside...

The trees are struggling a bit but I try to rotate through a deep watering cycle for them, individually, in the wee dark hours of the pre-sunrise morning. So far they are hanging in there. I'm lavishing more attention on the Japanese maple by the front door, but only because the edges of the leaves exposed to sun all day start to turn brown when the afternoon temperature crests the 107° mark. I have actually considered constructing an 8x8 foot scrim to put over the tree to try and ameliorate its obvious discomfort but early attempts have shown me that it will take more sandbags than I own to anchor a scrim that big ten or twelve feet up in the air --- when the breezes pick up. 

The real issue for me, as a photographer? The endless heat is a bit paralyzing. Not just for me but for everyone. People have escaped by never going outside. Sometimes I'll head over to Barton Springs Pool, or someplace like that, to try and kickstart a photo project only to be tormented by the heat, hampered by my sweating hands on the cameras and ready to retreat to the air conditioned spaces. Oh, and the fact that most people have opted to stay home too...

So, I spend way too much time in the office playing with cameras, lenses and lights. Speaking of cameras...

I have high hopes for the Fuji GFX50Sii combined with the scary fast (max. aperture) 90mm lens, but I've had little luck finding talents to sit for me, and about as much luck finding my own motivation to move forward and recruit people. 

I do have some observations to make about the 50Sii. I wish I hadn't waited so long before buying one because even the modest increase in the sensor size makes a difference to me when it comes to the way depth and focus ramp is represented in photos. Even though the frame is only 70% bigger than a full frame sensor the ability of a lens to drop backgrounds out of focus is more obvious. I'm convinced that the bigger format has a much different look than smaller formats. Not necessarily better for many subjects but more interesting to me for portrait subjects.  

I can report that the Fuji, combined with the 35-70mm f4.5-5.6 lens, is a lighter package, overall, than a Leica SL2 with the Leica 24-90mm zoom attached. I can also report that the battery life of the Fuji, with its bigger sensor and more aggressive in body image stabilization, is at least as good as the battery life in any of my Leica cameras. That's encouraging. 

From my point of view the camera delivers best in two types of photography; maybe three types. It's a sure bet, with the right lens, for making great portraits. I've shot three different portraits so far for clients and if I use the raw files and add the Fuji Color Neg. Std. profile in post production I get long tonal ranges, well behaved highlights and great color. So, check one box --- for portrait work. 

I don't have all the lenses I would need to use the camera for a range of studio product shots but with the right lens options, combined with the high res mode, the camera should be a monster at making product shots easy. If that was my primary business I'd buy one of the bellows accessories on offer for the GFX line  that allows for tilts and swings with the right lenses, and use that all the time. 

And then, of course, there is landscape photography. In fact, the camera inspires me to give landscapes a try. BUT... all the state park landscapes that are within a pleasant drive have turned from green to brown as the sun relentlessly bakes them. I'm not in good enough shape to climb Mt. Everest or K-2 in order to make landscape images so I guess I'll wait until the Fall hurricane season hits the gulf and then pray for rain to arrive here. In anticipation of landscapes to come I have considered buying the Fuji GFX 100-200mm zoom. It should be very nice for some images with nice compression. Even some portrait images. Still pondering because, well, it's really big.

I did buy one more light recently. It's another LED fixture. This one is from Nanlite and it's the model, P-200. It's daylight balanced and the feature that differentiates it from other, similar lights I have is that it can accept a fresnel lens accessory which turns the light into a tight spotlight without the hard edges supplied by snoots. I haven't bought the fresnel lens yet but I did put the P-200 into a big soft box and made some quick tests. It's a nice, clean light with a lot of power. It's oversized because it's engineered to dissipate the additional heat created by having a glass lens in front of the emitter. 

Don't get me wrong, it's not a heat demon like a tungsten fresnel fixture would be. It's just that in the potential configuration that one usually buys this light for (using with fresnel...) there is a need to wick away more heat. But it looks incredibly industrial. Love the look. And the look of the light... Couldn't resist a bargain price at B&H.

We have largely abandoned the idea of having coffee outdoors after 10 a.m.

Looking forward to the arrival of Fall. I hope it comes before Winter this year. If winter comes at all...

Heading back to the pool. Ready for a second workout today. Actually, any excuse to float around in cool water.... Now, where's that sunscreen?