Scene on the Road

I was down the shore in Avalon last week photographing an updated cottage for the Home and Design section. The sky was so blue I couldn't stop looking up at it, After editing and sending my photos from the Avalon library I was heading north on the Garden State Parkway when I just had to exit at Ocean City, the light was getting so beautiful. I shot the boats just as an excuse to photograph that sky. And them wandered around the edges of the boardwalk where I made that day's Daily Photo.

Finally I had to head for home, and on the AC Expressway, came around a bend just as the sun was setting directly in front of me. After making sure there were no other cars near me, I grabbed my camera and clicked off a frame.

Then focusing again on my driving (which we should always be doing while behind the wheel), I squirted the windshield with washer fluid as the direct sun was glaring off the dead bugs. At that moment, I just had to reach for my camera on the front seat a second time - but as evidence I was concentrating more on my driving, I didn't even readjust the focus from infinity - and made another shot.

That is the overall theme of this blog, and why it is still called Scene on the Road, even though last summer's road trips are almost a faded memory. Photograph the journey - not just the destination. That means taking your camera out every day and making pictures, not just your usual moments - vacations, birthday parties, soccer games or ebay sale items - but give the rest of your day a shot as well.

As students we are told to keep a daily journal. I had an English Literature teacher who said, "if you don't write, how can you know what you're feeling?" She often added, for the benefit of those who struggled, "if you can't write it, how do you know it's real?" I work with a lot of reporters and they ALL write all the time - and not just for the newspaper - in blogs, magazine articles, and books. I've always admired photographers like Inquirer staffer Eric Mencher and soon-to-be co-worker Daily News Photographer David Maialetti who seem to have their cameras with them all the time. And use them.


I could never write (or compose music or poetry, or dance or sing either) so years ago I started taking pictures to express myself. At some point, I started taking fewer photos of everyday things concentrating on making images to get and then keep a job. So the time I've spent on my blog - shooting the Daily Photo has reconnected me with that every day kind of photography.

During last weekend's storm, I tried to photograph the lightning, but because of the clouds and all the trees in my neighborhood, I couldn't see a thing except brief flashes where the leaves would light up. Besides, it was scary. So I waited inside until the thunder stopped. It was still raining when I went back outside looking for pictures. I found one in the surface of my small patio pond. Then the power went out, and we were forced to eat all the ice cream in the freezer. Hours later, when everyone had gone to bed, I was still watching the flickering candle, wondering how I could capture the outage.