Random Thoughts and Photo Selections. 04-19-2025

 

First on. First off. With cameras.

Camera: Leica DLUX8

An upgrade. Camera and Flights.

Seaholm Power Plant as Art Object. 

one frame with two looks. Q2.

I'm reasonably sure most of my readers are better travelers than me. I have to admit that I have some degree of what I call "travel anxiety." I pack and re-pack leading up to my departure on business trips. I check my documents, boarding passes and tickets often. Too often.  I have lots of trouble sleeping the night before the beginning of a trip. I worry almost incessantly about being able to bring my small case filled with cameras on board flights with me. I arrive at the airport 2.5 hours before my domestic flights. When it comes to air travel I am a firm believer in "Murphy's Law." 

But I think I come by this anxiety honestly. I was once delayed in Austin the day of an important job when the plane we were to fly on to San Francisco had an "issue." Raw sewage overflowed from the first class toilets down the aisle of the aircraft. When the airline finally replaced the plane we were six hours late getting into our destination. I rushed into a hotel conference ballroom with just a few minutes to take photos of a famous speaker, writer. Pretty much my whole reason for being there... The client was not sympathetic. 

Once we crash landed during a blizzard coming into St. Petersburg, Russia in the month of February. No one was injured but the front nose of the plane was a disaster. I've been on many flights with various mammoth delays. The worst being a poorly routed flight from Lisbon to London to Chicago to Austin that ended up taking a total of 36 hours in a 747 with many smelly passengers (not their faults...they didn't start out that way) because of multiple delays and an overnight stay with about ten thousand people sleeping on their luggage in a snowed in Chicago airport. I finally got into Austin just in time to take my 3 year old child to the circus. After 40+ hours of no sleep I briefly fell asleep in my seat while elephants paraded below. 

I got the last ticket on a flight to Rome back when airlines allowed smoking on the airplanes. My ticket was in the back of the plane. In the midst of chain smoking Europeans from various countries. I often fret that I lost a year of my lung capacity on that one adventure. 

Also, I've been the (hopefully) unintentional victim of many airlines' poor understanding of how long it takes to get from one terminal to another and one gate to another for connecting flights. A sweaty run through a crowded terminal with a 20 pound bag of cameras bouncing over one shoulder is so much fun. You should try it next time you are bored. 

My experiences have shaped my psyche when it comes to flying. I dread the whole sordid experience  when it's for work. I happily tolerate most logistical dysfunction when I'm traveling for pleasure. 

But, at least this week, all my airline experiences were very good. I have TSA Pre-Check. I have Global Entry. I flew all four legs of my journey in First Class (the benevolence of a long time client). And I was doled out just enough privilege to speed through security, board at a leisurely pace, and not have to take off my belt or my shoes. Or to disgorge my laptop from my bag while strolling through the scanners.

I with I could fly that way on every trip. But it's hit and miss. Sometimes you've accrued the miles for an upgrade. Or you bought just enough Leicas with your affiliated credit card to get the points. Or a client likes you and wants you to arrive fresh and happy for their project. Whatever the reason, I'll take it. 

Worst flight ever? That would be on a military C130 Hercules prop plane from Incirlik Air Force Base in Adana, Turkey to Wiesbaden, Germany. Bouncy, really late, super loud and the only time I've ever been air sick. But that's a story for another time. I guess. 

I am currently loving small cameras. Love the Q2. I'd hate to go to work without one in the bag. And now I'm in a new small camera romance with the Leica D-Lux 8. So much photo power in such a diminutive package. 

I have a fantasy which I will try to make happen soon. It's to fly someplace I want to photograph just for me, like Rome, with only a very small camera bag. One or two cameras. No accessories. A pack of gum and a passport. No checked luggage. No other carry-on. I would land in the city, go to my hotel and check in, and then go out and buy clothes at nearby shops. Buying new clothes as needed. Making liberal use of hotel laundry services. And then, at the end of a glorious time making photographs, I would have the hotel box up the freshly cleaned clothes and ship them to me back in Austin. Flying unfettered by any luggage. Nothing to check and nothing to drag around airports. I know, it's an indulgent fantasy but it's something I think about every time I have to (or get to) fly somewhere. Working on the concept. ..