Saturday, November 04, 2023

Transit the night

Wherever you go...
London, ON
October 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram


I’m posting this not because it’s a particularly compelling photo of a city bus. It isn’t, and there are countless reasons why the image doesn’t hit the mark.

It’s easy to understand why, as it was little more than a hasty smartphone grab while balancing the dog’s leash with my other hand. I had no time to size it up, or ponder the composition, or even tweak the shot or my positioning to improve the lighting. It is, frankly, a lousy snapshot.

But I’ve had it in my brain for a while that I want to capture more moody night scenes. And what’s more moody than a city bus casting pools of blueish light across the cold, damp asphalt before disappearing for good into the dark?

The logistics of this kind of photography are somewhat challenging, because you have to be in the right place at the right time - which isn’t always possible when your primary job is controlling a springy Mini Schnauzer.

So you take what you can get when you can get it, and you post it here as a mental reminder to keep trying to raise the bar.

A placeholder, if you will. A promise to come back and try again.

Because photography isn’t really about tripping the shutter or taking a certain kind of picture. It’s more about the mental games we play with ourselves long before the scene presents itself.

If only the real world beyond the viewfinder worked the same way.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #random #road #street #night #transit #ltc #transit #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:
Bus stop moment, May 2022
The endless wait, April 2020

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