Personal Property

"Ladies and Gentleman, please keep hands and arms inside the car at all times while the ride is in motion."

I’m attempting to master the art of taking pictures from a moving car.  

I’ve learned that there is some sort of correlation between the speed of the car and the angle of the camera.  If I'd learned a thing in high school about math or science (haha), I could probably tell you the physics principle at play.  But I can't.  I took my senior year AP Chem final with a pen and no calculator.  If I couldn't figure out the answer in 30 seconds or less, I chose "C".  But anyhow - bottom line: I'm mostly shooting from the hip.

So I have learned that above 30 miles per hour on a crap road, the effort is wasted. I’ve also learned that it makes me an even bigger mark. I know this because the driver, A.B., and I have a deal – I look like a ridiculous American with my hand out the window attempting to perfect the art of the moving car pictures and he keeps an eye out for “places of thieves”. 

Let me define: “places of thieves” are high crime areas where I am at high risk for someone reaching into the car and snatching my camera out of my hand.

To address this risk, A.B. and I have an unspoken arrangement. I take pictures at will and when we enter a “place of thieves” he rolls up my window and says, “Rachel, this is a place of thieves”. I never really know … just all of the sudden my window is rolling up and the auto-lock on the door is activated.



And then my pictures are even worse because they now fight the glare of the glass.

Because this is a blog that cares, I've taken pictures of "places that thieve" and am sharing them with you here: