Theme: By Train, Plane, Boat or Car - images taken from moving vehicles

Another from my car. When I lived in Southern California I had a fairly lengthy commute to and from work. This shot I snapped while rolling slowly along in thick traffic southbound on the 405 (often referred to as the San Diego Freeway, although it is nowhere near San Diego). Anyway, in this country, in slow traffic, it is permissible for motorcyclists to "split lanes" and ride between slower-moving cars. One day I thought I'd try to capture a lane-splitter on film. It required several attempts because they pass quickly. I doubt he knew he had had his portrait taken. As well as the lane-splitter I also got my left shoulder in this shot.

Olympus XA3 with expired Fuji 200.

 
Brian Moore said:
Another from my car. When I lived in Southern California I had a fairly lengthy commute to and from work. This shot I snapped while rolling slowly along in thick traffic southbound on the 405 (often referred to as the San Diego Freeway, although it is nowhere near San Diego). Anyway, in this country, in slow traffic, it is permissible for motorcyclists to "split lanes" and ride between slower-moving cars. One day I thought I'd try to capture a lane-splitter on film. It required several attempts because they pass quickly. I doubt he knew he had had his portrait taken. As well as the lane-splitter I also got my left shoulder in this shot.

Olympus XA3 with expired Fuji 200.

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Nice shot! Lane splitting is legal here in NSW, Australia too. I think... certainly in the ACT it is.
 
Gord Tomlin said:
Love this shot. If you suspend your knowledge of what is happening, it almost looks like the rider is moving in reverse.
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Thanks Gord. Much appreciated.
Gord Tomlin said:
Here in Ontario, Canada, I believe lane splitting is illegal. Whether it is or not, it can be dangerous af.
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I used to work with a bunch of guys who commuted to work by motorcycle. Unfortunately one of them was killed on the freeway, not very far from where I took this photo (don't know if he was splitting lanes at the time). Dangerous af indeed. Also nerve-wracking, so I was told.
 
Street view of a Los Angeles suburb.

I took this from the LA Metrolink train one Sunday morning. (From time-to-time I would ride the Metrolink from Anaheim to Los Angeles Union Station, whereupon I would walk around LA for a couple of hours taking photos before getting back on the Metrolink to return to Anaheim.)

This could be any one of a number of LA suburban communities, such a Santa Fe Springs, Norwalk, Downey or even East Los Angeles. It's kind of a nondescript, even boring, picture but the street and the homes are very typical of Southern California working-class communities, and I think there may be some value in it for that. I shot this with my Olympus XA and Arista EDU 400 film.

 
Brian, I find the shot fascinating for a few reasons. Little details like that small tree just below the centre of the image. To me that is an odd shape, and looks as though it has been deliberately cut that way. And by contrast there are the two trees on this side of the white wall, lower left, the Freak Brothers :) Then there’s the little trio of carbon life forms at the side of the main house, on the other side of the wall to the Freak Brothers. One of them seems to be seated at a barbecue, playing it like a piano, which I’ve never seen anyone do before. And one of them appears to be a dog sitting on top of a waste bin. And I find it odd you refer to it as a working-class community, as it looks more middle class to me, and that might reflect class differences between the UK and US.

Someone with far more talent than I posses could write an interesting short story or novella about this scene.
 
Rob MacKillop said:
Brian, I find the shot fascinating for a few reasons. Little details like that small tree just below the centre of the image. To me that is an odd shape, and looks as though it has been deliberately cut that way. And by contrast there are the two trees on this side of the white wall, lower left, the Freak Brothers :) Then there’s the little trio of carbon life forms at the side of the main house, on the other side of the wall to the Freak Brothers. One of them seems to be seated at a barbecue, playing it like a piano, which I’ve never seen anyone do before. And one of them appears to be a dog sitting on top of a waste bin. And I find it odd you refer to it as a working-class community, as it looks more middle class to me, and that might reflect class differences between the UK and US.

Someone with far more talent than I posses could write an interesting short story or novella about this scene.
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How right you are, Rob.
It's quite a little cameo of American suburban life. But apart from that little group of people it seems eerily quiet, almost like a Hopper painting.
 
Rob MacKillop said:
And I find it odd you refer to it as a working-class community, as it looks more middle class to me, and that might reflect class differences between the UK and US.
Click to expand...
Thanks a lot, Rob. That tree has certainly been shaped. I'll have to look up the Freak Brothers,...don't know who they are. As to your comment that I have quoted, I struggled a little with the notion of using "working class" as a description. I was going back and forth between that and "middle class." I could have sliced and diced a little going with "lower middle class" or "upper working class" or something like that. In the end, however, I settled on the (possibly imperfect) "working class" based on my (definitely imperfect) understanding of the population demographics of the geographic area through which I was traveling. I take your point, though. It raises some interesting questions.
 
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