Room for Rent

"Bright, airy loft apartment for rent! Breathtaking views! Open floor plan. Solar heat, skylights, energy saving AC. Real hardwood flooring and cathedral ceiling! Automatic sprinkler system! Perfect for a student, particularly if studying astronomy or meteorology. Pets welcome with wings or parachute."

(Keep reading. This is an actual story.)

The image and "ad" above were originally posted to my Instagram about four and a half years ago (239 weeks, by Instagram's count). It was just one of more than a hundred shots taken during a road trip with a couple of friends and budding photographers, to follow up on the classroom portion of one of my photography workshops. My friend/brother, Roberto, had volunteered to drive. Pam had opted to stay home and had fixed us some amazing breakfast burritos, since we'd be starting out early.

I volunteered to take the back seat, since the third member of the party was a woman. (Yeah, I know, but it's how I was raised.) I'd brought quite a bit of equipment, including some ultra-wide-angle lenses to fit their cameras. I was the US rep for a lens manufacturer at the time and always had some demo lenses on hand, so with my backpack, tripod, an extra gear bag and a thermos of coffee, I pretty much occupied all the available space in the back of his sedan.

Our ultimate destination was Caprock Canyons State Park, a popular spot with area photographers. The trip was a little over 100 miles one way, and we'd chosen a route that would take us by an abandoned home I knew of that would offer some interesting lighting conditions and a wide range of textures.

Not far outside of Amarillo, I pointed out the house and they were intrigued. We had all day, so we pulled off the highway and over the barbed wire we went.

After a little bit of instruction on camera/lens settings and a reminder that there could be snakes making a home for themselves in and around the structure, I let my "students" exercise their own creativity. It's always fun to discover what someone else sees in a particular subject, and this place had plenty to see. We stopped and compared notes a few times, but for the most part, we all just had fun for about an hour.

We piled back into the car and after consulting the map one more time to confirm our next stop would be in Clarendon, where we'd switch highways, we got back on the road. Roberto, single ladies' man that he was, was chatting away with our female companion. I had brought along a good book, so I settled in to read for a while.

Eventually, I took a break from reading and wondered aloud how much farther we had to go. Roberto consulted his GPS and said we were almost to Childress. I found that interesting, since Childress wasn't on the highway we should have been on.

The short explanation is that the two adventurers in the front seats had been so busy talking and laughing, we had driven right through Clarendon and missed the highway junction. In their defense, their instructor for the day had been completely immersed in a very good book. We were currently almost 60 miles south of that junction and roughly 70 miles from the State Park via the closest route.

(Did I mention that it was a very good book?)

When we were done laughing, the unanimous vote was for a much-needed a bathroom break, so we continued a few more miles into the town of Childress and stopped at a convenience store. We grabbed some snacks and drinks, used the facilities and headed north, with everyone focused on the turn we'd need to take at the only stoplight in the little burg of Esteline, Texas. I wouldn't be reading my book again on that day.

Needless to say, we arrived at the park entrance a bit behind schedule. We stretched the shoot until sunset, and stopped at Lake Theo, just inside the park for a few parting shots and some experiments in exposure metering. I had to grab one shot of that amazing sunset, then focused on helping them play with their settings to produce different results.

There was one more highlight in store for our little adventure. As we left the park and entered the highway (taking the more direct route home), a massive full moon was just clearing the horizon, aligned directly over the highway in the rear view mirror. Since we'd all stowed our gear, we just pulled over and watched for a while.

This was my next-to-last photo adventure with Roberto, before we lost him to COVID-19. Looking back at these images always brings back great memories and a great sense of loss. It also brings an immense sense of gratitude, to have had the opportunity to share this adventure.

He was a talented painter and his artistry showed while learning to use his camera. He also began to create photo manipulations and combine paintings and photographs in some of his pieces. We displayed our art in the same gallery and we bought each other's work. He was always ready for the next barbeque or artists' night with all of the friends we made there. We may have shared some tequila on a few occasions. We shared a six pack of good beer on many.

Roberto's photos from that day, along with his artwork, are in the hands of his family, as it should be. Our companion on that day was an attractive Brazilian woman who has since left Texas. After a failed attempt to contact her for permission, I've opted to omit any photos of her.

I do have the permission of Roberto's family to post his.

Above all else, Roberto lived life to its fullest and treasured his family and friends. To those reading this, he would offer assurance that there's no reason to grieve for him. That's who he was, and the reason I've chosen to tell this story. He would want to be remembered as part of an adventure with a side of comedy.

Hasta luego, Hermano!

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Thanks for reading!