6:00 am!!
That damn alarm goes off way to early! Again! Now the only thing that is more annoying then an alarm clock going off way to early, is when an alarm clock goes off when I was totally having the craziest dream. I don’t know if I remember the dream exactly but I do recall distinctly that it was an odd one. My wonderful wife and I reluctantly remove our collective asses from the cozy slumber that is our fold out futon and get up. We each have a shower, etc
I collect my pre-packed bags that I had left in front of the door as to not forget them& hop in car to go to the airport. The driving was quick and easy even by Vancouver lax standards so I was able to be sure that I was on time.
When I get to the airport I am ridiculously early, which for me is often the case. I walk in to the terminal and I look to my left to be affronted by a ridiculously long line up of people waiting to get their boarding passes from and a Human. I look to my right all I can see is a vast empty expanse of self serve check-in kiosks that are collecting dust from disuse. In less then a minute I am checked in and the boarding pass is in hand. There my first proverbial airport hurtle has been over come. Next step? Coffee!
Now any day that I go to a Tim Horton’s and there is a distinct absence of a far reaching line up, I know it is a good day. Today is one of those days. Alright coffee in hand and my measly two bags in tow I move onwards to the next hurtle, AirPort Security! Now for those that haven’t figured it out by now, I am a bit of a technophile. When you combine all my camera gear with my computer gear you end up with a potentially deadly recipe for airport security. I say potentially deadly because I have yet to have anything that even comes close to resembling a hassle with airport security. In fact I am sure that I could have 20 pounds of coke in bright pink baggies sitting just under my lens and they wouldn’t bat an eye. I still arrive very early however in anticipation of the day I do end up having to demonstrate the operation of every piece of gear I own. However, this trip they did double & then triple take the portable tire pump that was in my bag.
So I’m mostly blogging this to hone up the travel photography skills and I really mean the photo side of it, because I know that the writing would be best left to some one else (hint hint) the practice part comes from know what may make a good editorial photo, what avenues are best to explore, and how best to go about exploring them.
So after imploring the gentleman next to me to allow me access to my carry on I managed to fetch my camera and I begin to think about what would best illustrate the adventure at hand. I first have to stuff away for a moment the fears of being pegged as a naive tourist by my fellow passengers and whip out the beloved beast of my livelihood. I have often looked at getting an SD camera for the ipaq simply to avoid the common questions that come with the beast. (however, this time the questions were instead about my bag and not the beast) But the fear of getting that one shot in a million on a 3mp plastic lens ‘point & shoot’ is simply too much, and thus has failed to happen.
So as the cut blocks of B.C. diminish and the sickening realization that I have again forgotten my mountain parks pass in my other car, I fly over what I believe to be the ice fields parkway. It I now that I begin to give thought to the nearly immediate drive back. What route will be best to take, what would be safest vs. the most photogenic? I ask myself what n the hell time is the sun setting these days, when will I have leave in order to make it to the Airdre area for sunrise, why didn’t I bring a tripod, all the questions that I have trained my self as a photographer to ask.
The plane loosely follows the North Saskatchewan River to the patchwork landscape of farmland that I used to call home. I see the Devon Bridge and other things that I recognize as places that I have shot. I see the little farm yard that I am so damn fond of taking brides and the like. All these places have a fond memory of some photo adventure that I undertook at some point in time. And I at 41,234 feet try to take photos out of a foggy scratched triple paned plane window to illustrate my feelings on the matter. This is what I came up with.