Facing the Light

The hubs and I are looking ahead. Thinking about “what’s next”. Among the many things we wonder, one is what it would be like to live mobile. Not that a week on the road provides the whole picture… but at least it’s a wee section of toe in the water. Hey, gotta start somewhere, right? So we flew to Las Vegas, rented an RV and hit the open road, headed for southern Utah and northern Arizona.

Weeks ago, we had one version of the trip planned, then the kids in Washington D.C. put the kabosh on that by closing the national parks. We’d planned on visiting several national parks. That all happened RIGHT before we left, so we had to scramble and basically plan as we started the trip. In fact, as I sit here writing this, Joe is booking RV places and reading some of the highlights out loud of all the new places we’re deciding to go see.

We got off to a bit of a bumpy start, even aside from all that. First there was a big delay when we picked up the RV, nixing the sunset shoot we planned. Boo. Then, we rented a compact RV, which is the perfect size for us… but it’s squirrely has heck on the raod, especially the freeway. And the wind? Fuggedaboutit! Does not handle well in the wind… at all! I’ve been white-knuckling it more than I care to admit. But we’re getting the hang of it. And getting our bearings with our newly chosen route. When you only have a week, you want to make the most of the every single day… and these first two haven’t exactly been home runs. However, the next several are lookin’ pretty good!

Which brings me to the image I posted here. We drove alot today. Way more driving than shooting – and what little I did was out the car window. Including this one. I’m amazed that it’s even in focus! Shooting through the driver’s side window, there was some reflection that I didn’t intend – but it gave the shot an actual lighting effect. Cool! Heck, people actually put that stuff into their photos on purpose with post processing tools, and here I just got it naturally!

I love old barns and sheds. I love facing light. And I love the fact that a worthwhile photo can be had shooting out the window of a squirrely little RV as you zoom by, flying by the seat of your pants on a trip that, despite your best efforts, just has a mind of its own.

Stuff like that is just plain cool.

Camera settings:
Canon 6D
70-300 f/4.5-5.6 lens
ISO: 800
f/9