365/51 One burger at a time.

Went on a drive Saturday afternoon, with the intent of doing some outdoor photography out by one of the lakes. Plans didn't work out so well, so we ended up driving out to Inkslake after a few false starts along 71, going towards Burnet and Marble Falls.

Inkslake State Park is smaller than I had envisioned it, but still had some really interesting creek features running through it. We ended up hiking back beyond Devil's Cove (or whatever they called it). Did a few HDR shots of the rock features and spent about half an hour doing some flash work and portraiture. I kick myself for not packing the umbrella and light stand onto the backpack. I didn't expect to actually find a good place to shoot, so I didn't bother hooking it up to carry.

I was wrong. We were too far back into the trail to go back for it and have time to shoot; the light was failing fast and we were dealing with an already overcast and dwindling day.

But, we made the best of it. I set up a single flash and dialed down everything so the background was dark. Maybe too dark, really. I was thinking about that Joe McNally photo where the biker is standing on the edge of the water with the light feathered off so it only fell upon her upper body and face. Needed the umbrella.

When we got back, I played with the photos for a bit and found that they turned out much better when converted to black and white.

Ended up stopping by Mighty Fine Burgers. I had never been before. As burgers go, it was alright. Nothing like a Dirty Martin's burger, though. Waiting for the order, we stood near the meat prep window and watched as some unnamed meat man handler was turning balls of meatdough into some of the hugest patties we'd ever seen. I bet you didn't know that the secret to a good hamburger is to make the center thinner than the rest of the patty. Makes it cook better, more evenly. You don't end up with a round, tiny burger with a big fat middle. Nice and even. Like a burger should be.

Here's a few of the portraits from earlier in the day. I think second is my favorite. What say you?