Precision Camera Sunset – Austin, Texas

I ended up spending a few hours at the Precision Camera Expo looking at and testing gear, making portraits, and catching up with friends. It was a refreshing change from the self-imposed isolation most of us have been experiencing.

To top it all off, there was a glorious sunset. There was a perfect view south out the front of the store, and it attracted attention. I snapped the image above with my Fuji X-E3 with the 15-45mm kit lens. I didn’t expect much from it and went outside for a better view and shot.

Unexpectedly, the post-processing really worked well. Preserving the sunset color and still retaining all the details in-store. Pictures like this really didn’t work well in the past. But, advances in sensors and post-processing software continues to change the game.

Outside the store, I joined others, capturing nature’s fireworks. I’m keeping the identities of these folks a secret to protect the guilty. Let’s just say they are connected to the camera industry that would usually be selling dedicated and expensive photo gear. If that’s the case, why are they using smartphones to take this picture? Yes, these are handy devices, and even camera people — with more expensive gear — end up using them.

Well, I had my smartphone also, but I used my Fuji X-E3 instead. And, here is the result. It’s too bad the foreground is a rather pedestrian suburban strip mall parking lot. There is now software that does automatic sky replacements to liven up an image. Perhaps they need a version that automatically replaces foregrounds too.

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