Saturday, June 29, 2024

Speed. I am speed.

Blink and you miss it
London, ON
June 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


Can cars fly?

Based on our understanding of currently available motive technologies, it’s easy to conclude that decades after George Jetson signed off for the last time, the vast majority of consumers still can’t walk into a dealership and order their own bubble-topped flying cruiser.

This is criminal, and humanity deserves better.

Be that as it may, if you stand beside a ruler-straight country road and play with light just so, there’s a just as reasonable chance that we’ll see things a little differently.

No, the cars aren’t actually flying, but they sure look like they could be.

Which, to an adult who still dreams of flying cars, will have to be good enough for now.

So, yes, dear motorists, I was the weirdo standing in the ditch beside a farmer’s field yesterday taking longish exposures of speeding cars. The blur was indeed the point, and I played with different shutter speeds for a while before I started to capture some interesting results. Well, to me, anyway.

I call it playing with light. And there is no plan beyond a vague idea, followed by severely improvised experimentation that usually goes nowhere. Every once in a long while, though, the fumbling pays off.

I hear the iconic whirring sound mixed in with Lightning McQueen’s “I am speed” monologue. I feel every dream of every kid who ever wondered what it would feel like to grab the wheel and control their own destiny. I imagine a future better than the present.

Not a bad haul for an afternoon spent walking in dusty gravel mere feet from high-speed traffic, wondering if any of this was worthwhile.

For the record, it’s always worthwhile. Because even if the cars aren’t actually flying just yet, I’m not yet ready to give up on an indelible childhood dream.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #car #carporn #automotive #nissouri #road #street #streetphotography #speed #blur #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photography

Related:
Life is a highway, September 2021
Trainspotting, August 2018
The open road, October 2009
The open road - redux, October 2009

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