Photobook 4/13/24:
It's been a week. I arrived in Dallas only a week ago, and now I'm driving to Houston. Family has some commitments, and I'm the only available driver. I have 4 hours to explore Houston on my own, similar to my last trip to San Antonio.
Herman Park - 8:50 CST
ISO 100 - ƒ4 - 1/1000
Off to a good start.I packed some gear, but only used my Panasonic 25mm ƒ1.7 for the challenge and lightness. I was lucky I had left this early, as Houston's weather had not kicked-in yet.
ISO 100 - ƒ4 - 1/1000
A nice looking hill.ISO 100 - ƒ4 - 1/1000
The only other photo with a person in it.Herman Park is more National Mall-ish than the actual Texas Capitol Mall. It's a really pleasant place.
The Metro was not as pleasant, both ticket machines didn't work, so I used their app. Although, this wouldn't have mattered anyway, since no one checked my ticket.
Downtown - 9:30 CST
ISO 100 - ƒ5.6 - 1/250
If I had a nickel for every time I took a photowalk in a city and came back with an unintentionally phallic photograph, I'd have two nickels.ISO 100 - ƒ4 - 1/400
This buliding looks painfull.I got off at Bell station since it had a nice view of the city, I continued walking down Main. I really wanted to explore the tunnel system Houston has, but it's not open on the weekends.
ISO 100 - ƒ5.8 - 1/800
The city from Main Street Square.I got tired of just photos of buildings, so I turned it into a game. Find as many objects, buildings, or other things that fit together if framed right.
ISO 100 - ƒ7.8 - 1/500
A puzzle with 1001 Fannin.This is such a fun and satisfying thing to do, I'm surprised I haven't seen more photographers try it. It's a fun exercise in being hyper-observant.
ISO 100 - ƒ7.8 - 1/500
Rebulding.I got what I could on Main, I then turned on to Rusk Street.
Pennzoil Place - 9:50 CST
ISO 100 - ƒ7.8 - 1/500
Another puzzle.For some reason, Pennzoil Place looks great from any angle. I took the most photos of this building.
ISO 100 - ƒ4 - 1/25
“We have Szobel at home.”ISO 100 - ƒ7.8 - 1/500
webbuilderstockimage.jpegI am not a 'people' street photographer, I prefer trying to find some sort of concept to capture. Since I now qualify as a “Country Bumpkin going to the Big City”, I did my best to express the startling scale of everything. I got to doing more of that later on, next I looked at the little things.
Scaling down, and underground - 10:00 CST
ISO 400 - ƒ8 - 1/320
Very shiny car.ISO 400 - ƒ8 - 1/640
Bug in the door.ISO 100 - ƒ8 - 1/15
Rings.It's nice to look at all the tiny details of a city, all theses small pieces of art often overlooked. Someone somewhere spent a lot of time designing a drain, lets care about that.
ISO 800 - ƒ8 - 1/640
The sound of a YouTube sports clip echos though these hallways.I did take a brief detour into the tunnels, but as expected, everything was locked up.
JPMorgan Chase Tower - 10:15 CST
ISO 250 - ƒ10 - 1/250
Tall shadows.Back to scale, the JPMorgan Chase Tower is (at the time of writing) the tallest tower in Texas. It can also be technically considered the tallest pentagonal building in the world.
ISO 250 - ƒ5.6 - 1/2500
Infinite windows.ISO 250 - ƒ5.6 - 1/6400
IDK, the dust adds to the vibe.I've never seen a building this tall before, I'm used to the short and stubby buildings of other Texas cities. I did my best to capture the escaping height from my prospective. It's also an building , for it’s impressive size, it’s quite bland. I'm glad I had the morning sun on my side to at least add some depth to it.
TC Energy Center - 10:25 CST
ISO 250 - ƒ5.6 - 1/3200
A spiky building.In hindsight, skyscrapers as a concept are bizarre.
These buildings are absurdly large pieces of art - with a complex series of purposes. Sure, you can be cynical about it, a company has no better way to express expedience, wealth, and dominance.
ISO 100 - ƒ5.6 - 1/800
Shell, you're totally cheating with that spire.Heck, most buildings in Houston were built for banks or energy corporations. However, the amount of human collaboration which goes into creating something at this scale is incredible.
ISO 100 - ƒ5.6 - 1/640
Another incredibly sharp looking building.There's a weird, complex beauty in a city, from the immense structures, to a simple storm drain.
Houston Theatre District - 10:35 CST
ISO 100 - ƒ5.6 - 1/250
IDK, kinda looks like a frog.Getting back on track, this is where I did my best to express scale.
ISO 100 - ƒ5.6 - 1/400
A mass of stone.Standing under the roof of Jones Hall didn't feel right to me, the scale was incredibly hard for my brain to comprehend.
ISO 100 - ƒ3.2 - 1/100
this is kinda terrifying.Enterprise Plaza - 10:55 CST
ISO 100 - ƒ5.6 - 1/640
lurking in the shadows.The Houston Car Art parade was happening later this day, so some mischief was a muck.
ISO 100 - ƒ5.6 - 1/320
houston, your trains are just glorified busesHeaded Back - 11:05 CST
ISO 100 - ƒ1.7 - 1/2000
theses two photos are unrelated, but both taken from the same spotI am always unprepared for a city, my mistake this time was sitting down as soon as I entered the train. At first I was confused as to why I was the only one on my side of the car, the passionate ranting and speech from behind me quickly answered that question.



































