Author Archives: Michael Summers

Trip Report – Locust Heights & Western

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As I mentioned in last week’s post, I recently attended a photo charter on the Locust Heights & Western Railroad in Clarksburg, WV.  The LH&W RR is a “backyard” railroad built by the late Keith Mason along with his family and friends.  Today the Mason Family and their dedicated team of volunteers keep Mr. Mason’s passion for railroading alive, operating most Wednesday evenings from June through October.

The LH&W RR has been on my photography “to do” list for several years, so I jumped at the opportunity to attend a photo charter, especially with the proceeds going toward the cost of recently completed boiler repairs.  Charter organizers, Matt Wilson and Walter Scriptunas, put on a great combination of daytime runbys and a night photo session.  The Mason Family and Railroad Volunteers even dressed the part, allowing the charter participants to make some timeless images.

The Flats:

First Crossing:

Lumberjacks:

The Woods:

Feeding the Fire:

Late night in the Yard:

Night Session Outtake:

Thanks again, to Matt, Walter, The Mason Family and the dedicated team of volunteers that keep this wonderful place running!  I had a great time and I’m looking forward to the next one.

Through The Lens 87 – Locust Heights & Western

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Last Saturday I had the opportunity to attend a photo charter at the Locust Heights  & Western Railroad in Clarksburg West Virginia.  The LH&WRR is a “backyard” railroad operated by the Mason Family and their team of dedicated volunteers.  They typically only operate on Wednesday evenings, June through October so this photo excursion was a special opportunity.

Look for a trip report Tuesday.

Trip Report – Colorado Fall Color 2016 Part 3

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Continuing on from Part 2, the next stop was Maroon Bells for sunrise. Located in the Snowmass Wilderness, this is a very popular sunrise photo location. Unfortunately a storm was blowing through so I didn’t get the alpine glow sunrise that you typically see here. Instead I got a nice pre-dawn shot (above) with some stars visible between the clouds and a late morning shot when the sun came out and the wind stopped just long enough to get a decent reflection in the lake.
From there I traveled south over Independence Pass, stopping at a couple of spots to take photos of the spectacular landscape before heading to Great Sand Dunes National Park.

The Ghost Town of Independence:

Roaring Fork River:

Snow Squall:

Twin Lakes:

I arrived at Great Sand Dunes in a windstorm, so I didn’t spend much time on the dune field.  Clouds over the park with clear skies to the west provided some nice storm light on the Dunes.

Dune field from the Entrance Road:

Dunes from the Entrance Road

High Dune Hikers:

Dunefield Storm Light:

Look for Part 4 covering the two railroad photo charters this trip was centered around in a couple of weeks.

Through The Lens 86 – Maroon Bells

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Maroon Bells is a popular location to photograph sunrise in Colorado, especially in the fall when the aspen trees on both sides of the lake turn gold.  A storm was blowing through the morning I was there, so we didn’t have the typical alpine sunrise reflected in the lake. There was a short break in the clouds after sunrise that allowed the photographers assembled at the lake to get a couple of photos before the clouds closed in again.

I’ll post Part 3 of my Colorado Fall Trip Report on Tuesday, covering Maroon Bells, Independence Pass and Great Sand Dunes National Park.

Through The Lens 85 – Ravens Roost Adding Scale

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Ravens Roost Overlook Sunset

Since a number of folks liked my previous post from Ravens Roost Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway, I thought I’d share another.

I usually don’t include people in my landscape photos because they’re often distracting elements.  But on the rare occasion when they’re standing in the right spot, its nice to include people to add a sense of scale.  After other photographers had moved on to other locations at the overlook, I found a composition that allowed me to include two people between the trees.

Through The Lens 84 – Chasing the J

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Christiansburg Grade

Half the fun of photography is the experience behind each image.  In the case of this image, I’ll never forget the sound of N&W 611 crawling up the grade outside Christiansburg pulling a 19 car train while doing her best Mt. Vesuvius impression, or the moment when the exhaust hit the underside of the highway bridge we were standing on, lifting the bridge upward.

 

Through The Lens 83 – Ravens Roost Overlook

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Ravens Roost Overlook Sunset

This photo of sunset at Ravens Roost Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway is another case of luck favoring the prepared.  I was driving from work in Baltimore down to Roanoke for Memorial Day Weekend to photograph N&W 611 on her trips out of Roanoke.  During lunch at work I took a couple of minutes to look up potential sunset locations on the the Blue Ridge Parkway just in case I was ahead of schedule and had time to head back up the parkway after checking into my hotel.  Four traffic accidents on I-81 turned a 4 hour drive into 7 hours, but remembering one photo I saw of an overlook at the North end of the parkway, I turned east on I-64 with just enough time to get to Ravens Roost Overlook before sunset.  Sometimes you just get lucky.

Through The Lens 82 – Monocacy National Battlefield

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14th New Jersey Monument - Sunrise

14th New Jersey Monument at Sunrise on the 150th Anniversary.  I managed to get a couple of photos early the morning of the anniversary before heading to work.

The 153rd anniversary on the Battle that Saved Washington is this coming Sunday.

Through The Lens 81 – Happy Independence Day

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Yes, I know I’m a couple of days early, but since I post these on Fridays, this is as close as we’re going to get.  Anyway, this one is from a few years back.  I’ve only shot the Washington DC Independence Day fireworks from the Marine Corps Memorial one time and found it to be a very difficult exposure.  The monument is so dark compared to the fireworks that most of what I got was either badly overexposed fireworks or an underexposed monument.  Fortunately I got one good frame out of that attempt.  Maybe I’ll try it again someday.

Happy Independence Day!

 

Through The Lens 80 – The Last Circus Train

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When Feld Entertainment announced they were closing the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus, I hoped I would have a chance to see the RBBBX Circus Train that was used to move the performers and equipment from city to city.  There were two such trains, the Red Unit and the Blue Unit, one for each of the two traveling shows.  Both trains were a mile long, making them the largest passenger trains on the rails.

With the Blue Unit running 3 hours ahead of schedule May 8th on its way from Charleston WV to Long Island NY, there was little chance I would be able to catch it after work and in the daylight the next day.  Mechanical issues caused an 8 hour delay in Roanoke VA, which allowed me to catch the train between Shepherdstown WV and Sharpsburg, MD.  Sometimes you just get lucky, this was one of those times.