Helping tourist decipher the menu at a window shop that sells matcha drinks.
A hot day to be out mid-afternoon for any reason. But if I have to have a reason I guess I'll default to the unquenchable desire to photograph. And I'll add to that the thrill of seeing just who is crazy enough or brave enough to show up too.
After a long swim in cool water and a hearty breakfast at home I grabbed the Leica SL2-S and the (wonderful --- especially when considering the price!) TTArtisan 75mm f2.0 lens and headed over to South Congress Ave. to morph myself into a "tourist in my own town." I felt scruffy today. I was wearing pants with paint stains on them from an earlier attempt to make a painting. I wore a dark, long sleeve t-shirt, the makers of which advertise it as an SPF 30 sun barrier. Hmmm. Didn't know wardrobe items could actually have SPF ratings.... I haven't shaved in days. My floppy hat was clearly anti-fashionable. And I still have a healing, scabbed over wound on my face from a recent biopsy. Obviously I wasn't presenting an "A" game. But that seemed fine with me since everyone on the street tended to ignore me 100%.
I dropped by Jo's Coffee to grab an iced coffee and to watch a crowd two step to live music on the back patio. Jo's is entirely open air so there's no air conditioning but there is shade. Still, dancing with passion in a humid 100+ degrees seems.....brave to me. I didn't dance but I did take photographs. And nobody cared.
The SL2-S is a very nice camera. I use it when I want to shoot raw files but I don't want the huge files I get from the two SL2 cameras. The SL2-S is about half the resolution so it's already got huge files. Since I'm mostly sharing my tourist shots on the web anything more is dreadful overkill.
The star of the shooting foray was definitely the 75mm f2.0 lens. From wide open to about f11 it's just amazing. It loves the camera and vice versa.
I left the scene when I sensed that an abrupt and stealthy but strong rain shower was heading our way. You know how you can just smell the rain coming in the air? It was like that. By the time I got back to my parked car I could feel the first drops come splashing down and a quick wind joined in to drop the temperatures, for a while, by nearly 20 degrees. I pointed the car homeward and was happy. The timing was good. I still had cleaning the guest bathroom on my list of self-appointed chores. (and if you believe that I'm the one appointing household chores I've got a magic camera to sell you.....).
I love the image just below a lot. The woman taking a picture with her cellphone is so well put together and seemed impervious to the heat and humidity. She was .... graceful both in appearance and in the way she moved. It was pleasant to see in a crowd of too tight spandex tights and awkwardly unflattering t-shirts.
I love to see people dressed up to go out. And dressed appropriately for the occasion.
I wish I'd done a better job on myself today. Love the combination of the dress pattern and the boots on the woman in the middle. And was surprised to see the green sun umbrella as a match for the
predominant green flourishes on the woman's dress, on the left.
Ah. One of the timeless lures, casting for thirsty tourists on a blazing hot day...
back home. Bathroom cleaned and polished. Now considering which Sauvignon Blanc to have with dinner this evening. Seems like good call. I might even be gauche and put an ice cube in my wine glass. It's that hot now, in the late afternoon.
