Always Return To Neutral!!!

Don't you just hate it when your memory fails you??  I certainly do, especially since I actually work on memory on a daily basis.  My old photography teacher told me to "always return to neutral"!!  It helps you get it right the first time instead of spending hours later.  Now if I can just remember THAT statement, I'll be in good shape.

I wanted to get some pictures of Route 66 neon and last night was my last chance, since we are leaving this morning.  It's not exactly safe to go alone after dark with a lot of camera gear, so Barbara graciously agreed to go with me.  I hate to say, she probably got better pictures with her new phone than I did because I forgot the rule ... always return to neutral.  That is, always put your camera setting back to neutral ... ISO 100, F-8 and shutter speed 200.  When you forget that the last images you took were inside and the ISO was set to 8,000 ... well you get the results below instead of what you "really" wanted.

We drove the entire main street, picking out the good shots, then caught them on the way back.  This was one we didn't remember seeing before ... The Wash Lady!!  I think she's atop a laundromat, but to be honest, it was so dark I couldn't tell!!

My all time favorite and probably the most photographed in Tucumcari ... The Blue Swallow Motel.  I had an inkling something was wrong, since even though I was using the tripod, the camera was taking the images MUCH faster than expected.  That should have been a warning bell right there!!

Almost completely dark, this Conoco gas pump was lit up, even though it doesn't have fuel any more.

My second favorite, the Tee Pee Curios shop.  They are keeping this building and the signs in amazing shape, which I'm really glad to see.  I hope it lasts another 50 years!!  At this point I was complaining about why the steer head was so bright and blown out.  It never dawned on me to check the ISO!!  

I kept changing the settings, but they still didn't look like I wanted!!  If only the old memory would have kicked in!!  About this time, some strange guy came walking down the sidewalk talking like crazy, so I wrapped it up pretty quickly.  You never know who you might meet on the street corner at night!!  

I think this one is my new favorite ... it's just next door to the Cactus RV Park.  Pretty reasonable room rate!!  Someone said the other day that they used to be $10 a night for a room!!  You can probably still find rooms for that price here, although I'm not sure I would want to stay in one!!

Our Cactus RV Park sign needs a little TLC.  The neon gas in the US seems to be gone!  It was at this point that I finally remembered the ISO setting ... it was at 8,000 instead of 100 for good night photography.  How upsetting that we spent all that time on photos I'm not so happy with.  If done right, these can be enlarged and printed ... but not this time!!  I guess that means I'll just have to come back!!

Hoping my memory kicks in this morning ... we're buttoning up the rigs to head for Albuquerque and I don't want to forget anything, like unplugging the electrical or leaving the antenna up!!!  The forecast was for a little rain about noon ... hopefully it holds off until we are set up!!  Oh ... I DID remember to set the camera back to neutral this time!!