View Askew...

I was walking to the library today to get some work done... same route as I always take. However, when I passed by this building, as I've probably done a hundred times before, I found myself doing a Scooby-Doo double take. Something about the lines didn't look quite right. If it had only been the slope of the sidewalk against the brick I might not have even noticed it at all, but the yellow lane divider lines just barely brought it out. As stupid as I felt doing it, I instinctively brought my empty hands up and framed the shot with my thumb and forefingers. When I cropped out the storefront to the left and the parking lot to the right, and waited for the rare moments between cars zooming busily about, it really took on a timeless quality. Closing my eyes I could picture different vintage cars parked out front, making the shot perfectly at home whether in the 1950's, the 70's, the 00's or pretty much whenever.

Now admittedly, even though it was threatening to rain and I was walking at a good clip to try to beat it, I was looking for something to shoot. I had yet to take a picture today and I knew my Blip journal wouldn't fill itself! I'm only on day three, but it is interesting how my I'm already beginning to observe the world in a slightly different way... view askew indeed.

SHOT NOTES: I felt like this shot needed a vintage look... like something I would find in my parent's photo albums from the 60s. I shot it with the Olympus 'Cross Process' filter. And it may look like a deserted old side street, but this was taken on the busiest road in town with cars constantly passing by in either direction. I had to time my shot carefully and shoot it from across the street... cropping it in post so I wouldn't get killed trying to take the picture in the middle of the road. In post I also added a bit of film grain and retouched a small, but distracting red spray paint marker on the pavement.