Friday 25th October 2013, 1.30pm (day 792)
Well, the ceiling of the terminal building anyway. The plane’s a model, in case you were wondering. Back home after four enjoyable days in Russia.
Being 42
Life, one day at a time
Category Archives: Transport
On the tarmac
Sunday 29th September 2013, 3.10pm (day 766)
Perhaps I have been overdoing the travelling this year and all in all feel inclined to downshift a notch or two, but I still have three trips abroad to make in the rest of 2013, including this one. Here we sit — about 20 of us — on our terribly small and cute little plane waiting for take-off, watching these flunkies do whatever it is they do to confirm we are ready to fly. The shot was taken from out of the window visible in the reflection on the engine, above the ‘I’ between the ‘R’ and the ‘T’.
Waiting for the 7:56
Friday 27th September 2013, 7.55am (day 764)
And there it is coming in, right on time — behind the head of the woman stood second left. A glorious day today, a perfect late summer’s day, I nearly posted something about this year’s Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, but I decided I wasn’t that angry.
Car wash
Saturday 21st September 2013, 1.20pm (day 758)
Just a random scene passed on the way to somewhere else. Not something I was doing — I don’t own a car. Which means I don’t have to wash it. Or put petrol in it. Or pay tax on it. Et cetera.
I like the mistiness of this shot caused by the high-pressure jet. Also that this guy seems to manage to still look quite cool even in wellington boots.
Litter bag, Blackburn station
Saturday 14th September 2013, 10.30am (day 751)
Blackburn is where I have to change trains when going to see my parents and/or sister. But it’s a surprisingly photogenic place. On a sunny day the light hits it perfectly. Today’s picture is like a proof of that concept — if the light can make an empty plastic bag look this attractive, then we’re talking something special.
Tramlines, Manchester
Thursday 12th September 2013, 2.30pm (day 749)
I’m a little disappointed with the sharpness of the background but there’s a long zoom on it to get the right depth of field so I guess one can’t have everything. The focus is just a bit further forward than intended. Otherwise I like the sinuous sweep of these tramlines, as they come down past the G-MEX centre and head towards the city.
Waiting at Blackburn station
Saturday 17th August 2013, 2.50pm (day 723)
My, this seems a long time ago now… and even after five days, having travelled to another continent in the mean time, the interminable delay we suffered at Blackburn on the way home still drags out like an ocean of time.
Whalley station and viaduct
Monday 12th August 2013, 2.40pm (day 718)
Joe had spent the weekend at my parents’ while we were in Hamburg, so I went to pick him up today. I could have hired a car and driven in two hours, but I took my time, went by train and savoured the day. I’m on holiday, who wants to drive.
Incidentally, this line is a rare example of one that was reopened (in 1995) after the infamous “Beeching axe” originally fell on it in the 1960s. The reopening happened under a Tory government too. Probably because it was a marginal seat, or maybe the party was still run by sane people at the time. Anyway; what you see here are the tracks extending out over a high viaduct over the River Hodder.
Clare and Joe at Crowborough station
Saturday 27th July 2013, 12.35pm (day 702)
And so, after one more morning of definite, but rather vague and low-level, looking back — it’s probably some mid-life crisis or something — we all left my old stamping ground for points more northern and, to tell the honest truth, far more interesting. It’s been nice to go back, confirm the continuing existence of places remembered, but there’s no need to come back again.
Subway, Hebden Bridge station
Saturday 6th July 2013, 10.40am (day 681)
One of the criteria for choosing which pictures get onto this blog is whether one encapsulates the day on which it was taken. That is not true of this photo. I had a busy day today, visited my parents and then had a Saturday night out with Clare, in Blackpool – and one could do an entire photo essay on the subject of ‘a Saturday night in Blackpool’ (though I think it might be a job more fitting for a war correspondent than a humble amateur like myself). There was great light today, a beautiful high summer’s day, and I took plenty of photos I was happy with.
Nevertheless, this wins. If the art of photography is not about capturing moments, those coincidences of place and time which raise any experience above the mundane and everyday, then I feel happy with what I’ve done here. This place could not be less exotic really, just a tunnel I pass through at least two or three times a week when I am here in town. But this morning I loved the way the light was spilling down the steps and giving it a warm feeling. This photo is exactly what I wanted it to be when I took it, and that happens only occasionally.
Being 42 