Welcome to downtown San Antonio.

These days, I post most of my San Antonio photos that aren’t real estate related at “I saw it in San Antonio.” I haven’t really done a ton with San Antonio Camera Phone lately, so I thought I’d share this shot of San Fernando Cathedral I took while relaxing at Main Plaza during a lunch break from jury duty at the Bexar County Courthouse. Although, I enjoyed my afternoon of relaxation in Main Plaza in downtown San Antonio, my jury duty wasn’t nearly as exciting. After a long day of “hurry up and wait,” I was excused around 3:30 PM and never called to an actual jury selection process. Kind of boring, but that’s the luck of the draw.

More cloud photos from me.

Anyone who follows me on Facebook or checks my photo blog, I saw it in San Antonio, knows I have a bit of an obsession with taking photos of clouds. I downloaded an app for my iPhone called Pro HDR, which although not a true HDR effect, gives some cool results. It basically takes two contrasting photos focusing in on two part of the photo, one light and one dark. Through a bunch of magic wizardry, it then compiles the data from the two pictures into one color rich, deep shadowed photo.

In this photo you can see one of the drawbacks of blending two photos together. The wind had just picked up and as the branches swayed, they appeared and disappeared from the frame of the photo I was trying to capture. This often causes light blurs and fuzzy edges, but I still think the results look amazing (and are much closer to what I was seeing in real life).

Hope you enjoy the clouds and you’ll take some time to stop by I saw it in San Antonio.

410 and Bandera Interchange

I look this photo last summer soon after the interchange at 410 and Bandera Road opened. I took a bunch of photos and was planning on using it as a slideshow of my first drive down the interchange, but never got around to it. So, here I am in January posting one of the photos. The 410 and Bandera Road Interchange is kind of old news now, but I hated to see those pictures go to waste.

The interchange has definitely lessened traffic in the area, although I think it has somehow made Grissom Road a bit tougher to navigate during rush hour. Good news is that I don’t have to drive over there as much anymore. If you’re heading on Southbound Bandera Road and take the on ramp to Eastbound 410 be sure to look for the downtown skyline when you’re at the peak of the ramp. On a clear day it’s a really cool view of the city.

P.S. I haven’t done many “San Antonio Camera Phone” entries in awhile as my new San Antonio photo blog “I Saw It In San Antonio.,” is usually where I put most of the localized San Antonio photos now. Take some time and check it out.

Visitors in town.

I had a chance to spend the afternoon in Gruene, Texas today with my wife and a friend of ours who is visiting from England. I love doing little trips like this and while they ducked into the Gruene Antique Company, I took a few snapshots of the main street. Gruene is a quiet little town, full of antiques, unique Texas gifts, and of course the infamous Gruene Hall. If you’re not from there or any of the towns in and around San Antonio, you may not know that the name of the town is actually pronounced “Green.” If you’re ever in our next of the woods, you should definitely swing through Gruene for the afternoon. Be sure to stop by Mozie’s and tell them @rerockstar said hello.

Lake Lyndon B. Johnson in Texas

My wife and I had the chance to visit Lake LBJ for the first time this weekend thanks to RE/MAX Access’ Summer Shindig. About 1 hour and 45 minutes from San Antonio (map), the lake is a perfect getaway for a weekend without having to spend a fortune. Our office holds a yearly summer party to celebrate our successes and just take a break for a weekend. No phones, no emails, no real estate talk. Just pure relaxation. I sure won’t pass up a chance to head out to Lake LBJ if I get one, it’s my new favorite spot in the San Antonio area to have some fun, kick back, and enjoy the day.

A welcome sight in San Antonio.

Anyone that lives in San Antonio or follows our weather knows we are in serious need of rain. Everything is brown, we’ve had water restrictions, and we’re just plain tired of dry weather. The past few days have provided a bit of relief. Seems we’re stuck in a decent weather pattern that is bringing showers in the afternoon as the heat of the day builds. The rains haven’t been anything phenomenal, but they are rains none the less. Hopefully the pattern will continue so that we can pull out of water restrictions and get our plants back to their once green state.

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I need new brakes.

This week I had to take my Honda Civic in for some scheduled maintenance, new brakes, and a state inspection. I’m one of those people that always goes back to the dealer, so I made an appointment at Gunn Honda at 14610 IH-10 West, San Antonio TX 78249 (map). As usual, I was met by my rep, Steve Harwood. Awesome guy. Gets it done, knows me well, and always makes sure I walk away a satisfied customer. There’s something to be said for service – especially when a guy hands you a $500 invoice (he warned me though!). Thanks to everyone at Gunn Honda for always looking out for me!

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I couldn’t resist something new.

Today’s a little different. Usually I take photos of San Antonio, but today while walking to my car in Garden Ridge, I saw this view. It’s a view I see almost daily as it’s right outside of RE/MAX Access, my office (map). I often get to see a few deer run through here, but haven’t been quick enough with my camera.

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Hey there little fella.

I was on the phone the other day outside the RE/MAX Access office when I noticed a woman trying to dump some trash in our dumpster. She looked a bit frightened and kept backing away from the dumpster. Turns out, this little guy was hiding out in there. Apparently, he’s been getting on there on a regular basis when there’s not much trash in the bottom. Of course, when he gets to the bottom there’s not much for him to climb to the top with, so he winds up cowering the corner until someone from our office park discovers him and puts a box in there for him to climb up and out.

You can also see this photo on Flickr and my new photo blog “I saw it in San Antonio.“

Looks beautiful, doesn’t it?

Today was one of those beautiful South Texas days. The skies over San Antonio were filled with white fluffy clouds and the shade of blue in the sky was the kind I used to see daily while living in Los Angeles. The temperature was just right, the humidity was low, and it was one of those days that just makes you want to sit outside and relax all day long. Of course, this is South Texas in May and there’s one thing you can expect to see often. Thunderstorms. The kind that pop up mid-afternoon into early evening and blow through with little to no advance notice. They can often blow in with such force that you feel like they might not end any time soon, but they are often short lived. Today was no different (we had them yesterday as well). As I sat outside, I noticed the wind kicking up and looked to the skies. To one side I saw perfect sky, to the other side I saw a dark grey with blue overtones that I knew meant there was a storm brewing.

Look out… behind you!

I went into the middle of my street to take a look at the opposition of the two scenes. One side of the world still thought it was a perfect day, but the other knew differently. As I stood there, I was amazed that it be could be so night and day, so I whipped out my iPhone and took these shots. The storm photo looks quite foreboding, but in the end there was only a bit of thunder and lightening and the rain was minimal. Regardless of the aftermath, I enjoyed the buildup to the storm as I always do. Hope you enjoyed the photos.

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