We celebrated our 5th year of Texas Life back around mid-June. A milestone that prompted me to look through the many TtV shots I’ve made so far here in Central Texas, picking out these 9 faves.
That simple exercise got me thinking about photography and kismet.
Fate, I believe, is a more powerful force than luck.
What’s the famous quote about luck? Samuel Goldwyn said “The harder I work, the luckier I get.” He was right. Being prepared is always an advantage.
Luck runs out. Fate doesn’t.
Fate is always peeking around a corner. In your face. Even if you don’t recognize it, fate’s knocking on your door. Tapping you on the shoulder. Fate is the wrong turn you made. The person you met. Fate is the walk you took.
Years of looking through a viewfinder has taught me much, but the one thing I know for certain is magical photos are made when least expected.
Sometimes, kismet happens.
I spent the first Saturday morning of February walking around Zilker Botanical Gardens in Austin. Around 10 folks showed up for Simi’s PhotowalksATX gathering.
There were a few familiar faces – Greg, George, Ed, Ana – and a few folks I’d not met before – Justin, Derrick, Another Ed, Scott – and some folks whose names I did not get nor hear.
It was a beautiful Winter morning in the garden.
It was a beautiful Winter morning in the garden. A little chilly to start, but by the time folks were heading to lunch, it’d warmed up nicely.
It was my first visit to Zilker Gardens. Beautiful grounds. It has a lot of nice winding, gently sloped, paved paths, for ADA compliance I’m guessing, but there were also steps to use. Thoughtful.
I brought along the Sony RX100 III, my trusty Panasonic Lumix LX100, and it was my first outing with the Fujifilm XQ1.
There were a few paper whites popping out of the ground, and rose blossoms, pansies, and a few other flowers, but since it’s the dead of winter, mostly palms, ferns, and well, just a whole lot of green.
… it was my first outing with the Fujifilm XQ1.
Entrance into the gardens was $7 US for me, a senior, but that included parking. Not bad really.
There was a beautiful waterfall in one section of the gardens that I’m pretty sure everyone got a shot of… my picture was a little off-center, but it managed to catch a little cool lookin’ sun flare.
I was so busy focusing on getting into the gardens that I didn’t notice the front entrance gates, but the Rose Garden Gate on the north side of the property was something to behold. The only reference to the artist that I could find online was Lars Stanley and Louis Herrera.
Lunch was at Schlotsky’s on South Lamar. There weren’t as many folks as on the walk, but it was still a good crowd.
Simi’s photo strolls are always awesome.
I met Kevin Thomas at Oakwood Cemetery in Austin last Sunday morning for a film stroll.
It’s a place I’ve been wanting to shoot since I saw Kat Swansey’s cemetery shots in her IG stream and her recommendation for a visit to Oakwood.
Foggy and a little chilly, it started clearing around noon. The drive down I-35 wasn’t bad at all.
I brought along the Yashica-Mat 66. I loaded a roll of Tri-X 400 in it the day before. Everything seemed pretty normal. Sunday I couldn’t get the film to advance properly. Hmmm.
Also on hand was my little Instax Mini 8, and I burned through two packs of Mono Chrome. Got a coupla’ keepers.
I thought I was prepared. Apparently not!
The Minolta XG-1/24mm ƒ2.8 + mystery roll, too.
I had the Sony RX100MIII in the bag, as well. Sadly, when I tried to use it, I discovered it had a dead battery.
So, I shot bunches with the iPhone 8 and Blackie App.
I thought I was prepared. Apparently not!
It was a good 2+ hour walk.
On my way back home I stopped at Austin Camera to pick up the negs/prints from the 4 rolls of C41 I left there last Saturday. Pretty cool to see what they contained. Around 20 keepers, plus I still have to scan the shots from the Sprocket Rocket.
I made it down to Austin this morning for a stroll with the PhotowalksATX gang. Simi had us meet beneath the sculpture of Wille Nelson, outside the legendary Moody Theater of Austin City Limits fame – attending a show there is on my bucket list – and by 8:30 am we’d reached a quorum of 8.
Besides Simi, I knew Michael and RJ (that’s his Kodak Pony, above) from previous walks, plus Ed, who I know from NAPƒS, showed up. That was pretty cool. George, Ina, Sean, and Timothy were the new folks I got to meet this time around. (I hope I got their names right!)
We started out by walking over to West Cesar Chavez St., stopping to shoot around Austin City Hall.
After that, we slowly made our way west on Cesar Chavez until we reached the Austin Library. We made our way to the butterfly bridge, crossed it then inched our way eastward on 2nd till we ended back at Lavaca Street.
I… found myself shooting in B&W mode. And square. A lot.
I took the GX8 and X100s with me, but used the Panny mostly and found myself shooting in B&W mode. And square. A lot. That’s okay, though. I got a few decent shots.
It was pretty close to 11 a.m. by then, so everyone headed over to the downtown Whole Foods for lunch. We had a hell of a time finding enough chairs to seat all 8 of us around the larger of the two sizes of tables they had, but eventually everyone had a place to sit and we ate then talked for at least an hour.
Great fun. Simi is awesome. If you’re in the Austin area, you should give this once-a-month gathering a try.
I headed out a little after noon, driving up Lamar until a left on 45th then a right on Burnet Road got me closer to my last stop. I finally dropped off the 4 rolls of 35mm C41 at Austin Camera. It’ll all be ready for me to pick up next Sunday. Yay!
I ventured down to Austin last Saturday morning. Precision Camera hosted a photo stroll on South Congress from 9-11 a.m.
Well attended, I’d say there were 20 or more people sporting their favorite camera.
The weather was nice, though a bit warm, even for that time of morning. It’s Texas, y’all!
We walked south from Jo’s Coffee the first hour, then crossed the street at E. Milton Street and headed north, taking advantage of the shade on that side of the avenue for the second hour.
Ending at Jo’s again, this stroll was a bit different from others in that we didn’t gather for lunch and look through each other’s shots once the walk was over. Or maybe that did happen and I didn’t hear about it. No biggy.
I had a blast, met a bunch of good folk, and got a few decent shots.
Russ Morris. Slightly Obsessed With Photography since 1964. 