Last Stop Texaco

T

his hell scape was once a busy roadside stop. They sold fuel, worked on broken down cars and had a little store. That was years ago when the road that ran right in front of it was a busy Route 66. Along came a new Interstate 40. The road in the background is basically the world’s longest on ramp.

This is Albuquerque’s western end, as opposed to the eastern end when you roar right into the city, it just sort of peters out.

You can take Route 66 into the city from here. I often did. It’s more direct and interesting. There’s pictures to be made this way. Not so much on I-40 unless you make the blurred motion things that I do at night.

I suppose this picture is really about changes.

They say that the only constant is change. It couldn’t be more true.

Y

esterday, the big photo world news was that Nikon is discontinuing and no longer manufacturing DSLR cameras. This is earth shaking. They have been making SLRs for 60 years starting with the legendary F-1 film camera.They say that sales have declined so much that they are not worth making, while mirrorless cameras sales have risen to the point that Nikon believes that the future is now.

It’s not just mirrorless cameras that’s hurting sales, but smart phones are killing the rest of the market. Point and shoot cameras have been dead for years. Now, the phones have come for DSLRs.

They are still selling whatever stock that is on their shelves.

In terms of digital cameras, I’ve used mirrorless Sony cameras since 2012. For sure, I was an early adopter but I just got tired of carrying heavy DSLR bodies and lenses. It wasn’t for any technical reason.

At the time, only Sony was making them. Now, Nikon and Canon are in the mix and making great cameras and lenses. I still believe that Sony is ahead of them because they being in the game for so long. That probably won’t last. It’s a leap frog sort of thing.

Anyway. That’s what I think. You?