Open Only In Case of Emergency
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Did you ever ride a school bus to school? I did for several years. Some of us liked to ride in the back. Sometimes, the bus driver would give us all an extra bit of fun. He would briefly pause over a speed bump and then surge forth so the back would fly up a bit! We always laughed hysterically when he did that. This is an abandoned school bus once used by Moreno Valley Unified School District, now languishing under a full moon in the Mojave Desert in California. I photographed with night photographer Tony Donofrio, overcoming horrible gridlock, camera malfunctions, and piercing my shoe with a nail to do so. I illuminated this bus during the camera exposure with a handheld light. Thanks for looking!
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For photos, books and more, check out the kenleephotography website
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(Plate 7776) Pentax K-1/28-105mm f/3.5-5.6 lens. 2 minute exposure at night.

[MikeNArk]

Most of us have ridden on school buses. Many "Ward" school buses were manufactured in Conway, Ark. until the plant relocated. It's amazing to see how well the interior of these buses have held up. Nice capture.

[Ken Lee]

Most of us have ridden on school buses. Many "Ward" school buses were manufactured in Conway, Ark. until the plant relocated. It's amazing to see how well the interior of these buses have held up. Nice capture.

Thanks, and also, thank you for that cool information. I guess a lot of them were built solidly....although some of these, since they've been rotting out here for who knows how long, had very rusty floorboards. I didn't go in any of them. My friend, who was photographing with me the same night, almost fell through the floor. Yiiiipes!!

[Wheatridger]

There must be a story behind that.

I LOVE the composition here, with so many depths, framed off by various shapes. Meanwhile the broad focus range makes it look flatter. Excellent work!

[ToddK]

I agree with Wheatridger, the composition is really amazing to me! There are several layers of framing going on starting with the door and then through the window, and two more windows in the second bus. The lighting and colors are also what make this such a terrific image. I also rode the bus for several years. We lived several miles out of town in Montana, and on the last day of school one year, our bus broke down a couple of miles from town taking us back home. Not a good day for restless kids to be stuck waiting to get home...

[RICHARD L.]

our bus broke down a couple of miles from town taking us back home. Not a good day for restless kids to be stuck waiting to get home...

Ha Ha ! I lived one mile from school when I was in Primary School. I walked there in the morning, went home to eat dinner and returned to school for the afternoon and went back home around 4h00 PM (4 miles every day). Imagine when it is -30 degrees in winter or when there was a blizzard and a total whiteout ... Gawd, we had energy back then.

Regards

[Ken Lee]

I agree with Wheatridger, the composition is really amazing to me! There are several layers of framing going on starting with the door and then through the window, and two more windows in the second bus. The lighting and colors are also what make this such a terrific image. I also rode the bus for several years. We lived several miles out of town in Montana, and on the last day of school one year, our bus broke down a couple of miles from town taking us back home. Not a good day for restless kids to be stuck waiting to get home...

Thanks! Greatly appreciated. I was super happy with this when I saw it on the back of the camera! That instant "Wahooooo!" I get the idea more and more that this is an image that photographers like, but non-photographers, not as much. That seems to be the reaction I'm getting so far, anyway. But oh well, I like it, haha!

Hopefully you didn't get horrible weather for that two-mile walk home.

---------- Post added 06-28-22 at 01:15 AM ----------

Ha Ha ! I lived one mile from school when I was in Primary School. I walked there in the morning, went home to eat dinner and returned to school for the afternoon and went back home around 4h00 PM (4 miles every day). Imagine when it is -30 degrees in winter or when there was a blizzard and a total whiteout ... Gawd, we had energy back then.

Regards

That's a good amount of walking. I did half of what you did every day, but we thought nothing of it. And we also did it, heat or snow (I lived in the Midwest as a kid, but I'm in Southern California now, so not so much snow here unless I move to the mountains).