The Balcony, Theatre Royal, Newcastle

New Journal 10 – The bus journey

Liam Neeson, my hopes were on you. You failed to deliver. We’d been on the bus from El Calafate to Bariloche for 20 uncomfortable hours. I needed joy in my life. We’d already watched 2 bad movies. Taken 2 had just begun. I whispered to Rachel ‘I have a very particular set of skills. I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you’.

She didn’t get the quote, which may be because I couldn’t remember word-for-word his line in Taken.

I was looking for action, excitement, revenge! I think I was seeking revenge against the old lady whose seat had been crushing my knees for 10 hours. I would gratify that need for revenge through Liam. The more he killed in his quest, the better I’d feel about knee-crusher – my bus nemesis.

We took the bus because it was the most direct way of getting to Bariloche. Argentinian and Chilean buses have a reputation for being downright luxurious, with food and beverages included. We even paid for executive class. We’d have our own T.V and bed-seats. I was looking forward to this.

Last time I took a monumental bus journey was in Australia 10 years ago. I went from Adelaide to Perth in 36 hours or so, I think. I crossed the Nullarbor plain. Nothingness passed by the windows for mile upon mile. It was barren. A drunk aboriginal chap stole my favourite miniature  red pillow when we stopped to go to the toilet. When I got back on the bus I noticed him using it. I snatched it from under his head and called him a few bad words.

I noticed a long trail of snots all down my pillow. I looked at him again, prepared for confrontation. He was sound asleep, snoring like a pig. I threw my little pillow in the bin.

As we boarded the bus to Bariloche and made ourselves comfortable, we weighed up the other passengers getting on the bus. We were deciding who we would rather not have sitting in front of us. We were at the back. We didn’t have to worry about people behind us, kicking our seats. Eventually a mother and child sat in front of us, the young boy was in front of me. Was this a good or bad thing? I couldn’t decide. He wouldn’t have the body mass to knock the chair against my knees. What if he was one of those happy kids who interact with other people? I wouldn’t want that. Buses are serious business.

In the end, he slept like a baby and didn’t give me a reason to scare him with evil-face. It wasn’t until half-way through the journey that Morag the Merciless took his place and began the slow torture of my legs.

One of the biggest challenges of the bus journey, initially, was when I went to the toilet and saw a big ‘No solids’ sign and a red line across a person sitting on the toilet. Hmm, no Number twos for a long time…or at least not solid ones. I wondered if there was a way to liquefy it before it comes out.

As the Patagonian countryside rolled past, our bones grew more uncomfortable. Liam killed a lot of people but he didn’t have the same bite as in the first Taken. At one point before the action really kicked in, he used a cool, cheesy line. I punched the air and said ‘And so it begins’. Maybe the movie, like the bus, wasn’t that bad – my expectations may have been too high.

We zombied our way towards a taxi to our hotel once we got to Bariloche. When we arrived at our hotel we fell into the bed and praised all manner of gods for the invention of flat and fluffy lying surfaces. I opened my computer. I was surprised to see how many incredible comments my last post received on facebook. I was filled with a renewed energy and decided to enjoy a cold beer on the balcony of the hotel, which overlooks a stunning lake.

Needless to say, sleep came easily last night.

Today’s Photo – The Balcony at Theatre Royal, Newcastle

One of the most important things about this image was allowing there to be prominent shadowed areas. In HDR we often try to avoid clipping wherever possible, but often shadows have their own stories to tell and influence mood as much as any other part of an image. I also made an effort to bring out details and lighten the edge of the curtains either side of the image, to strengthen the framing effect.

Before the Joys of Post-Processing