Woman at Mount Bonnell – Austin, Texas

I received my camera on a Friday. I even worked from home so that I wouldn’t miss the FedEx delivery. After unpacking the Fujifilm GFX 50R and a short power boost on the battery charger, I headed out to the only landscape-y scene that I could think of in Austin, Mount Bonnell.

Even a storm warning and the threat of heavy rain didn’t stop me from testing. You get a delightful view of Lake Austin looking west. And, under the right conditions, it’s a great place to celebrate the setting sun. But, the weather alert cleared out the usually crowded mountaintop lookout.

I took some landscapes, but the best camera in the world with the fanciest sensor is not going to magically fix a dreary scene. No dramatic, angry clouds from an approaching storm either, just a dull gray.

Finally, a woman appeared, which gave me some kind of focal point. Shooting wide-open at f2.8, I framed her against the disappointing landscape. At least the camera rendered her sharply with a beautifully soft out-of-focus background. Details robust enough that I can see that she was making a panorama with her smartphone.

An attempt at a beautiful landscape will have to wait.

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