On the way home from work the other day, I saw a picture. It happens all the time; I’m somewhere, and a great photo op comes up. Most of the time I don’t have my rig with me. I would like that to change this year.
And so, heading home from drywalling (with appropriately dusty hands), along the Deerfoot (just shy of 16th Ave) I spotted a train. The same one I saw the day before, and to which I remarked how nice it would be to be able to photograph.
Well today was the day, and so I found my way to the 8th Ave. bridge and framed a few shots. All were taken with my Canon 20D and the Canon 70-200 L series IS. AT various focal lengths, of course. Technically, I think the photos are strong; crisp, focussed the way I wanted them to be
We’ll call this one…
Phot0 “a”
1/320th at f3.5
On this one I liked the vertical lines, the colour depth, and the alternating colour-shadow interplay. There’s also the sense of imbalance, as cars further down the track tilt into the turn.
Photo “b”
1/320th at f3.5
This one is similar to “a”, and I like it for some of the same reasons that I like the previous one. But this shot is from further down the train, and further down the turn, exposing more colour, and (I think) a more dramatic pattern. I’m big on patterns and textures and such. The landscape orientation seems to accentuate that as well.
Photo “c”
1/320th at f3.5
This one’s from even further down the train than the previous two. The train is turned a bit more, and the verticallity is now now established by the power poles. I particularly like the selective depth of field I was trying for, but because I was pushing the length here, the effect is a subtle. I would have liked to try for a bit more.
Photo “d”
1/320th at f3.5
As I’ve said, I like patterns, particularly the interplay between shadow and light. Grass has this unique quality when brilliantly lit, and I tried to play on it by shortening the field a bit and contrasting it against the shadow. I’m not sure it’s a very compelling photo (as in, whether it’s printable or not) but I like it, and digital is cheap to shoot.
Photo “e”
Another photo similar the the first two. Portrait orientation, incorporating some of the tracks, though, introduces something a bit different than any of the previous photos. Both the tracks and the train itself converge as they move into the background, and for some reason I find this pleasing.
I know, simple tastes.
Come back tomorrow for one last photo from the series. This is what I (and you) get for carrying my rig with me everywhere.