Missed Opportunities
Today would have been a seriously fire day for picture taking. It was pissing down rain and there was fog everywhere. It sounds like it would be terrible for pictures but photographers know it's the perfect weather for pictures. Normally I hate the rain because it makes my naturally curly hair (which I spend 30-40 minutes daily straightening with a round brush, a hair dryer, and a flat iron) frizz like crazy, making me look like someone kicked a radio into the shower with me.Another reason that today would have been a good day for picture taking was because I got a new lens; the Fujifilm XF 16-55mm f/2.8 R LM WR. I'm not sure I'm going to keep it, but I really like the few test shots I took around the house considering that the lighting in my apartment is not the best.The above shots were taken with my iPhone but the rest of the pictures will be taken with the 16-55 lens. I can't wait to take it out tomorrow during my lunch hour. A photographer friend of mine tested out the lens a while back but wound up not buying it with one of the reasons being that it was too heavy. It definitely has more heft than the 18-55 lens but it also was not as heavy as I was expecting. I'm already imagining all the cool pics I'll be able to get on any upcoming vacations. Now I know that you can get good pictures with any lens, but when you get a new piece of camera equipment you just want to test it out as much as you can. It's similar to when you first started photography and you seemed to have so much passion for going out and taking pictures. Sometimes new gear can reignite that passion. You just have to watch out and not develop GAS.Don't mind me and my love of Halloween decorations. My mom, God love her, said to me with this cute little grin, "I just thought you should know. I sprinkled the serpent with holy water." LOL!! It's a taper candle holder by the way. As I mentioned, the lighting in my apartment is atrocious, but I didn't want to do too much editing since I wanted to see how this lens performed without a lot of photo manipulation. I just did some minor color correcting.
I recently spent a few days in San Antonio and I loved it. I don't think I've gotten as many souvenirs at any place as I did at San Antonio. Yes, I'm the person that gets souvenirs with the name of the place on them. I can't help it. The first picture was shot at 1/125 and f/2.8, and the second one was shot at 1/125 and f/5.6. I did get the lens for the constant f/2.8 aperture, but I rarely shoot at f/2.8. I just prefer to be able to control the aperture to what I want it to be while still being able to zoom in an out depending on the situation. As you can see, the picture shot at f/5.6 is way better. 
I just needed a bunch of stuff to take a picture of, but this is basically what I’ll be doing for the rest of the night. I had to get the Buc’ee’s cup because everything else I got from there I ate, lol! (I was not prepared for how good the Beaver Nuggets are!) I got the license plate because I never find anything with my name on it so I bought it to remember the trip. My night will be spent hanging Halloween lights and reading my new book. Hopefully I’ll be able to get out tomorrow and take some pictures so I can really see what this lens can do.I’m thinking of starting a YouTube channel again for photography, just for fun. I honestly hate being in front of the camera but I need some kind of creative outlet to fill my spare time. Right now I spend it watching YouTube on my laptop and falling asleep on the couch because I’m so exhausted from work.