Walking around the home town of my mother found me sentimentally creative on Christmas Day. I feel I grew up here for short stints of time. Everything has a certain familiarity to it, but it's all unique and alien. Dreamlike.
 |
| Either a drunk, or some skate skiing action. |
I wandered around in one of my grandfather's old coats, bundled up in the cold, silent evening. Two hours passed without much of a notice aside from freezing feet and hands. A light snow dusting over ice made me tenderly pad through the town - probably why I took so many pictures of the ground.
I have always been fascinated by the railroad tracks that butted up against the property. Railroad tracks have always been a forbidden place. Potentially dangerous, yet endlessly curious. Taking your mind to unknown destinations, meeting at a horizon line that never becomes any closer.
Earlier in the day, I ran between the rails for miles. I quickly ran out of town to run in and, into the featureless country I continued to stride. Railroad tracks are a challenge to run on. The ties mark distances within your steps and make you pay a careful attention to your cadence and foot placement. Very good training for the adventurous and nimble. I used the run almost like a small scouting for things I wanted to come back and look at more carefully. I call that "A run of utility."
When it came time to actually get out and take photos, the amount of things I found interesting along the way was somewhat overwhelming. I had to almost force myself to keep moving, not spending too much time in one place - knowing there was more waiting within a short distance. Look, quickly compose, snap, and hopefully be satisfied.
 |
| David City |
There's something endlessly special about shooting in the evening. Especially in snow. The stark contrast it creates joined with low cloud cover illuminates compositions like nothing you could ever create. Mercury vapor, sodium halide, tungsten, and florescent lights all dance, mingle and sometimes pollute the atmosphere around you. Each casting their own color temperature. Colds, warms, greens, and purple tones paint the night canvas. Their wavelengths soak into the images that the camera takes. The colors can be overpowering, but interesting. They can create, or destroy the inky images I find the camera taking. All you can do is cope - but you can also use them to your advantage if you know how they will affect the outcome of what you are... seeking.
At times, I almost don't feel like I am taking photos, sometimes they seem to find me. I turn, and the composition seems to just be waiting for me. Perhaps I didn't even have a choice. That could almost be considered unfair. Creativity abusing the creator.
 |
| Plumbing squares off. |
