Category Archives: Trip Report

Trip Report – Rosie the Riveter

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This past November, Lerro Productions hosted their second Rosie the Riveter themed photo shoot at the Strasburg Railroad.  Several scenes were created in both the machine shop and the engine house depicting everything from hot riveting to toasting bread with an aceteline torch.  As usual, everyone had a great time and made some fantastic images.  Here’s a few of my favorites:

Washing the Locomotive:

Third Shift Lunch Break:

Sparks:

Rivet Heater:

Late Afternoon Break:

Cooking with Gas:

Rosie:

Thanks again to Pete for all the hard work in setting this up, to Dave for his assistance in hosting us, to Jenny, Kathrynne, Jenna, Andrea, Ginny, Shelley, Chris, Sarah and Cassie for  their willingness to model and to the railroad for allowing these shoots to happen!  Can’t wait for the next one!

Trip Report – Colorado Fall Color 2016 Part 1

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Last fall I had the opportunity to attend two photo charters in Colorado, so I extended the trip to allow time to visit a couple of national parks.  First up was Mesa Verde National Park. Created on June, 29th, 1906 by Theodore Roosevelt, Mesa Verde National Park was the first of it’s kind. All prior National Parks were created to preserve nature. Mesa Verde was established to preserve the works of man.

I only had one afternoon to visit Mesa Verde this time, but that was more than enough time to capture the two images I had in mind. First was sunset at Square Tower House:

Square Tower House Sunset

Second was the Milky Way over Park Point:

As a bonus I got a post sunset shot of the old Knife Edge Road that served as the entrance to the park for many years.  The went around the rock formation to the left in the image below, literally only one car width wide.  Thankfully they’ve built a wider road to replace it:

After finishing with the milky way shots, I headed north to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.  More on that in Part 2.

Trip Report – Atlanta

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Atlanta Skyline

I made a quick trip to Atlanta last weekend for the American Association of Woodturners annual symposium.  While I was there I managed to squeeze in some photography. 

Above is a blue hour shot from Jackson Street Bridge which is the classic location for photos of the Atlanta skyline. 

Below are two shots from The Varsity which happens to be another great location for photos of the Atlanta skyline. All of the red neon looks great at blue hour.

The Varsity

The Varsity

Trip Report – Western Maryland Scenic Railroad 734

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This past February I attended a photo charter at the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad hosted by Lerro Productions.  The charter included a full day of photography on the railroad plus a night session at Cumberland Station.  With 734 almost out of operating days before a required major rebuild, the charter sold out quickly as many photographers wanted to spend one more day with one of their favorite locomotives.  As it turns out, due to a landslide on the line a couple of weeks after the charter, this would be the last time 734 ran all the way to Frostburg.

After lunch the clouds rolled in, so rather than shoot in poor lighting, a couple of us elected to head back to the caboose and ride with the brakeman for the rest of the afternoon.  This turned into a portrait shoot since this particular crew member takes great pride in accurately dressing the part for these photo shoots.


  

Finally, 734 was parked in front Cumberland Station for one last night session before her rebuild.  What made this on unusual is that she was turned facing East when most night sessions had her facing West to take advantage of the water spout at the other end of the station.

It will be a few years before 734 is running again since the railroad is focusing on restoring C&O 1309.  Current reports indicate that the WMSR’s “new” steam locomotive will be running next year.  As always in the world of steam preservation, “it’ll be done when it’s ready.”

Trip Report – Light City Baltimore

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Light City Baltimore is a new event in downtown Baltimore, Maryland, featuring light based art installations, musical acts and theatrical performances. The event ran for a full week from March 28th – April 3rd.  The main feature of the event was the Light Art Walk located around the Inner Harbor which included a number of light based art installations.  In between were several stages for musical and theatrical performances.  Here’s a few of my favorites from this year:

LightWave – Baltimore’s Beacon:

Antique Baltimore Police Department Patrol Car:

Community Beacons – Making Waves:

Peacock:

Projected Aquaculture:

Theatre of Fire:

Voyage:

The shooting conditions were challenging with brightly lit art outside in the dark, and I found the balance between including the surrounding context and avoiding over exposing the art difficult.  Most of my best shots occurred during sunset or blue hour when the balance in exposure between the two could be found.  Fortunately the event seemed to be a success, so hopefully I’ll have another chance to shoot it next year.

Trip Report – Reading & Northern 2016

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As I mentioned last week, Lerro Productions hosted a two day photo charter in February on the Reading Blue Mountain & Northern featuring their steam locomotive, Reading & Northern 425.  This was the railroad’s first real photo charter and by all accounts, it was a very successful trip.  The first day featured snowy weather and took us from Port Clinton to the Lehigh Gorge and then back to Jim Thorpe for a night session.  The second day started in Lehigh Gorge and then back to Port Clinton.  While it rained almost the entire second day, the rain hitting the snow created an awesome ground fog which made for some interesting photos.  Here’s a few of my favorites:

Glen Onoko Rock Cut

Independence Bridge

Tamaqua Tunnel

Independence Signals
Lehigh Gorge - Independence Signals

Jim Thorpe Station

Hunter Street Tunnel

King Coal

As always, the Lerro Productions crew put on a great event and the railroad put on a great show. Hopefully this is the first of many charters on the Reading & Northern.

Trip Report – Great Smoky Mountains National Park 2015 – Part 3 – Cades Cove

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For the final part of my Great Smoky Mountains 2015 Trip Report, we’ll visit my favorite place in the park – Cades Cove.

Cades Cove is home to several homesites, churches, and lots of wildlife, making it a great place for photography. Here’s a few of my favorites from last fall:
Cable Mill

Cable Mill

Cades Cove Methodist Church

Cades Cove Methodist Church

Hyatt Lane Sunrise

Hyatt Lane Sunrise

Becky Cable Home

Becky Cable Home

Primitive Baptist Church Road

Cades Cove - Primitive Baptist Church Road

Tipton Barn

Tipton Barn

Sparks Lane Sunrise

Sparks Lane Sunrise

Thanks for following along.  If you missed the the first two parts you can find them here:  Part 1  Part 2

Trip Report – Great Smoky Mountains National Park 2015 – Part 2 – Sunsets & Night Photography

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Sunset - Clingman's Dome

The clear skies that made waterfall photography difficult did create opportunities for great sunset and night photography on Clingman’s Dome and along the Newfound Gap road.

Sunsets on Clingman’s Dome are fun to watch.  On a clear day just before sunset a line of photographers appear along the edge of the parking lot to get the classic shot of the sun dropping behind the distant mountains. Stick around after the sun disappears and the colors turn from oranges and purples to pastel pinks and blues.

Twilight - Clingman's Dome

For a little different perspective, a climb to the top of the observation platform gets you above the tree tops.  If you decide to make the climb, allow plenty of time.  The path is steep and at high elevation.

Sunset Clingman's Dome

Once it’s dark enough for the Milky Way to appear, the trees at Clingman’s Dome and the overlooks on Newfound Gap Road make interesting foregrounds.

Clingman’s Dome Trail:

Milky Way - Clingman's Dome

Milky Way - Clingman's Dome

Morton Overlook:

Milky Way - Morton Overlook

That’s it for Part 2.  If you missed it, please have a look at Part 1 of the trip report.  Check back in two weeks for Part 3 – Cades Cove.

Trip Report – Great Smoky Mountains National Park 2015 – Part 1 – Waterfalls & Cascades

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Spruce Flats Falls

Following the Cass Fall Photography Workshop, I made the trip down to Pigeon Forge to see the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for the first time.  My two priorities for the trip were spending time in Cades Cove and shooting as many waterfalls as possible.  While I was successful on the first goal, sunny weather all week made waterfall photography a challenge.  But the sunny weather brought great sunsets and clear night skies on Clingman’s Dome so like all photography adventures, it was just a matter of chasing the light.

To keep the length reasonable, I’m going to split the trip report into three sections:  Waterfalls & Cascades, Sunsets & Night Photography and Cades Cove.

First up is Waterfalls.  As I mentioned earlier, many of the waterfalls are difficult to shoot on bright sunny days.  Dappled light and harsh shadows make for a difficult exposure, so instead of hiking the waterfalls back to back as I planned, getting decent waterfall shots became a game of shooting in the shadows.  After some quick research on the topography surrounding the waterfalls, I was able to guess when the surrounding hills would leave them in shadow, making for an easier exposure.

Big Creek Cascades - Autumn

Big Creek Cascades

Midnight Hole

Midnight Hole

Midnight Hole Cascades

Midnight Hole Cascades

Mouse Creek Falls

Mouse Creek Falls

Baskins Creek Falls

Baskins Creek Falls

Grotto Falls

Grotto Falls

Laurel Falls

Laurel Falls

Lynn Camp Cascades

Lynn Camp Cascades

Spruce Flats Falls

Spruce Flats Falls

All things considered, I’m happy with the waterfall shots I was able to get and since I didn’t get them all, I guess I’ll have to go back!

Check back in two weeks for Part 2 – Sunset & Night Photography.

 

Trip Report – Cass Photography Workshop 2015

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Last fall, I attended the Cass Photography Workshops, hosted by Walter Scriptunas II and Clayton Spangler at the Cass Scenic Railroad State Park.  Walter and Clayton put on a great workshop filled with many different types of photographic opportunities ranging from details to human interest to trains, plus some classroom instruction on photo editing.  As usual it was a fun event and one I’m looking forward to attending again.
Saturday started with the traditional three train race and triple header runbys:

Later in the day we did some human interest shots on one of the company house porches and in the jail:

Saturday evening ended with a night shoot at the water tank featuring both broad scenes of the locomotive and tighter human interest shots:

Sunday started with a trip up the mountain in the fog.  The Pocahontas Supply Company truck made an appearance at Back Mountain Road crossing and a hunter and his hound posed for us at Gum Road crossing.

 

Since I was heading to the Great Smoky Mountains Monday morning, I stayed in Cass Sunday night allowing time to catch the Whittaker train at the second bridge:

 

Clear skies Sunday night created opportunities for the Milky Way shots around the Mill Ruins that had alluded the group on Saturday night:

Thanks again to Walter and Clayton for putting on a great workshop and to the folks at the Cass Scenic Railroad and The Cass Scenic Railroad State Park for hosting us.