Along the Journey...

In October 2009, I went on a road trip with a friend of mine from Sacramento to Denver.  The final leg of the trip was Salt Lake City to Denver which I did on my own via Amtrak.  For 15 hours I was on the rails through some of the most scenic areas in the country.  During that day, Denver received a foot of snow which also fell in some of the mountain areas.  If you are not familiar with weather in Colorado, a large amount of snow along the front range does not always equal a huge snow west of the continental divide.  As I rode the train I took pictures of some of the scenes along the way using my phone as the only method of capturing and processing the images.  To get an idea of the ride and the snow east of the divide, I shot a short video after leaving the Moffat Tunnel which passes through the divide.

The challenge with taking the images on the train is you don’t control the speed of the train and where you will be at a specific time.  Additionally if you don’t have the camera or image capturing device against the window some reflections will show in the image as well, even limiting the subject matter more.  Putting through these external factors, I captured the images below during the ride through the Rockies.

By the time I the train reached Green River, Utah I had given up on napping as day time had joined the trip.

As I approached Grand Junction the snow started showing up in the hills on a wet day.

Leaving Grand Junction timing the shutter on the phone so that it would capture a road started became a challenge.

Near almost all of the train tracks I have seen there are power lines, and this line was no different.  Looking ahead while taking pictures allowed me to plan for this image as we continued to move east.

Continuing east bound along the Colorado River more snow is evident.

More roads near the tracks.

Nearing Glenwood Springs there were still the sign of fall colors in late October.

Every so often we would pass rail cars on the side which made a nice scene, if the car could be timed correctly in the frame.

As we progressed towards Denver extra track would appear on occasion allowing me to capture the motion.

Near Granby the scenery was quite amazing in the late afternoon sun and the hint of snow.

as the train continued along rivers towards the divide.

and one more as we passed a bend in the river.

After passing through the tunnel to the east side of the divide, darkness quickly fell and the snowfall amounts increased as well.

Once in Denver, we waited to back in to Union Station as Denver does not have a through track.

Finally after more than 14 hours on the train, we arrived at Union Station in Denver.

All of these images were taken with my iPhone with some with no editing and others using CameraBag with the iPhone to handle processing.  is there a trip you took where you captured the way on a small camera or phone?

During the month of February, these were the top iPhone pictures as indicated by your on Facebook and Twitter.

Shadow on the Ground

Walking down the sidewalk from the library to drop off some books, I noticed the morning light creating a nice shadow from the angled light.  Overlapping the gaps in the sidewalk it more for the image above.

Car Door Handle

On a cold morning a light frost gathered on some cars, and as I took out the garbage I noticed the frost on an old car across the way.  Playing with the angle, I wanted to capture part of the car but also the element of frost to help tell the story of the object.  It took a few times to get the angle I was look for, but the result was the whole car handle and just enough of the car and frost.

Inside a Light Bulb

On the windows at gallery nrc there are a set of cafe lights.  While playing with the phone, I was able to change the exposure and through the clear bulb have the camera meter on the filament which was generating the light.  The result was the hot light of the power being generated from the small bulb.

Check back in April for the top images from March.  You may view these images as they are posted on Twitter or our Facebook Fan Page.  Your comments and retweets help pick the top images for the month.

While a little late, the top images for the month of January have been picked from the daily posts and are now a part of the Along the Journey… gallery.

You may recall, Along the Journey… is a collection of images taken with an iPhone during the normal course of the day.  Inspired from the work of Chase Jarvis and others it is a creative outlet to explore new ideas while using a mobile phone.  Editing of the photos is done “in camera” with an iPhone application keeping to the goal of creativity and composition.

Gate at Denver Art Museum

I had walked past the Denver Art Museum many times, however this was the first time I noticed this gate on the older building which makes up the museum.  With the strong colors of the gate, I wanted to keep those the main part of the image in addition to keeping it known that it was indeed a gate.

Fence Post Along Tennyson

Walking along Tennyson Street in the Berkeley District of Denver, I noticed a few properties which had fence posts and chains on them.  This one had the added element of grass near it which caught my eye on a cold January day.

Pipes on a Building

I was taking out the garbage at gallery nrc, and noticed the pipes on the back of the building and how they were mirroring the plant growth.  With the combining of the two, I used the morning light to grab an image to bring both aspects into the frame.

Check back next week for the February 2010 Along the Journey images.

Along the Journey… is a collection of images taken with an iPhone during the normal course of the day.  Inspired from the work of Chase Jarvis and others it is a creative outlet to explore new ideas while using a mobile phone.  Editing of the photos is done “in camera” with an iPhone application keeping to the goal of creativity and composition.

Telephone Poles in the Snow

This image was taken while on Amtrak in October 2009, but was posted as a daily picture in December.  Photographing while traveling in a train was quite a challenge.  The key is to be aware of the lag time in your camera as well as what is approaching.  Seeing what is approaching may not be always the same as what is in front of you, but that adds to the challenge.

Railing in the Snow

December brought some snow to Denver early in the month.  With the warmer pavement the snow melted quickly, allowing for the contrast of white and dark to stand out especially when adjusting the contrast levels.

Colma BART Station

Using what was learned from the Amtrak trip in October, I applied this to a trip to the Bay Area.  Taking BART from the San Francisco airport, I explored some of the same techniques and the sense of motion.

Suitcase

At the airport everyone is waiting in line.  While getting breakfast, this suitcase stood in front of me in line (yes the owner was next to it).  Grabbing a picture of the suitcase on it’s own took a creative angle on my side.  But the goal of getting the suitcase in an open space was achieved.

Walking through the Airport

At the airport, everyone is in a state of movement.  While waiting for a flight at the end of November, I noticed that and from my chair tried to grab some of these images.  This idea of people of movement at the airport was inspired by a series of work done by Missoula photographer Bob McGowan.