These are aircraft that spent the night at ABIA airport in Austin Texas and are ready to start work as the sun is about to rise.
Although I am a full time photographer, I also work part time for an unnamed airline (guess…). Some days I am greeting customers in my white shirt and tie, and on many days I’m working the ramp in my ‘village people’ outfit and get to watch the sun rise while towing the aircraft to the gates so all those travelers can fly to where they want or need to be. I’ve always been like a kid around airplanes so while the work is sometimes hard, for me the hours are short and for the virtual donation of my time I can fly pretty much any where in the world for less than the cost of a good dinner out.

There is actually nothing secret about this. It’s amazing how you can stray just a few feet off the beaten path and find yourself able to see a totally different perspective than those that follow the crowds. Besides being a great metaphor for a way to live life, it’s also a great way to find new photo opportunities. While walking through the gardens of Versailles, I slid away behind the topiary and found this solitary path just a few feet from the masses.

As I stated in a previous post; I really should spend more time driving the back-roads. Although, at todays gas prices (not to mention tomorrows) driving the back-roads can get rather expensive… I discovered this old train depot while driving through Lometa Texas. The station has apparently been moved from it’s original location as it’s no longer sitting by the railroad. Perhaps it’s awaiting restoration/remodeling for some future life? In any case it’s quite a interesting old building. While doing a bit of research I discovered this old photo (Link) taken of the depot in 1916.
I’m currently in the process of helping my wife & daughter plan a train trip through Europe later this month & was imagining how wonderful it would be if we still had a similar great railway infrastructure available for moving around the USA. I’m sure many visitors to the US never get to see the countryside or pass through the small towns of America. They simply hopscotch by air from major city to major city never having the opportunity to see all the wonderful spaces between.

This past week I attended the Professional Photographers Association meeting in San Antonio Texas. My first night in my hotel room was one of those misty rainy nights that make for an interesting sky as the city lights light up the low clouds above. I love it when the clouds are just at the height of the buildings. San Antonio is such a cool city and the PPA conference was great. All in all it was a great trip!