Category Archives: Through The Lens

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.

Through The Lens 79 – Cattleya ‘William Gee Grade A’

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Blc. William Gee Grade A

A plant from my Dad’s Cattleya Orchid collection.  Brassolaeliocattleya ‘William Gee Grade A’ is a beautiful white cattleya with a yellow throat.

Photographing anything white like this is a challenge.  There’s a fine line too bright and too dark.  If you go too bright, the overexposed highlights will cause you to loose the fine details and texture.  Too dark and the white turns into a bland gray.  If you’re trying to shoot something like this, watch the histogram and make sure you have the highlight warnings turned on in your camera.  A few “blinkies” here and there is ok since you want some pure white in the frame.

Through The Lens 78 – Time Warp

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The East Broad Top Railroad in Orbisonia, PA is one of those places where time stands still.  This shot of the roundhouse was taken this past January but could have easily been taken a half century ago.

I’ll post a trip report next Tuesday.

Through The Lens 77 – The Mighty J

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The Norfolk & Western Class “J” 611 is an incredible machine. She was designed to pull the N&W’s premiere passenger trains at speeds up to 100mph. As the only example of this class of locomotive to survive the scrapper’ torch, we’re lucky she’s operational today.

In the photo above, we see her rolling past the former N&W Freight House in Roanoke.  The site is now home to the Virginia Museum of Transportation.

Last week was the third weekend I photographed her this spring. Watch for the trip Report in a couple of weeks.

Through The Lens 76 – Painted Wall

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As magma cools and solidifies, water becomes concentrated, making the remaining magma more fluid.  That last bit of magma to cool moves easily into the cracks in the surrounding rock before cooling and forming a type of granite called Pegmatite.  The light colored streaks at Painted Wall in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park are an impressive example of this phenomenon.  For reference, those are full size trees above the rim of the canyon.  At 2,250 feet high, Painted Wall is Colorado’s tallest cliff.

The patterns in the rock look great in black & white too.

Check back Tuesday for the long overdue Part 2 of my Colorado Fall Color Trip Report.

Through The Lens 75 – Rosie the Riveter

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I recently finished editing my photos from last November’s Rosie the Riveter shoot hosted by Lerro Productions at the Strasburg Railroad. I saw a similar shot at a previous shoot and wanted to try it myself.  I’m happy with the results but I learned that its difficult to find a good composition while trying to get the blue glow from the brazing torch to reflect in the goggles.  There’s a very small sweet spot where the reflection occurs.

Check back next Tuesday for the full trip report.

Through The Lens 74 – Wishes

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In honor of Walt Disney World’s Wishes fireworks which ran its final show last night, I thought I’d share one of my favorite photos of the show.  The impressive amount of pyrotechnics, launched from the castle, the adjacent building roofs and the main launch site behind the Magic Kingdom made this show a favorite of mine. While the show was impressive from inside the park, watching it from across the lagoon really showed the scale of the show.

Through The Lens 73 – Cheat River Trains

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Continuing on last week’s theme of trains in the rain, here’s one from Cass Railfan Weekend a couple of years ago. A special trip was run on the Durbin & Greenbriar Valley Railroad along the Cheat River and as was typical during Railfan Weekend, it rained.

Through The Lens 72 – Shay in the Rain

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Taken a couple of years ago during a photo charter at the Cass Scenic Railroad, this shot of Shay #11 at the Bald Knob Wye has long been a favorite of mine.  The fog in the distance and the rain streaking through the shot create a great mood for the shot if it had simply been cloudy.

When the passenger train stopped to drop us off at this location, it was drizzling rain.  By the time we were in position under a dense canopy of spruce trees, the skies opened up and the rain started to pour down, which shows up nicely in this shot taken with a telephoto lens.  As soon as the runby was over the rain stopped again.  Couldn’t have worked out better if we planned it!