Wrapping up 2024. What's ahead and what's behind.

Dominique Ansel, creator of the "Cronut" assembles my just desserts...

I woke up exactly at 6:59 a.m. Seconds before my alarm was set to go off. It's something I've done nearly every day for this entire year. It's almost like a game with the universe. I set an alarm for 7 a.m. to get up for swim practice. Every morning I wake up five, ten or even one minute before the alarm goes off and I turn it off; preemptively. Don't know why.

I dragged myself down the long hallway in our house to the kitchen and set water on the path to boiling. I rinse my coffee cup and the ceramic cone that holds a filter and the coffee grounds. I rinse the ceramic components in hot water to raise their temperature from the chilly 68° house temperature so the coffee I make in them doesn't get too cold too quickly. Then I grab the bag of coffee beans, measure out the same portion that I did yesterday, and a couple of hundred days before, and put the beans in my manual coffee grinder. And I grind them. Once complete the fresh coffee grounds are poured into the #4 filter. I try to time all of this to coincide with the water coming to a boil. It usually works out just fine. 

I pull the water off the boil and let it sit for a minute or two before wetting the grounds, waiting and then slowly pouring more water over the grounds, going around in a circle pattern to keep the grounds from sticking to the sides of the filter as each measure of hot water recedes. 

As the water and coffee meld together I stick a hearty slice of fresh bread into my toaster. It cooks while I tend to the coffee,  then dropping the soggy, ground filled filter into the kitchen trash can and rinsing off the filter holder. 

When the toast pops up, golden brown, I slather it with peanut butter and apricot jam (always apricot for some unknowable reason) and bring the toast and coffee to the dining room table. I savor the coffee and the toast while I check the news, the stocks, and the (mostly non-existent) blog comments on the laptop computer I keep on a shelf near the dining room. The computer is like a centerpiece on my breakfast table. 

At 7:30 I rinse my coffee cup and put it on a shelf next to the sink. I use the same cup for a week and then I put it into our dishwasher and select another one for the upcoming week. If the cup gets too grungy during the week I toss in some dishwashing detergent and wash it by hand. Usually a rinse with hot water is all it needs... I use a new plate for toast every day so that plate goes into the dishwasher.

After I've used the toilet, washed my face, brushed my teeth and rolled up a towel to take with me I exit the house and make my way to my current favorite car. I play something by ColdPlay or Elvis Costello as I warm up the car. I've read that turbochargers like to be gently warmed up before one goes nuts and starts driving like a teenaged boy. A minute later I'm backing out of the long drive way and heading to the pool. A drive of three minutes on quiet holidays. Five to ten minutes on school days coinciding with rush hour.

The pool sits in the middle of a very desirable neighborhood. It is surrounded by a few acres of lush landscaping. A fence surrounds the facility separating it from an adjacent, public park. I head into the men's changing area and stuff my clothes into one of several dozen open-faced cubicles. I have been doing this for over 25 years. I leave my wallet, my car keys, and occasionally a Leica rangefinder in the cubicle and to my knowledge we've had nothing go missing at the club in all the years I've been going to swim workouts there. It's a private club. People have to sign in. There's a gate attendant.  I guess that's a good deterrent. That, and the fact that there is no obvious signage related to the club. No indication that there's anything to conveniently pillage.

I change into an appropriate swim suit, grab my training fins, hand paddles, goggles and a weathered, discolored pull buoy and head to the pool deck. If I've timed my arrival correctly the folks from the seven o'clock workout are just finishing up and starting to exit the lanes. In cooler weather it's nice to stand on the deck for a few minutes to let your skin temperature drop. Then, when you hit the water it feels a bit warm. My training partners and I usually swim in lane five... it's a tradition.

Today's workout, the last of 2024, was grueling. The coach got carried away and wrote a workout that clocked in at 3,600 yards. One really has to keep moving to complete all the sets in a one hour time frame. Most of what we seem to do these days falls under the idea of HIIT, or High Intensity Interval Training. Mixed distances with lots of shorter distance, all out, sprinting. For example we might do a cruise-y set of three 200 yard swims, then some faster 50 yard swims and cap it off with a full sprint 100 yards before starting the next set. The idea is to swim the sprints hard enough to get to your maximal heart rate and to use the longer distances as cardio recovery.

The temperature in the water today was 81°. The temperature on the deck, with a nice breeze, was in the fifties. Perfectly clear, sunny skies above and small flocks of far away birds coasting by. My lane mates and I have swum together for so many years we hardly need to talk during the sets. We agree on an interval time and we fall into a circle swim pattern (up on the right side, flip turn, back on the right side...like driving) with just the right spacing between us. Five seconds between send offs...

When the workout is over and we've run out the clock we thank our coach for braving the chilly wind and then head to the changing rooms to savor a hot shower, and the usual chatter that seems to follow any activity that raises one's dopamine levels. Then it's home for second breakfast. 

I plan on doing this six times a week, every week in 2025. Because...why would you not want to be in the best physical shape you can manage to achieve? Toss in a daily walk and some weight training and you'll feel at least 20 years younger than what's indicated on your drivers license. Exercise and teeth flossing; the two miracle procedures that seem to almost ensure longevity. Ah, the luxury of being a 69 year old adolescent. (Implied maturity level).

I don't have anything today that I think would require "New Year's Resolutions" for 2025. If I did find something lacking in my life I think I would have fixed it by now or sought out help for it. Most resolutions made at the end of one year or the beginning of the next seem to involve either the desire to lose weight or the (related) desire to exercise more. Or to eat healthier. Since I haven't gained or lost weight in at least a decade and I exercise with gusto nearly every day those resolutions have no relevance for me. I'm not a procrastinator so there's no requirement for improvement there. I guess I could resolve not to buy as many lenses this year but it's easy to write that once you own all the lenses you ever wanted...

So, that's how this year wraps up. I took some photographs over the last 12 months. Some you've seen here and many you'll only see in client advertising. We stayed in the black. Financially. Easier to do when the house is paid for and your kid is through with college and well launched. No loftier financial goals for next year. 

I've enjoyed taking photographs this year. I like my remaining clients. I'm happy to have jettisoned the ones I was less satisfied with. And to have done so on my own initiative. I'm happy having fun cameras to play with. I'm happy with my home town. I guess that, and a happy family, are all one can really wish for.

On my wish list for 2025? Nothing I can control comes to mind. Hope 2025 is a quiet and happy year. For everyone.

Tomorrow we have a special, New Years Day workout at the pool. Instead of our usual 7 and 8 o'clock, one hour workouts, we're going to have a combined practice from 10 - 11:30 in the morning. Same coach as today so we can count on a lot of yards sandwiched in with a lot of speed work. What a treat!!!

Moving right along. Ciao! 2024. 

 

Just thinking about cheese right now...

the highest and best use of mold....

 

Go to Amazon. Buy David Hobby's incredibly good book about travel photography. It's called, "The Travel Photographer's Manifesto." It's the best book written about the practice of photography in the last ten years.

 Here is what I wrote in my review of David's book on Amazon:

I loved David Hobby's blog called "Strobist.com" He gave photographers so much valuable information about lighting and you could always sense his joy at photographic problem solving and lighting mastery. And now he's written a great book about the actual processes and best practices of making wonderful and engaging photographs while traveling the world. A couple things to know. There are no photographs in the book and that's fine. There is very little coverage of cameras brands, lens brands, or any push to buy new stuff in order to do your work. Rather, the book is an amazingly well written blueprint for learning how to meet strangers, make them into friends, and then make great portraits of them. It's an explanation of how a very experienced photojournalist actually works. It's worlds different than the dumb stuff and stolen shots you see from most "street photography" videos you see on Youtube. He teaches genuine engagement and a deeper, more compelling way to make photographs that are more interesting and quite visually rich.

I have to confess that I've been an advertising photographer for more than 40 years, have written five books about photography (sadly, mostly about gear) and am jealous of David's ability to cut through all the mythology and false facades about photography in a way that had me cheering and considering taking a workshop from him. The book is that good. So is the philosophy behind it.

This is a great book for people just starting out on a photographer's journey. But, at the same time, there is so much older, more experienced photographers can harvest from this book. It was both a "refresher course" and a source of new inspiration for me. I can't wait to get back out with a camera and consciously work in as many of David's "secrets" as I can to my own practice. You wanna be a better photographer? Forget upgrading the hardware. Upgrade the software between your ears with this book. It's that good.

Here's what I wrote about the book on a different blog post: 

Here's a book recommendation: David Hobby, of the Strobist.com fame, wrote a book that was published this year. It's called, "The Travel Photographer's Manifesto." It is by far the best book I've read on the subject and you can be sure that it's not just a self-serving vehicle used to print a portfolio of greatest hits because there are no photos in the entire book. Just great writing (not weird, overly fraught academic pablum) and lot of great information. I learned a ton.... and I thought I already knew everything about photography (smile emoji goes here....). I'd buy this book again in a heartbeat. David walks the walk (actually makes a living taking photographs) and talks the talk (well, I guess writes the writing....). Whatever. Just go over to Amazon and buy a copy. If you don't like it a lot then you might just be a landscape photographer ---- or an odd duck who doesn't at least think about traveling. And photographing. 

No hidden agenda here. No links to David's book. No cash in my hands.

I re-read the chapters about fine-tuning color again today and learned even more...

Wealth of knowledge. Well delivered. 

Low cost learning....

I kid myself that I never shoot for posterity but sometimes it ends up happening anyway.

If you've followed my blog you've no doubt seen photos of this complex of old, industrial buildings many times over the years. They occupy a couple acres of premium, downtown land and they have been there since before I moved to Austin in 1974. From what I can tell the buildings are or were part of an iron works and metal fabrication facility. The brick building, which adjoins the corrugated metal-clad buildings has been more or less vacant for as long as I've been aware of it and walking by it. About twenty years. 

On the other side of the fence, to the left of the building in the bottom frame, are railroad tracks and just on the other side of the railroad tracks is our small, quiet Amtrak station. The plot of real estate is just to the West of Lamar Blvd. and just north of Lady Bird Lake. It's in an area that used to be a quiet, close-in to the Capital, residential area but it's now a red hot development target. Four and five story "mixed use" projects are going up all around.

When I first started walking through this area with my camera it was sleepy quiet. The front of the brick building is located on a low traffic street that came to a stop at a dead end for two way traffic and maintained a bike lane and a little used, one way, car lane instead. I'd walk through this area on many business days without seeing a single person. And I don't know why, other than the fact that the buildings are so different from all the new, aimed at the affluent professionals, cookie cutter buildings. And the idea that, at least once upon a time, a thriving business existed here that was centered around skilled labor and craftsmanship but not high end retail sshopping.

I was happy enough to walk by and snap a few frames on my way from my favorite parking spot into the heart of Austin's downtown but about a month ago, when walking by, I found a sign on a small wooden post declaring that imminent demolition had been applied for. This piqued my interest as I somehow have convinced myself that the simplicity and tenor of the existing structures resonates with a collective memory of what Austin was like, what it was about, before our rush to excess affluence started to change everything. Now I am motivated to at least preserve it in photographs. As I did about a decade ago with the decommissioning of the Seaholm Power Plant that existed since the dawn of time in the middle of downtown. (Now a mixed use retail/residence project).

I've been in touch with the owners to gain legal access to the property and am awaiting a reply. I proposed spending a couple different days documenting every square inch of the exterior and then at least a day to wander through the guts of the space with a bag full of wide angle lenses, a stout tripod and a high resolution camera. We'll see what happens. I don't know all the particulars but I hope I not racing against some sort of unmovable deadline for the eradication of this little, out of the way and barely noticed piece of old Austin. 

The images shown here were done in passing with a Leica rangefinder camera and the 50mm f2.0 Zeiss ZM lens. Hardly the optimal choice for a wide-ranging architectural documentation. But something had to light the fire under my feet and get the process rolling and the shots done in passing, over time, seem to have had a cumulative effect. 

When (and if) I finish the project I'll also interview the owners to find the history and backstory of the business there and the evolution of it. I'll offer the whole package to the Austin History Center for their use. It's not the kind of content that I usually do for myself but I'm curious enough about the whole place to pursue this. And if parts are still functioning I might even be able to make some good portraits. 

That's what I'm working on between work and swimming. The schedule is filling up. 

Don't need any A.I. for this one....

50mm Happiness. Or maybe it's just the time spent walking. And a bit about media of the future. Hmmm. A.I. videos are now a thing.

I find it hard to separate the years of looking at other people's images with the act of making of my own. The references get so tangled. The red truck above is one of my ripostes at the endless adoration of William Eggleston's color work. Homage to banality. But once you see the red trike it's hard to forget the power of something new. I'm also a sucker for deck plate. That's the pattern on the metal utility cover show below. I love deck plate. I like industrial stuff. I'd happy for days in some sort of SteamPunk clock factory, just snapping away.

And...by the way....

Have you seen the "Steampunk" A.I. videos all over YouTube these days? I find them fascinating. And in a few years we'll collectively probably stop making TV shows and movies with real actors and flood the market with A.I. constructions. Interesting to know that the reason home video players took off in the 1980s was all down to the pornography industry. (The link here doesn't fall under that category....). But the video I'm linking sure makes use of my love for complex, mechanical, brass constructions as well as beautiful women. 

Mike will hate this "new" media because it's not pure. Not handmade by humans. But it is the future of mass media whether you play along or not. And it's going to displace something....

Go see for yourself and make up your own mind. It's okay if you disagree but I'm not sure these short videos are anything more than proof of concept. Mini-portfolios as it were: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V6VikmWKPw

Sure. We can all talk a good game about how A.I. will never replace: fill in the blank but if you sit down and look at what is already out there, and out there in a really short amount of time, you'll have to admit that the potential of the new technologies is more or less only limited by one's imagination. Finally, a reason for 8K monitors? Or you can dismiss it as did many critics of the original iPhone...

Not that I'm planning on melting down all my Leica gear and buying a bigger monitor and an easy chair, but I think it behooves both the people who are into photography as an art, as well as people who are into photography as a commercial business, to take off the blinders, ignore the Luddites and see what's out there for ourselves. Then, if you want to scurry back to your analog darkroom and unload those sheet film holders you can aptly label yourself as a contrarian or a keeper of the flame(s). 

My take is that mass media is going to go in one direction and people in my generation will publicly rail about it ad infinitum but will also be sneaking another peek. You know, just for research...

 

I left my camera at home for Christmas. It was the right thing to do...

I've carried a camera with me everywhere now for a long time. At times I feel like Linus from the Charlie Brown cartoons. He is always depicted with his "security" blanket. His constant source of self-comfort. There are people who love fashion and clothes and who spend lots of time going through their closets and standing in front of mirrors trying, each day, to pick out the perfect outfit. And I can feel the resemblance as I go through a filing cabinet drawer trying to pick out what I feel will be just the right camera for an outing. Only, it never really is. I always end up somewhere wishing I'd made a different choice. 

So, this year I was heading down to San Antonio to have Christmas dinner with an extended group of in-laws, my wife and my son. At the last minute I decided that the way to make the perfect choice of camera would be to not make a choice. Not bring a camera. Instead of being an "observer" at the evening's festivities I would instead be a more active participant. And I wouldn't have my "security" camera to hide behind, or speak to my long constructed identity. Instead, I'd be...part of the family. 

Everyone had a smart phone. Lots of photos were taken. The elementary aged kids of my niece were great and well documented by various camera happy phone shooters. There was a group shot done on a phone by a nephew's fiancée which was exemplary and shared via group text minutes later. We all look well fed, happy, congenial. The gear (an iPhone) and the person wielding the gear were more than competent to make us all look good. And she did it in the first shot. Which made me conscious of the times in the past when I've tortured a group by taking a bunch of shots in the pursuit of ever elusive perfection. 

Interesting to me was the fact that I never felt I was missing a chance to do a great photograph. There isn't always a reason to photograph. Not always a reason to document everything. In fact, the flan was delicious but visually? It's just a flan. More photos of wine bottles? Not needed. More photos of our 95 year old relative? She might have indulged my need to photograph but it might also have made her uncomfortable, and who needs to feel over-documented at a holiday dinner? 

We all had a lovely time. We exchanged gifts and stories and happy news. All without a leather strap over one of my shoulders or a camera bouncing around on my belly. We drove back late in the evening through a mix of fog, mist and light rain. When I walked into the house there was a lonely camera sitting on the edge of the dining room table. Waiting patiently for me to use it with complete attention --- but not as just a fashion accessory. Not a part of my uniform. All of which made me feel a bit chastened as I remembered all the times when I felt having a camera always at hand was somehow important. 

Life goes on whether we document it or not. We can choose the moments to be out enjoying photography but we can also, I think, develop the realization that so much of life is meant to be lived, enjoyed and participated in rather than always being the guy waiting on the sidelines for a potential picture to  present itself. Because....why?

Today I was back in Austin. Everyone was busy and engaged. I had the day to myself and I did feel like going for a walk, and also I felt like inviting a camera along for the time I'd be out on the streets, walking and looking at post holiday downtown. 

I brought along an M240 with a 50mm lens on it. A perfect choice for a quiet walk. Good company. And instead of becoming a distraction in the midst of a party I was merely a tourist in my own town, looking for the things that make my town fun. 

A few odds and ends came via Fedex today. Really small and simple stuff. A 43mm lens cap. The 43mm lens caps always seem to be the ones that get lost most frequently. They are small and I guess when I drop them they are good at rolling under big furniture and hiding there. I got a protection filter for a favorite 35mm lens that kept getting rain drops on the front element last time I was out. I broke with the tradition of buying the expensive filters and went a bit down market. Works just fine. 

I also bought a second honeycomb grid Attachment for a recently arrived LED panel. One of the Godox Compac 100s. I love the narrowed and more controlled beam that results so I can now have more control but with nearly the same soft light. At $50 it's a nice modifier to have at hand. More thrill with less spill.

At this juncture I am proud to say that I didn't drop another $7,000 to $14,000 to buy either a Leica Q3 - 4/3 or a Leica SL3, or both of them; even though I thought I really wanted each of them. Now having not bought them and resisting the lure of them I seem much happier to use the older M240 cameras. Interesting that such nice files can come from 12 year old cameras. Nice for me since I already have them to shoot with. But it feels odd to have gone through an entire year without spending on multiple cameras. I did pick up a Leica SL2-S, used. But I was able to rationalize that one as a "work" camera. I'm not sure I'd be able to believe my own rationalization process if I tried to trick myself into thinking that a Q3-something was needed for "work." 

We're heading into 2025. I'm not sure what to expect but I'm pretty certain it will all be both different; completely different, but also more of the same. 

More to come. Thanks for reading. Enjoy shooting with what you have. It might even be revelatory. It was for me this season. And this year. 

Fun with photography. Sorry, no deep dive into theory. No manifestos. Just the joy of being out and around.

The fellow on the right is David. We've known each other for years. Swell guy.

We keep running into each other at Jo's Coffee on S. Congress. He's always surrounded by friends. They even have a little "reserved" sign on their table. The only one I know about in the whole establishment. Their mission? Enjoy a beautiful, seasonally temperate day in Austin. With cameras.

This is revenge since David posted an image of me a week ago on Instagram.

And there is a diagonal to the frame. Oops. I forgot. No theory other than fun.

Being shy, quiet and introspective I wished David and his crew well

and then retreated to the courtyard at Hotel San José to enjoy 

the solitude and calmness of the space... Cappuccino at the ready.

Tourists line up to take photos of one another standing in front of a green wall on which, in red spray paint, is written: "I love you so much." It gets crowded there on weekends. So much love. 

My friend Christopher is a street photographer. Full time. Full stop. 

We ran into each other yesterday afternoon and roamed around the giant, outdoor

mall that is South Congress Avenue. Snapping and talking about photos.

The courtyard at the Austin Motel has a yearly Christmas tree extravaganza which is a 

contrasty counterpoint to the lovely, semi-erotic mosaics that dot the walls....

I love that the woman depicted in this mosaic is making a selfie with a cellphone.

At the boot shop called, Freebirds. 

Same. 

More of the same. But with flowers. 

Christmas decorated Eldorado. 

the crowd on the corner. In ....  "monochrome." 

Whippet Lunch #1

Whippet Lunch #2

Ah. Look. The next door neighbors got a Lamborghini...

How will I ever keep up? 

Life is good. Even better when you can run into multiple photographer friends in a short period of time. Although I'm thinking Christopher might be a bad influence since we ended up at "The Salty." The premier donut shop in all of central Texas.... where, mysteriously, I felt compelled to buy and consume a pistachio glazed donut. $5 for a donut? That's an Austin Style pastry...

I've been so happy just to take my Q2 with me everywhere. It's a great little camera. It's happy making black and white images. It's happy making color images. And the SCL-6 battery (the new ones) last just about forever. 

Tomorrow we'll have dinner with the kid. I spent some time this morning at Whole Foods shopping for just the right grass fed Ribeyes. And time this afternoon at the local wine shop searching for the perfect bottle of red wine to accompany. Life, in this moment, is so good. I'm having an APO Summilux sort of day.... Hope the same for you, dear reader.