Monday, August 08, 2016

Summer vacations and heat kill blog traffic. Should we just take the rest of the month off?



Every once in a while I take a look at the numbers. How much traffic we get at the blog. Where it's coming from. How much feedback we're getting. For some reason as Summer drags on the numbers are trending toward a precipitous decline. A portion of the decline is part of a wide spread pattern or trend across the landscape of photography (as opposed to photography of landscapes...), as sales numbers for serious (interchangeable lens) cameras drop year over year so does interest in the nuts and bolts articles about photography.

Thom Hogan takes the month of August off and I'm beginning to think that's not such a bad idea. I'm coming off a very busy June and July and it seems like a waste of good nap time to write just for myself. I already know what I think about things like the Rio Olympics (go swimmers! NBC, stop showing me the stupid beach volley ball junk and stop supporting stupid ideas like air rifle marksmanship. What's next, Pokemon Go championships?) and I know what I think about some of the new product announcements from camera makers (incremental, incremental).

I'm going to leave it up to my readers. Should we keep rolling out blog posts for the rest of August or succumb to the inertia of the season and come back when there's more to write about and more people back from vacation to read it?


Sunday, August 07, 2016

A chaotic assemblage of disconnected images. Just for fun. My fun.

Ben acts as lighting shepherd and white balance target custodian at a photoshoot for a law firm. 

Belinda baked a blueberry pie in the new range. We are all reflexively making quesadillas on the griddle on the stove top. I never knew new things other than cameras could be fun to buy and use....

The Asian style bowl with sticky rice. An unfulfilling dinner for a true Texan. 
But oh so healthy.

We're seeing red at the Hope Outdoor Gallery and capturing it with the Sony RX10iii. 

A shot from a couple hundred feet above. Made possible with the Sony RX10iii's magic lens.





Reclining Art Tourist.


When photographers get together they talk about cameras and lenses. 
Do graffiti artists talk about various brands of spray paint? 
Maybe. Krylon seems to be the Canon of painters...


The selfie within the frame.

Artist hard at work. 

Vigilant Dog monitors commotion in the hallway. 


Escaping up the ladder and into the sky.

The other (wider) end of the Sony RX10iii lens.

The collections of masks I choose from when going out to collect on overdue invoices.




Youthful enthusiasm at the Mercado in San Antonio. 


Cooking up comfort food at the Mercado in San Antonio. 


Hmmm. Get your Frida Kahlos here?

I'm beginning to understand. It's all about the frames.

Keeping watch over the Mercado.

Does this camera make me look fat???



Majestic Theater box office detail. San Antonio. 

Remind me to pick up a payday loan on my way back to the car....