Model T Afford

Just A Rusty Old Hood In The Neighbourhood

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

You're wondering what on earth this photo of a rusty old vehicle could possibly have to do with flowers. Right? You're wondering if the jetlag has finally got to me. Right? You're shaking your head and thinking I've made a mistake. Right?

But did you look really carefully at the first image? Did you look beyond the rusty shell of the old automobile, beyond the wrecked radiator and beyond the ghostly, bare headlights?


Did you really notice the delicate yellow blooms on the bottom right-hand corner of the first shot? I composed it very deliberately, so that the little yellow splashes of colour would be a simple, delicate motif that might not be noticed by the casual viewer.


But I guess this photo essay is as much about life as it is about the state of this old car that was once someone's pride and joy. I guess it says that we sometimes need to look beyond the obvious to find beauty.

I took these shots at Whitehorse, about an hour after I got off the Air Canada Jazz flight from Vancouver. The sign on the front door says "Yukon Mining Company" and the flowers were probably the last burst of autumn colour.

Visit Luiz Santilli Jr for the home of Today's Flowers.

The Day That I Never Saw

Sunset Is Tuesday, But Sunrise Is Thursday

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

Because there is a time difference of seventeen hours between Melbourne, where I live, and Canada's northern reaches, where I spent the last week at the invitation of Yukon Tourism, the subtlety of the International Date Line can play tricks with us.

So when I flew to Canada midway through last week, I watched dawn break aboard a Qantas flight from Melbourne to Sydney. Then, about fifteen hours later, I watched dawn break on the same day, just before I landed in Vancouver.

But while we gain a day flying to Canada, we lose a whole day on the way back to Australia. Stay with me through this one and I'll explain how.

I photographed the sunset on Tuesday, 2nd September, halfway through my Air Canada Jazz flight AC 8448 from Whitehorse to Vancouver. Then I photographed the sun coming up the next morning, at cruising altitude aboard my Air Canada flight AC 033 from Vancouver to Sydney.


But the sunrise was the start of Thursday, 4 September. Yup, that's right. When you fly from Canada (or the US) to Australia, you lose an entire day. Gone. Disappeared. Never happened.

For the two sunset shots at the top of this post, I was actually sitting on the left of the aircraft, when I noticed the colours spreading across the sky to my right. Luckily there were a few spare seats aboard the flight, so I was able to get my camera and move to a window seat on the other side.

At around the same time, we hit a patch of turbulence and as I was trying to hold my camera steady, the "fasten seatbelt" sign came on, so my photo session came to an abrupt halt.


The next morning (above) I was sitting on the right of the Air Canada Boeing 777 non-stop from Vancouver to Sydney, so I was able to take as many shots as I wanted, as the sun rose above the Australian outback.

But I still can't account for that missing day between sunset and sunrise!


For other participants in Dot’s concept, go to Sky Watch HQ.