Hello from 32,000 feet. Leg one of my 100+ day journey is complete via a 12-hour road trip with multiple stops along the way. My route took me from the frozen streets of Toronto to the chilling majesty of the “Ice Falls” at Niagara where the conditions aligned for some fantastic photo opportunities. It seems to me like a good opportunity to discuss the merits of road trip photography as we go.
After crossing the border, my journey took me through the roads of upstate New York, taking me through beautiful, open farm country set in rolling hills. As the map shows, if I was in a hurry, realistically I could have finished this trip in about 8 hours including stops for gas and coffee, but I wanted to take some time and find spots along the way to document my journey in the form of road trip photography. I explored some back roads— in search of what, I do not know— but I was hunting for beauty, and beauty I found in all kinds of places. Like these icicles basking in the sunset, hanging from the roof of a small town firehall in Warsaw, casting playful shadows across the walls.
To a classic, small-town Upstate New York road taking me through the community of Warsaw.
A couple of hills later, I veered off onto a side road in search of sunset and found it. Does this pic scream out “road trip photography” or what?
Plus more than I bargained for with the brief appearance of the moonrise over farm country, possibly another of my early favorites from this trip.
I made good time despite the stops to shoot; my trusty Ford Taurus was a pleasant surprise—this car has come a long, long way—in both comfort and performance and I was able to manage much longer stretches without a break on this road trip. I had the “company” of the “Serial” podcast, a fascinating criminal case study, and I cranked through eleven out of the twelve episodes by the time arrived in familiar territory at Irvington, Westchester County, New York.
After a good night’s sleep, I walked out amid a snowstorm to take my friend’s black lab for a lap of the old pond. When I was last here in late October, the fall leaves were in full splendour. Now, in the white and grey of winter, the place took on a more sombre kind of beauty.
I decided not to linger, however. More winter weather was on the way. And amid yet another winter storm, this one named Thor, I decided it was time to warm up. It had been ages since I’d been able to step outside without a coat. And so at the last minute, i.e., the night before, I booked a flight down south. I have no idea how this will go. Nothing has been arranged in advance, and my plans are elaborate. My flight is delayed due to the weather and some plans I had for this afternoon are already in jeopardy. Nonetheless, we carry on, and improvisation is part of the fun, as is stopping to take in the sights in the name of road trip photography.
Where am I headed? Two familiar destinations, both of which I last visited in the summer of 2009. High time for an update. Stay tuned for the next entry as we begin leg two of the journey.
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