Sitting at the computer this morning I was not confident that I would have a good day with the camera.  It was overcast and snowing with the potential to keep inside all day.  Of course, if I had just checked the weather forecast I would have known it was going to clear up by this afternoon.  I wasn’t that smart this morning.  I’ll use the excuse that the coffee hadn’t kicked in yet.

We had plans to drive out to the NY State Fair Grounds in Syracuse for the Salt City Antique show which I thought might provide some photography potential.  I brought the smaller Sony with me as it fits in the inside pocket of my coat on the off chance I would be able to use.  Antique dealers do not like people taking photographs.  Everywhere I looked there were signs up stating ‘No Pictures!’.  All was not lost, there was still light when we left the show…

A friend at work suggested we try Quaker Steak & Lube for lunch if we do venture out to the show.  It is just up the road from the fair grounds and I can tell you now it was worth the trip.  The food was better than I anticipated and I enjoyed all the cool props throughout the building.  I did manage to sneak a few pictures and almost considered using one for my project picture.

We eventually made it home with about an hour to spare before sunset.  The temperature did not get above the mid teens but there was no wind which allowed me to wander around outside for a longer time before my finger tips begged for warmth.  The sun was not obscured by the few clouds in the sky and produced a brilliant orange hue on everything.  I particularly liked the look of the fence at the property line (a favorite subject when stuck at home).

I liked the color and texture of the post in the foreground.  I tried a few different angles but felt this one with the remaining fence posts blurred in the background made for the best composition.  I kept the processing simple on this picture.  It was fairly close to what I wanted straight out of the camera.  I added a little contrast, a little clarity and a small  temperature change after cropping to a 2×3 ratio.  I realized when I was all done and happy with this picture that I have used this before at the start of my project.  I like the picture above better than the earlier one.

Here are a few of the pictures from the interior of the Quaker Steak & Lube restaurant.  The first is a little busy looking and I had more than an amble amount of lights in the picture!

The second one is of the neon sign hanging on the wall in the top left corner of the first picture.  I let the camera automatically adjust for the brightness and then adjusted the exposure a little more to get the background to disappear.