Photo Blogging Challenge (June 2014): Vehicles

Well, once again an entire month has passed and I haven't written anything about anything and yet I have a wealth of material to write all sorts of pieces.  It's a good thing P.J. puts out his monthly challenge, otherwise I wouldn't be posting anything here.

The month of June has closed and last month's challenge was vehicles.  In reality, I wasn't sure if I'd see 5 different kinds of vehicles over the course of the month, but I figured I'd give this a go.  Many times, I'll not even think about the theme and then when it comes time to put the post together, the photos just jump out at me.  That's pretty much what happened this month.  Dictionary.com identifies the word vehicle as 

"any means in or by which someone travels or something is carried or conveyed; a means of conveyance or transport: a motor vehicle; space vehicles."

I decided to take this literally, which means you're going to see some traditional kinds of vehicles and some non-traditional vehicles as well.  So, without further ado, here's my contribution to the theme of vehicle.

1.  Train show

Nearing the end of the school year, I was approached by one of my students who gave me some tickets to a model train show which was held at the Ontario Convention Center, just south of our school.  Model train owners take their vehicles very seriously as they strive to make realistic layouts in which to run their trains around.  This engine was being run on a modular layout, which means each module had to conform to certain standards so they would all connect together to form one large layout.

2.  In flight

I will be the first one to admit, that I just got plain lucky on this shot.  There are times when I want to believe that I'm a great photographer, but I know my craft and skill pale in comparison to many other photographers I've seen on Flicker and elsewhere.  The wings of the bee are the vehicle in this shot and I've been hoping ever since I took this shot several years ago, to replicate it.  I have had varying degrees of success over the years and I finally was able to get this bee hovering near the flowers.  

The trick is your depth of field and a fast shutter speed.  You need a fairly large depth of field to make sure everything stays in focus and you also need a fast shutter speed to slow down the beating of the bee's wings.  I felt, with this shot, that focus was more important and so the wings are just a blur, but I got the bee hovering near the flowers, so I'll count that as a victory.

3.  30s era Packard

I love old cars.  If I had an unlimited supply of funds, I think I'd own several different cars from various time periods.  But I'd own them so I could drive them around.  Nothing's more depressing, I think, than to know that people own classic cars like this and then they just keep them housed in warehouses or in their garages for only themselves or a few select friends to enjoy.  

I think half the enjoyment of vehicles like this is the stares you can get as you drive around town in a car like this.  I know I'm very guilty of doing that exact same thing.  I've pulled out my camera from time to time to take photos and I've had people actually slow down so I could get a good shot of their car.

A couple of years ago, when my son and I were camping in Zion National Park, there was a group of car aficionados who belonged to a Franklin car club.  They would drive their cars around to promote the club and to enjoy their cars and for others to enjoy them as well.  That particular year, they were doing a circle tour of southern Utah and northern Arizona.

I spotted this 30s era Packard in the parking lot at out local community center when I went to vote in early June.  I didn't have my camera with me when I went to vote, so I voted, went home, then came back and it was fortunately still there.

4.  Abandoned truck

In early June, I helped a friend with his trek on the John Muir Trail.  I'm not in shape to hike 211 miles in 14 days, but I was willing to help him shuttle his truck up to the exit point for the hike and then take him around to the starting point in Yosemite National Park.  

After we dropped off his truck at Whitney Portal which is at the base of Mt. Whitney, we then worked our way up the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada, camping near Mammoth Lakes, CA and Lee Vining, before camping the last night in Tuolumne Meadows, in Yosemite.  

One of the days was devoted to geocaching and sightseeing.  One of the places I'd never been before was Bodie, CA, which is the official historic ghost town of California.  It's located out in the middle of nowhere off of Highway 395, close to the California/Nevada state line.  The ghost town is kept in "arrested decay" meaning they don't let things get too bad that they collapse.

As I look at this shot,  you can't help but wonder what kinds of stories this old truck could tell.  It's not conveying anything today, cargo-wise, but it probably helped someone out in the town of Bodie many years ago.

5.  Friendship

The vehicle for this shot is the Internet.  This is my friend Steve on the left and that grizzled old fart on the right is me.  Steve and I met in the fall of 1984 when I started teaching at Cucamonga Middle School, so we've now known each other for 30 years.  

About 14 years ago, Steve left the school and moved to Visalia, California to pursue teaching at the community college level.  Had this happened 100 years ago, the friendship would have probably ended.  Postal service might have conveyed some letters back and forth, but we probably would never have seen each other again.

Because of instant communication now available to us, friendships like this can continue on.  Through my travels around the state, mostly while camping, I've been through or near Visalia enough times that we've been able to see each other several times.  I can count four times for sure: once when my son and I were camping in Sequoia National Park, once when I was taking my daughter up to school in Stockton, CA, once when my wife and I were coming home from Stockton after visiting my daughter and this weekend after I finished helping my son move into his new place in Merced, California.

Steve and I have maintained our friendship via email, and will continue to do so in the future.  I spent an hour and a half with him and his lovely wife Joan Monday afternoon having lunch while we caught up on what all of our kids were doing.  It might have been longer, except that Steve had a class to teach at his school, but I'm sure there will be other opportunities for us to get together again in the future.

And that's my addition to P.J.'s photo blogging theme of vehicles this month.  Please stop by his blog page and see how others interpreted the theme vehicles.