Neon Sign, Las Palapas – San Antonio, Texas

Speaking of Tex-Mex, here’s a sign from one of my favorite places. Las Palapas is a local chain now with a dozen locations around San Antonio. Nothing fancy. Just a great place at reasonable prices. The interior may not be as striking as yesterday’s Tex-Mex outlet in Austin, but it’s more my style. My food needs tend to be modest. I’m much more of a good burger guy, than steak.

I shot this at the North location, which is their first. It also has the benefit of being the closest to Trinity University, where my son goes to school.

This was a quick snapshot in the parking lot, after dinner, as we got ready to drive back to Austin. It turned out better than expected with the crisp neon contrasting against the fading but colorful sky. I’ve really taken for granted, the all around flexible combo of the Olympus 14-150mm travel zoom, paired with one of my Olympus cameras. This one was on the OM-D E-M5 Mark II.

I underexposed a little, 2/3 of a stop, to not blow out the delicate colors of the neon and some post processing via Capture One to brighten the skies. I don’t think you can underestimate the tangled silhouette of streetscape detritus, which adds visual interest. I think the sign would be rather boring, by itself, at least with this framing.