May 2015: Jeremiah Lietke
Our second installment in a monthly series profiling up-and-coming railroad photographers joins us from Vancouver, Washington at the age of 16 years old. Jeremiah Lietke, a high school student attending Mountain View High School has had an interest in railroads since a three-way meet between Amtrak’s Cascades, Coast Starlight, and the Portland section of the Empire Builder during a visit to Vancouver’s Amtrak Station as a toddler. He attributes this encounter to his interest in trains and railroad photography today.
Jeremiah’s interests in capturing railroads didn’t begin with photography. In the summer of 2009, he began recording the historic move of Southern Pacific 4-4-4-9 as it returned to Portland from Owosso’s 2009 Train Festival in Michigan with a small camcorder. At this time, he was also experimenting with his father’s DSLR camera, and an interest in serious photography blossomed thereafter.
Left: Heading eastbound through the Gorge, a BNSF intermodal races along the Columbia River. Right: A portrait of Jeremiah Lietke with new BNSF ES44C4 during a National Train Day event in Portland, Oregon.
Below are some additional questions we asked Jeremiah during our discussions:
Q: For rail photography purposes, where is your favorite place to visit?
A: As it stands, my favorite area to visit is the Columbia River Gorge. It is home to both BNSF and Union Pacific mainlines, and has natural beauty that makes the Pacific Northwest unique. With a decent amount of rail action, the natural region also serves as a great area for beginners in railroad photography (such as myself) to expand their horizons of capturing photos trackside.
Q: Any region or are you would like to visit for railroad photography?
A: There are many places that I would like to visit for to practice railroad photography. The most intriguing on that list for me is the Union Pacific's passage through the Rocky Mountains over the former Rio Grande's Moffat Subdivision. I've seen many intriguing photos taken by excellent photographers along that line, and want to explore the area for myself.
Q: Who inspires you most?
A: Many people inspire me to be the best character that I can be in my life, including members of my family, current and past teachers, and athletic coaches. In the railroad photography community, there are many people who I admire for the great skills they have in shooting photos of what a normal person may view as just another train.
Q: Looking ahead, what would you like to do with your photography?
A: The final disposition of my photography is currently unknown at the moment. Besides continuing to share the best examples of my creativity with the railfan community via Facebook, Flickr, and other online sites, I have no idea what is in store for the images that I currently store and have yet to take.
We asked Jeremiah if he had any long-term career objectives that included photography or railroading:
“Besides railroad photography, I do not plan on pursuing anything rail related as a career. Though my plans for life are still up in the air, my two ideal career paths involve my ending up as a lawyer in a firm, or a Judge Advocate General in the U.S. Marines,” Jeremiah explained. “If one of those careers provide me with enough resources, I wouldn’t mind owning my own short line railroad and earning profits off of it. However, that is only a pipe dream at the moment.”
In addition to photography, Jeremiah enjoys sports and music.
“Music has led me to a possess an additional set of talents. Currently, I served as a percussionist in my high school’s band. I find that role in the program helps me express myself without using written word, or photography for that matter,” he added.
A Union Pacific manifest rounds a curve along the Willamette River near the end of a late September afternoon.
To view Jeremiah’s rail portfolio, visit http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php?userid=44364
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