When I did my solo photo walk around the University of Texas campus, I wanted to make an image like this. While it’s been several years, I remember there was an old movie theater on Guadalupe Street, aka The Drag, and I’m glad to see it’s still around, adorned with brightly colored neon. It’s now a CVS, a national drugstore chain.

Shooting again at a slow shutter speed of 1/8 second, I optimized the image quality by achieving a base ISO 200. I process images differently these days, allowing for more mystery via ample shadows. When I started photography, I would brighten everything, especially with my early HDR processing attempts. However, the Varsity neon sign is the star of the show, and while that should stand out, it’s more effective to have the other elements take a back seat. Having ample darkness is an effective post-processing strategy.

After photographing the old theater, I was ready to head back through the campus, reversing the route I had taken. However, I did capture some street photographs on The Drag that are some of my favorites.

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