826 - Goin' Down Slow

Here’s another one tonight, this time the images of today. I didn’t manage to post it on the train, but now I’m in Carinthia, having already slept a few hours, and posting in the middle of the night seems like a good idea 🙂

I’ve made a few images in the morning, some not even bad, I took my time, but none of them even comes close to these two snaps. I shot them through the dirty rear window of the tram, just after it had left the underground passage, shortly before the train station. I still had the camera ready (in fact I almost always have), but it was a very short moment, certainly not the moment to worry about composition.

I have made two exposures, the Image of the Day focused on the outside scene, the other (to see the difference, you really have to click at both and see them bigger) focused on the dirty window.

Compositionally the Image of the Day better suits my taste. The position of the sun is dead center horizontally and on a third vertically, the masts on both sides make for a nice frame, so if I had framed the image consciously and if I had chosen the time to release the shutter in relation to the position of the train, this would have been pretty much it.

Emotionally the other image grips me stronger. The vague nature of the scene behind the tack sharp dirt of the window, that leaves so much open for interpretation, I really would have liked this to be the capture made at the right moment with the right composition. Alas, in a moving train, in face of a scenery that changes by the second, there is no chance to repeat anything, no chance to shoot the same image twice, but differently focused.

Given what I have, I choose what I choose, not without regret, but thankful too. When I went underground 15 minutes before, the light was already nicely golden, only the subjects were not available to feature it, and when I emerged from under ground, I was absolutely overwhelmed by the unexpected splendor.

While we are at choices: The Song of the Day, the blues classic “Goin’ Down Slow”, has been recorded by Eric Clapton on “Pilgrim”, one of his weaker albums, and though two of his many live performances on YouTube, here and there, are not that bad, he rather pales compared to the only other performance that I have on CD, Aretha Franklin on the 1967 album “Aretha Arrives” (also on YouTube).

And there’s much more on YouTube, for instance Lightnin’ Hopkins, Champion Jack Dupree, Eric Burden and The Animals or Muddy Waters along with Johnny Winter. When you’re looking at Jimmy Witherspoon with Don Weller, don’t give up when the song is over in the middle of the video. Don Weller then plays a fantastic sax solo that you must not miss. Or what about Tom Jones and Jeff Beck? Not exactly shabby either. Canned Heat anybody? Or what about Led Zeppelin (towards the end of this medley at around 8:30)? Duane Allman is great as well. YouTube does not have a Ray Charles version, but thankfully Deezer.com has it.

Hmm … looks like I could well while the night away like this. Pretty fantastic how much time you can spend with a single song, huh? And now: what’s your favorite version? Of the image? Of the song?