I drive to work on the M62 over the Pennines, the border between Yorkshire and Lancashire, and it’s mostly an uneventful journey. And despite the fact that I’m hurtling along at 70mph+, in often atrocious weather, surrounded by drivers that seem mostly oblivious to their surroundings, skimming over the surface of the earth on a few square inches of rubber, I very rarely worry about what might happen, or what might go wrong – it just never occurs to me.
But when I do think about it, it strikes me as quite bizarre that we would voluntarily put ourselves in such circumstances on a daily basis, and as I drive past the almost daily crashes (I exaggerate slightly) – overturned vehicles, jacknifed lorries, and various other assorted mishaps, I do momentarily realise that driving isn’t really the same as floating along in an indestructible armchair.
So today’s effort is an attempt to capture something of the less comfortable side of driving – something of the drama and power of the experience. Technically this image was a bit of a problem in that the original was extremely flat – road spray isn’t exactly a high contrast subject – so I used three duplicate layers, all set to ‘overlay blend mode’, with a final Curves adjustment to bump up the contrast. The foreground was also desaturated. A consequence of using multiple overlay layers is a dramatic increase in saturation: lin this instance this left the foreground an odd shade of blue (probably because blue light scatters more readily than other frequencies).
camera capture date aperture shutter speed shooting mode exposure bias metering mode ISO focal length image quality white balance optical filter
Canon G5
2.19pm on 24/2/04
f4.0
1/80
program AE
+0.0
evaluative
50
7.2
RAW
auto
B+W UV 010
comment byNeil at 02:34 AM (GMT) on 26 February, 2004
Beautiful image, very dynamic. Keep your eyes on the road though ;-)
comment byspunwithtears at 05:09 AM (GMT) on 26 February, 2004
rich wonderous colors
comment byZero at 08:12 PM (GMT) on 26 February, 2004
You've succeeded in your quest, my friend. You've captured the "drama and power" perfectly. I too, take driving for granted on a daily basis. And, I also consider the dangers from time to time. Thanks for this public service announcement. :)
comment byemarquetti at 08:36 PM (GMT) on 26 February, 2004
This image gave fear remembers to me. Some trucks as this "growing" :-) in my front while I ran with mine 'bike ' in asphalt.
comment bymyla at 07:41 AM (GMT) on 27 February, 2004
I was rear-ended by 4 other cars on the freeway in May 2K3. Ever since I think of that exact thing, if we really thought about how dangerous driving is, we probably wouldn't do it. Or at the very least, slow down and be more courteous. Another wonderful frozen moment in time. . .
comment bybsag at 10:18 AM (GMT) on 27 February, 2004
One word: nightmarish. This is the kind of thing I see in the rear view mirror on the handlebars of my recumbent bike all the time. Only I see it from a lot lower down ;-) Great photo though - it's almost an action shot! I, too, hope that you were stopped when you took the photo.
comment byemarquetti at 11:14 AM (GMT) on 27 February, 2004
my "bike" was not a bicicle... that was my Honda 750cc! ;-)
comment by djn1 at 02:11 PM (GMT) on 27 February, 2004
Thanks everyone – and it does seem as though this shot caught some of the things I was after.
I drive to work on the M62 over the Pennines, the border between Yorkshire and Lancashire, and it’s mostly an uneventful journey. And despite the fact that I’m hurtling along at 70mph+, in often atrocious weather, surrounded by drivers that seem mostly oblivious to their surroundings, skimming over the surface of the earth on a few square inches of rubber, I very rarely worry about what might happen, or what might go wrong – it just never occurs to me.
But when I do think about it, it strikes me as quite bizarre that we would voluntarily put ourselves in such circumstances on a daily basis, and as I drive past the almost daily crashes (I exaggerate slightly) – overturned vehicles, jacknifed lorries, and various other assorted mishaps, I do momentarily realise that driving isn’t really the same as floating along in an indestructible armchair.
So today’s effort is an attempt to capture something of the less comfortable side of driving – something of the drama and power of the experience. Technically this image was a bit of a problem in that the original was extremely flat – road spray isn’t exactly a high contrast subject – so I used three duplicate layers, all set to ‘overlay blend mode’, with a final Curves adjustment to bump up the contrast. The foreground was also desaturated. A consequence of using multiple overlay layers is a dramatic increase in saturation: lin this instance this left the foreground an odd shade of blue (probably because blue light scatters more readily than other frequencies).
capture date
aperture
shutter speed
shooting mode
exposure bias
metering mode
ISO
focal length
image quality
white balance
optical filter
2.19pm on 24/2/04
f4.0
1/80
program AE
+0.0
evaluative
50
7.2
RAW
auto
B+W UV 010
Beautiful image, very dynamic. Keep your eyes on the road though ;-)
rich wonderous colors
You've succeeded in your quest, my friend. You've captured the "drama and power" perfectly. I too, take driving for granted on a daily basis. And, I also consider the dangers from time to time. Thanks for this public service announcement. :)
This image gave fear remembers to me. Some trucks as this "growing" :-) in my front while I ran with mine 'bike ' in asphalt.
I was rear-ended by 4 other cars on the freeway in May 2K3. Ever since I think of that exact thing, if we really thought about how dangerous driving is, we probably wouldn't do it. Or at the very least, slow down and be more courteous. Another wonderful frozen moment in time. . .
One word: nightmarish. This is the kind of thing I see in the rear view mirror on the handlebars of my recumbent bike all the time. Only I see it from a lot lower down ;-) Great photo though - it's almost an action shot! I, too, hope that you were stopped when you took the photo.
my "bike" was not a bicicle... that was my Honda 750cc! ;-)
Thanks everyone – and it does seem as though this shot caught some of the things I was after.