Ready, Even in the Car

Driving is no longer a mindless interval between events. My eyes scan. My Pentax Q (aDorable!) is in the passenger seat. I am still angry at myself for spotting something, wavering, and driving past, until it is too late. Lazy...

But sometimes I force myself to be diligent...

I cannot tell you how often I see night time construction (there are LOTs of repair work after midnight. How do I know? Come on, I am tanguero) that are so fascinating, and... SO MUCH LIGHT for awesome contrast... only to drive past, because, well, lazy. But, this time, my camera is RIGHT THERE, so, even as I fumble through the settings, I still got my practice shots in.

Anyway, now, I actually look forward to being in the car!

The Camera in My Car and How It Changed Me

Ever since I kept the Pentax Q in my car, I began to pay attention to everything, all the time, around me.

This was last night, right after work, and I KNEW KNEW KNEW I had to take a picture of the fresh snow on the bare trees. I don't travel to capture exotic and beautiful scenes. I don't have models. Really, all that I have are the mundane moments of a normal person living a straight-forward life... Well, except for the tango part, that's just weird.

In any case, last night, I resolved to ALSO stop by the bridge, and once and for all, take a shot of the lake just beyond.

Suburban Landscape from a Bridge by jaime montemayor on 500px

I stopped the car just past the bridge. I change the settings on the diminutive Pentax Q (OMG what a fantastic discovery and treasured find). I walk back onto the bridge. What I didn't expect, was the onslaught of the pressurized air (from the passing cars), the vibrations beneath my feet, and how utterly close the cars were, as they whizzed past me. My knees shook. My mind thought about how drivers are drawn to unusual landmarks, and I was the unusual landmark. I wondered about the stupidity of standing on that bridge. Meanwhile, I poised the camera onto the scene, and I shot away. When I returned to the car, everything had changed. My senses were heightened. My car sounded different. The wind passing over the car sounded clearer. The road ahead of me seemed crisper.

I am so glad that I stopped the car.