In cars

"Here in my car,
Where the image breaks down,
Will you visit me please,
If I open my door,
In cars" - Gary Newman, Cars

Colour, form and motion, an irresistible combination for me and one perfectly expressed by cars in motion.

By tracking cars in motion on a low shutter speed I was able to convey a sense of their speed as they zoomed past and the amount of contrast I could get from one picture to the next in terms of colour was really exciting.

Finally by capturing pictures before and after the rain swept in and the streets became glistening rivers I was able to capture the trails of the moon across the sky. Or the gleam of a road turned to molten gold by the flickering street lamps.

I have to say that from all of this I found there is only one way to live when taking pictures of the night and its in cars.

Perfect blue buildings

Asleep in perfect blue buildings,
Beside the green apple sea,
Gonna get me a little oblivion, baby,
Try to keep myself away from me
- Counting Crows

Looking upwards in any city and you might find yourself wondering if you've accidentally become lost in some alien world. Glass spires and concrete walls might rise to the sky, surrounding you on either sides.

Or you might find yourself dazzled by the flashes of the sun, glinting off the sides of an otherworldly temples to capitalism and profit. You might find statues carved in dedication to legions of inquiring minds, gods or angels.

And above all of this a dome of perfect blue, like a glass wall designed to protect you from a great, azure sea.

These designs are our mark upon the world, our attempt to create true beauty in it, a way for us to impose our idea order upon the world, or perhaps a way to protect ourselves from the impermanence of it?

In any case it pays to look up once in a while and dream of buildings lost in a blue sky.