I have always loved road trips, and especially when you find a quiet, open road. The road is a guide, but to me the emptiness suggests that anything is possible. The invitation and promise of a journey are here in this image, but there are strong elements of other emotions also – desolation and wonder, and both the choice and necessity of moving forward. This photograph was taken recently, in January 2023, in Death Valley National Park in California. It was not the original plan, which was to explore the California coast, but severe rain and flooding necessitated a last second change - which to me echoed the theme of 'create the future'. Sometimes you have to be ready to switch. I used a lensbaby edge lens, which gives the image soft blurred areas around a ‘slice’ of focus. To prevent too much motion blur I use a faster shutter speed - but even with planning, some shots don’t work. Getting the shot right is extremely difficult when moving at highway speed. Using Lightroom, I brightened up the image, making sure to keep detail in the highlights of the image. The motion of the car and the blur of the lens already create a painterly feel in the image. To enhance the dreamy feeling I added the effects of ‘light leaks’ which I used to love when I worked with film. I used masks to retouch and paint selective areas of the image with colour and blur - much the way a traditional image is dodged and burned in a darkroom to sculpt the light. I wanted to emphasize the dream like feel of the image, working with lighter tones and colour.