RenigadeCineTrax: February 2009

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Broken Sight...

Broken Sight..., originally uploaded by RMStringer.

This photo reminds me of how we look at life sometimes. It gets all shattered and broken up like a window that has been hit. Every know and then, we get a piece that falls out and gives us a clear, unobstructed view of how life really is. It would be nice to always have a clear view; But for the most part, we go through life looking through a broken window...

I love how the picture of what is outside of the window is all broken up from the glass. It has a tint to it and makes it look much darker than it really is. It was a cold overcast day around the 30 degree mark with a strong North wind blowing.

Exposure: 0.02 sec (1/50)
Aperture: f/9.0
Focal Length: 55 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Industrial Tank

Industrial Tank, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

I was looking at the set of vats and i wondered what it held in it? There are about 5 individual sections of the tank. You can see the fire damage on the tank and on some of the surrounding areas as well. I had my flash on the camera and the Omin-Bounce 580 diffuser. The colors that are present on the tank are very nice and the flash brought them out as it was not a harsh light to wash them out.

Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/10.0
Focal Length: 45 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Broken Wall Of Color

Broken Wall Of Color, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

While were walking around the burned out empty building, i saw many colors and textures. This photo being a prime example of those contrasts. The wall to the left has been burned and the wall to the right has algae growing on it from the moisture and the whole that lets sunlight in on it.

Exposure: 0.5
Aperture: f/10.0
Focal Length: 35 mm
ISO Speed: 200

15 Seconds Long

15 Seconds Long, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

The was the last in this set. I took this as a timed exposure. It was 15 seconds and looks amazing!! I love how the colors came out being that the only light was from the few holes in the ceiling of the bathroom. I used the 18-70 for this photo.

Exposure: 15
Aperture: f/9.0
Focal Length: 18 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Friday, February 27, 2009

Big Saw

Taken with my LGVX8600 1.3Megapixel phone.
From RMStringer

Thursday, February 26, 2009

A Texas Original...

The Pig Stand: Loss of a Texas Tradition.

"Pig Stands World's First Drive-Ins"
By Carol Sowa

"Folks went hog wild when the first Pig Stand opened in Dallas in 1921. Agile "car hops" leaped onto running boards of Model-Ts to deliver "curb service" to a generation on the go. It was the age of the automobile, and Pig Stands multiplied across America faster than you can say "soooo-eeee." It took the Great Depression of the '30s to slow "The Pig" down. Pig Stands, pioneers in franchising, pared down to concentrate on company-owned Texas stands, which continued to lead the way in dining innovations. Besides offering the world the first drive-in dining and drive-through window, Pig Stands introduced the taste buds of the world to onion rings in the '20s, "Texas Toast" and the chicken-fried steak sandwich in the '40s. Of course, their best-known offering is their original, trademarked "Pig Sandwich," featuring tender, sliced barbecue pork with relish and sauce on a bun."

The Texas Pig Stands Drive-In

People in their cars are so lazy that they don’t want to get out of them to eat!” The proclamation still rings as true today as it did when candy and tobacco magnate Jessie G. Kirby first uttered the words in 1921. At the time, he was trying to interest Rueben W. Jackson, a Dallas, Texas physician to invest in a new idea for a roadside restaurant—a sort of fast-food stand, although at the time he didn’t call it that.

Kirby’s idea was simple: patrons were to drive up in their automobiles and make their food requests from behind the wheel. A young lad would take the customers’ orders directly through the window of the car and then deliver the food and beverages right back out to the curb. The novelty of this new format was that hurried diners could consume their meals while still sitting in the front seat.

Of course, the Roaring Twenties were ripe for such a brazen idea. Adventurous folk perched atop flagpoles, danced the Charleston at around the clock dance marathons, and consumed bathtub gin at speakeasies. During Prohibition, freedom of travel emerged as the new thrill, fueled by automobile ownership that soared from six million to twenty-seven million motorcars by decade’s end.

When Kirby and Jackson’s Texas “Pig Stand” opened along the busy Dallas-Fort Worth Highway (West Davis Street) in the Fall of 1921, hoards of Texas motorists tipped their ten-gallon hats to “America’s Motor Lunch.” Here was the ultimate dine-in-your-car convenience—starring Kirby and Jackson’s newest hand-held creation, the “Pig Sandwich.” Prepared with tender slices of roast pork loin, pickle relish, and barbecue sauce, it quickly gained a loyal following among harried commuters and carefree joy riders. A frosty bottle of Dr Pepper (another Texas favorite, invented at a soda fountain in Waco) accompanied the motoring meal.

But the tasty curbside cuisine wasn’t the only attraction at America’s first drive-in restaurant. The flamboyant car servers who worked the curb—or “carhops” as someone coined the phrase—were truly a sight to behold. “All the car hops were young men, probably 12 to 15 years old,” recalls Richard Hailey, successor to the Pig Stand throne and acting president of Pig Stands, Inc. “The carhops were very competitive. As soon as they saw a Model T start to slow down and turn tires towards the curb, they’d race out to see who could jump up on the running board first while the car was still moving.”

With its good food and derring-do curb service, the legend of the carhop grew as the reputation of the Pig Stands and its signature barbecue sandwich spread. Propelled beyond the borders of Texas by one of the first franchising arrangements in the industry, the number of restaurants multiplied quickly. Between 1921 and 1934, more than 100 Pig Stands were serving up “A Good Meal At Any Time” in Texas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, Florida, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Alabama.

As the demands of the American automobile owner changed, fast food innovation shaped the Pig Stand legacy. According to Hailey, “It was California Pig Stand No. 21 that pioneered drive through car service in 1931.” Unheard of at the time, customers drove right up to the building to make their order, while the cook served the meals to occupants waiting in their car. Fast forward seventy years: Today, virtually every American fast-food chain restaurant relies on the “drive-thru” window format to service busy commuters arriving in their motor vehicles.

Royce Hailey, patriarch of the Pig Stands clan and father to Richard, was one of the pioneers. Inspired by the same spirit of pluck and entrepreneurship that made the Pig Stands an American success story, he started his career as a Dallas carhop at age thirteen. In 1930, he leaped up onto his first automobile running board and never looked back. When he hopped off twenty-five years later, he found himself president of the company. By the dawn of the 1960s, he led the company to sell off all of the out-of-state stands and concentrate solely on the Texas locations. In 1975, he became sole owner of the company.

But a knack for business and people skills was only part of his legend. As popular restaurant history tells the tale, the visionary Hailey “invented” the chicken-fried steak sandwich during the 1930s. Not satisfied with one culinary creation to his credit, he also helped to create the super-sized slice of grilled bread most natives of the Alamo city know and love as “Texas Toast” (according to many food historians, the Pig Stands are also credited with creating fried onion rings during the heyday of the 1920s).

Son Richard purchased all interest to the Pig Stands company in 1983 and forged ahead with the tradition of serving American comfort food to a public still in love with their automobile and the freedom it affords. “Today, diners can still get an over sized piece of Texas Toast, giant onion rings, a milkshake, and a tasty Pig Sandwich,” he says. “The best part is that we still sell the same Pig Sandwich made the same way that is was made so many years ago.”

Along the great American roadsides, it seems that the more things change … the more they stay the same. For fans of the “World’s First Drive-in Restaurant,” there’s still nothing that compares with dining on a tasty Pig Sandwich and a bottle of Dr Pepper while seated comfortably in America’s favorite dining room: the front seat of a car.

You can visit their sites and read more about these places. Alas, Pig Stand 41 has closed its doors. I cannot find the exact date but i would guess it has to be sometimes during the last hurricane that hit the Beaumont area. All photos are my exclusive material taken the first week of February 2009. I found the articles on the net and have placed link backs to the original articles.

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Closed...

Closed..., originally uploaded by RMStringer.

Another photo of the old Pig Stand in Beaumont Texas. I bet this place was really fun to go to at night when it was open. It is from a bi gone era, like the tv show "Happy Days" A calm, more simpler time,something that we will never see again...

Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/800)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 20 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Smoke...

Taken with my LGVX8600 1.3Megapixel phone.
From RMStringer

Feather Welder

Taken with my LGVX8600 1.3Megapixel phone.
From RMStringer

Sunday, February 22, 2009

DSC07106: Theater, Thespian

DSC07106: Theater, Thespian, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

The historic Jefferson Theater located at 345 Fannin St in Downtown Beaumont Texas.

Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 30 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Only In Texas

Only In Texas, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

Taken close to Lamar University. It is located on the East side of the ML King drive or Spur 380 on the North Bound lane.

We use Tex Joy spices all the time but we have to wait until we go back to Texas to get them or we have a family member mail us some. You cannot get them any where else in the country as they are made in Beaumont Texas.

Fire Escape

Fire Escape, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

Taken next the The Jefferson Theater in Beaumont Texas.

Fire Escape way up high!

Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/500)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 70 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Minolta 35-105mm Mardi Gras (2009)_254

Minolta 35-105mm Mardi Gras (2009)_254, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

St Louis Mardi Gras 2009

Looks like Hawk or Animal from Wrestling on TV or perhaps from Mad Max, Beyond Thunderdome.

Scrap Metal 1.1

Scrap Metal 1.1, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

I think that this is perhaps one of the best examples of a "Depth Of Field" and "Bokeh" that i have ever taken. The pile of metal in the center is from a "Mag Drill"

I chose to not use a flash and just use the ambient lighting. The pile of metal shavings in the foreground is out of focus as is everything in the background. I love the lights and big door open and the effects that happened with the light from the items. The blurring off the background turned out amazing to me.

I do not know if i could make this photo again.

Exposure: 0.2 sec (1/5)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 70 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Angles and Beams 1.0

Angles and Beams 1.0, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

This is a photo of several beams laying on top of each other. I like to think of it as "Metal Bokeh" due to the focal point being the beam that is directly in the center of the photography. I used the built in flash for this photo. The lighting is rather harsh in this photo but it is metal and not a soft material to work with.

Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 70 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Scrap Metal 1.2

Scrap Metal 1.2, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

As i was walking around the shop late Friday afternoon looking for something to shoot, i saw this pile of scrap metal in a bin. I thought that i would use the built in flash as the ambient lighting is not so good. As you can see, my flash reflection is in the "U" shaped piece of metal and the ambient light is being reflected on the left side of the photo. I just liked the way the photo turned out.

Exposure: 0.01 sec (1/100)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 60 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Friday, February 20, 2009

Lens Photo Collections

Here are the type of lenses that i use and they are linked to sets on Flickr.

1.Sony DT 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6
2.Quantaray LD 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Tele-Macro
3.Minolta 35-105mm f/3.5-4.5
4.Minolta 50mm f/1.7
***Componon 40mm f/4
4. Bower f/4 MC4 2x Tele Converter

***=had this for over 10 years, did not know what it was and adapted it to fit with the a200.

Lens Collection: It contains all the photos taken with the different lenses.

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Sunset over St Louis

Sunset over St Louis, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

I was leaving work this evening and i stopped on top of an overpass located close to Horseshoe Lake Road and IH 255 South. I have been wanting to get this photo for a long time and i had some extra time on my hands, so i took this photo. I love the sun going down behind the clouds and the field with St Louis visible in the background.

Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/9.0
Focal Length: 70 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Snowy Sunrise!

Taken with my LGVX8600 1.3Megapixel phone.
From RMStringer

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

DSC07202: Moss

DSC07202: Moss, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

Some very green moss that was on the ground at my grandparents home in Texas. I used the flash with a diffuser to make this photo.

Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 300 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Monday, February 16, 2009

DSC07239

DSC07239, originally uploaded by RMStringer.

This is a Camellia bloom that i saw while in Texas last week. It had rained and i used my F58AM flash with the Omin-Bounce 580 diffuser to get the photo. It was taken at night. I love the Vivid Colors that are brought out in the flower from the flash. Using this lens at f/10 really made the photo crisp!! It is very sharp and yet it still has some Bokeh in it.

Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/10.0
Focal Length: 300 mm
ISO Speed: 200