
Lonely vertical
I travel by bus; planes are expensive and I’m not in a hurry. I know the highlands, the valleys, deserts, the coast, and a bit of the jungle. I like to take snapshots of the landscape and I’ve a method that could be useful to you.
Ready to go

Caution
In first place you need to see. To observe requires you enjoying the view from the window. Otherwise is the camera the one travelling and not you. Of course this suggestion is valid if you are like me, a guy that enjoys to travel, if you are a photographer then you can skip them. This is because there are two kind of persons, the ones that take photographs of the travels they enjoy and the other a person that travels to get photographs in a portfolio to show/sell. Rarely you can be both at the same time.
You can use any camera, just try to turn off any flash in your camera so you are not going to take photos of its reflection against the window. The problems you are going to find and their solutions are the following:
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Reflections in the window: Reduce them with a polarizer filter

Rocky castle
If you see the photograph in the blue sky and the top of the rock you can see reflections of the opposite windows of the bus. They could have been even worse but the polarizer helped to reduce to the maximum any reflection.

Little cloud
In this photograph instead the polarizer got rid of any reflection.
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Color casts from the window: use software to correct it

Towers Hill
The colors across the windows are going to be a bit twisted and sometimes funny. To correct them you can use editing software with white balance correction, there are both free and paid programs. Usually you can pick an object known to be white (a painted wall, a sign, a cloud) and it automatically correct it. Nevertheless still the colors can end different because windows aren’t made to be optical elements but protection and source of light. A raw file is easier to correct than the common jpeg file.
One thing you can do is accept that fact and take advantage of the differences in colors.
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Poles and obstacles: take quickly a second photograph

A scream in the sky
When you are traveling the car can be on the road at high speeds. So there is no way to carefully design a composition. Some like to use bracketing, I don’t like to do that, I prefer to preview in my mind how is going to change the perspective, wait until it and shot like a Jabusame (a Japanese archer on a running horse) but it’s possible that the mind reacts by instinct when there is something in the landscape. I take a photograph to discover a pole or a sign, so quickly I shot it again.
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Blown highlights: use a graduated filter

Summoning clouds
You can take a photograph and suddenly you see that this happened: the land is according to your eyes but the sky is almost white and without detail. In these cases a graduated filter is mandatory, of course you can recover in software (specially with the last cameras) but the less time you live in front of a computer the better.
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Discover stories: observe the highway

Waiting with loyalty
Along the highway there are evidences of stories. The most of them have not an obvious explanation because people in the countryside is always different. What happened to that car? Is the dog a watcher or is just resting? the scars of sun and rain in the textiles give a sense of time too. A story for a detective.
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Dirty windows give flares: take advantage of them!

Beyond the ground a luminous place
I love flares! If you don’t like them then a lens hood could help you. In my case I like how the dirty windows (they’re always dirty) transform the light and get a diffuse and low contrast image.
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Difficulty in taking photographs at twilight and night: get the most of those hours

Glazing eye
It doesn’t matter if you have a cell phone or a giant camera: in broad day they can get nice pictures. The problem is with low light, the most basic the camera the blinder it is to low light scenaries. In those circunstances a tripod and a long exposure would be the option but in a car in movement that is just impossible. In this moment technology matters and the best camera is going to give you more useable photographs. To this first photograph I used a Fujifilm X-E1 camera and a fast 1.4 fujinon lens.
If you can get a camera with a big sensor then the night is going to be open to you. Quality films have usually low sensivity to light so they aren’t suitable for these dark hours.

Somebody else in the highway
In this photograph I used my Sony R1, it has a big sensor but it’s quite old so it’s a bit blind to the night. So I used a long exposure to get the lights of the passing cars. I knew I couldn’t get a sharp photograph but I could get photographs with movement.

Four neighbors
End of the travel

Follow the line
So the travel ends, usually when the night is closer. Time to rest and be ready for the next trip…

Last bus to the city
Like the change of the sky in this series. Beautiful photos, Francis.
Greetings,
Ulli
Thank you, Ulli. That’s the change when you travel from my home at 3800 meters of altitude to the Pacific Ocean.
Happy Sunday :-)
Francis.
So the change of sky is worth the way :-)
Have a great week, Francis,
Ulli
Thank you, Ulli.
Great way for you too :)
Francis.
:-)
Great week* sorry :s
:-)
I have been taking lessons from you Francis, and have set up my iphone on a holder in the car, I leave the camera on and take pictures when I see something I like, I will post some later today. I think though it’s better to have 2 hands free holding a camera! Your shots are wonderful and you have caught some amazing landscapes and skies, but my favourite is the little dog waiting. 😊
Please, if you are driving don’t risk your life:(, I always miss you even when I read you daily so I couldn’t imagine ig something could happen for a distraction. This series is called “passenger” because I’m always in the seat as the passenget, never as the driver. Take care
It’s ok Francis, am not intending to do it again 😊
^_^ that brings me calm.
I must confess that most of the ones I took were when I was at a standstill so wasn’t really too distracted 😊
The advatnge tp move in your own vehicle. I’ll be happy to see your photographs ;-)
they’re already up, I posted earlier today :)
Yesterday was a quite busy day, it was nice to end it seeing your trips ^^
What a great post! I learned so much, and I think I need to go out and get a graduated filter for my camera. Favorite photos from this series: ‘Little Cloud’ and ‘Somebody Else on the Highway’.
Now all I have to do is get someone to drive so that I can take photos!
Thanks for sharing :)
I know for sure that there would be several volunteers to be your chauffeur ;-)
Thank you and be safe, Melissa.
What super collection of photos …
Thanks for your kind words, Julie ^^
What a fun bus trip that must have been! Was it comfortable in the bus? Wonderful photos; especially the loyal dog! Have a fantastic week, Francis. :)
This series is made from several trips, I try to choose comfortable buses :-) Nice week for you as well, dear Rose.
Another nice moment in your mind and soul.
I have to admit that my favorite one of the batch is the one of the car and the dog… ^_^
Aw, yes! the dog is quite cute! although I don’t know if he is a calm buddy, sometimes they are trained as watchers :S
Great travel journal, Francis! I hate reflections and dirty windows, and poles always jump into my frame :) You are a patient philosopher and great photographer.
Thank you, dear Inese. I miss those times traveling. Which will make me appreciate them even more when they return. Wishing you well ^^
Thank you ! :)