Clouds and Fog around the Big Ten Curves (4 IMG)

[CopCarSS]

Hey Gang,

I spent part of Sunday hanging around the Big Ten Curves. We had some clouds move in around the Front Range and Big Ten was high enough that the clouds made for some foggy conditions. Here are my 4 favorite shots from the outing:

Clouds at Big Ten - I by Christopher J. May, on Flickr

Clouds at Big Ten - II by Christopher J. May, on Flickr

Forgotten Coupler - Clay, CO by Christopher J. May, on Flickr

Out of the Mists - Blue Mountain Road, Colorado by Christopher J. May, on Flickr

 

As always, C&C more than welcome!

[Mookie]

Chris:  where is this scenery located?  Probably in Colorado, but it looks like it could be in Wyoming or western Nebraska.  Pretty rugged landscape, but when there is a train in the scene, it becomes so much more interesting!

[ChuckCobleigh]

I guess I am a little unclear on the concept.

I couldn't resist that.  Sorry.  Very interesting and different looks at familiar topics.  I especially like the last image, sort of like a college football team charging out of the stadium tunnel with the fog effects.

Looking at the coupler, what I saw was a crew held up while carmen responded to the situation.  Somebody's day was ruined.

[CopCarSS]

Mookie,

It's just a little north and west of Denver. Immediately before the Moffat Sub heads up into the Front Range.

Thanks!

 

Chuck - Thanks for the comments. I was a little nervous about the last one. The clouds/fog were constantly changing and I was worried about having too little or too much and not getting the effect that I wanted. It worked out just about like I had envisioned though. I like it when that happens (which is far too rare, alas!)

[PNWRMNM]

Very nice. I particularly like the imagination shown in the last two.

Mac McCulloch

[CopCarSS]

Thanks, Mac.

[tree68]

Just when you think you've taken a good picture yourself, up pops Chris with another round of his fine work...  

It is great to get a shot like that last one - especially when you aren't really sure what you're going to get.

Good stuff!

[K. P. Harrier]

CopCarSS (12-2):

 

What a cool series of photos!

 

The Big Ten Curves are so synonymous with the D&RGW I had to look twice at seeing UP power!

 

That coupler shot was absolutely arresting and eye catching!

 

And the BNSF in the fog was as if one was there!

 

Great photography, Chris, just great photography!

 

Best,

 

K.P.

[samfp1943]

tree68

Just when you think you've taken a good picture yourself, up pops Chris with another round of his fine work...  

It is great to get a shot like that last one - especially when you aren't really sure what you're going to get.

Good stuff!

 

Exactly what Larry ( tree68) said!    

             Thanks for sharing them!

 

[CopCarSS]

Larry - Thanks as always for the kind words. I do like it when things work out like I have them pictured in my head. Sometimes I think I need to learn how to paint so I can bring all the shots that didn't work because of light/lack of trains/etc. to life.

KP - Thank you very much. I wish I had been able to see this line in the DRGW days. I didn't get out here until 2001, so I didn't even get to see it in the SP days. It's nice to daydream about this scene with a set of black and gold tunnel motors, though!

Sam - Thank you as always for the kind words!

[Murphy Siding]

Mookie

Chris:  where is this scenery located?  Probably in Colorado, but it looks like it could be in Wyoming or western Nebraska.  Pretty rugged landscape, but when there is a train in the scene, it becomes so much more interesting!

 

   Were it not so lush and tree covered, it could pass for much of western South Dakota.

     Nice photos as always.  Makes me wish I had that talent, or any talent come to think of it.

[ChuckCobleigh]

CopCarSS

Chuck - Thanks for the comments. I was a little nervous about the last one. The clouds/fog were constantly changing and I was worried about having too little or too much and not getting the effect that I wanted. It worked out just about like I had envisioned though. I like it when that happens (which is far too rare, alas!)

Chris, it's kind of like what I'm sure you have done before in scenics where you have to wait for clouds to arrange themselves appropriately, sometimes taking an hour or more for the right appearance to occur.  The twist here is that not only do you have the wait and variability, you have a very brief window of opportunity because the train isn't going to be in its most photogenic location for very long.  Some good luck with the fog bank is always welcome, and if not, well it was still fun trying.

[tree68]

Murphy Siding

Makes me wish I had that talent, or any talent come to think of it.

Murph - Ya just gotta go out and shoot.  Every now and then, that "right" picture shows up on your camera, and you might not even realize you what took at the time!

There used to be a rule of thumb, back in film days, that you'd get one really good picture out of any given roll of film.  Sometimes folks get luckier.  And some folks just seem to have an eye for them.

[MidlandMike]

That coupler took quite a tumble.

[CopCarSS]

Murph - What Tree said. I have more than my fair share of duds, too. You can't get anything without going out to shoot.

Chuck - That's it for sure. The timing between clouds, light, train and any other "changeable" elements of the photo makes realizing my vision a bit more challenging for railroad images than some of the other work I do. But it's more rewarding when it does work, too.

MidlandMike - It's a little more dramatic looking than it really is. The wide angle pushed the foreground and background elements away from each other a bit.

[zugmann]

Murphy Siding

 
     Nice photos as always.  Makes me wish I had that talent, or any talent come to think of it.

 

 

 

Don't feel bad.  I was having trouble progressing to a higher plane of photography.  Haven't picked up my camera since September.  Oddly, I do not miss it at all.  Plus there's a couple high-schoolers around here with wildly expensive gear and the free time to shoot just about anythign RR-related whenever they want.  Kind of ruins any ambition I ever had.  Maybe someday I'll get the urge.  But who knows.

 

*shrugs*

 

Awesome work as usual, Chris. 

[zardoz]

zugmann

 

 

Murphy Siding

 
Plus there's a couple high-schoolers around here with wildly expensive gear and the free time to shoot just about anythign RR-related whenever they want.  Kind of ruins any ambition I ever had. 

Zug, it sounds like you are in a bit of a lul right now. I've had those many times. It may pass; perhaps someday the urge will return.  

And regarding those high school kids, we both know that the most expensive gear in the world will not help someone who doesn't have the 'knack'. When doing photography there are so many things to consider when shooting that are needed to help a photo be something worthy of showing. Good equipment will make a good photographer's photos better, but will not help a lousy photographer make a good photo.  

 

Chris, as always, very nice photos. Thanks for sharing.

[edblysard]

I don’t let the art work Chris produces intimidate of discourage me, quite the opposite, it inspires me.

I look at his stuff and grain a whole new appreciation for things I had previously ignored, what I had looked at as junk he suddenly showed as integral parts of his photos, the knuckle photo is a perfect example.

Or the photos of the grain silos…who would have thought a room full of old junk electric motors could make such an interesting and eye catching photo?

His unique ability to see things, literally from a different perspective and angle , have made me explore my skills at thinking out of the box, and looking for a different composition that I had before.

It is guys like Chris that set off that little itch in me to carry my camera more often, and to try a different approach…to look beyond what I think others would like and to take the shot I want, even if no one else ever sees it, I can capture something that pleases my eye, and if others enjoy it as much, so much the better.

While I don’t think I will ever be as passionate as he is about photography, I want to thank him for not only sharing his talent and art with us here, but also say thanks for kick starting my desire to shoot more.

As for equipment….way back in the day I worked for J C Penny in the camera department.

One of the best photos I have ever seen was shot by a kid with one of those cheap Kodak 110 cameras.

He was at a moto-cross race, and had taken his little 110 and taped it to a broom handle, rigged a bicycle hand brake cable to press the shutter button.

When a rider came off one of the jumps, the kid stuck the camera out into the middle of the track and clicked off a shot.

We processed his film, and when he went through the pack, there was that one shot…beautiful clear blue sky, with a motorcycle rider suspended directly overhead in the air doing a cross up…if I hadn’t known better, I would swear a professional sports photographer with one of those super telephoto lens had taken the shot.

You felt as if you were standing there at the bottom of the jump with the bike going over you, you could almost smell the oil and gas and dirt from the track, it was that good a shot, all from a broom handle and duct tape and a camera that back then cost $29.99.

It is the eye and the mind behind the camera that makes the photograph into art, not the equipment.

[MP173]

That B&W shot of the coupler is outstanding.

Ed

[daveklepper]

all were outstanding photos and made me super nostalgiac over my RGZ riding days, 1970-Amtak 1988.

I could almost taste the French Toast westbound and the Rocky  Mountain Trout eastbound.

[CopCarSS]

*Blush*

Thank you all for the very kind words. It's always nice to know that other people appreciate the stuff I do. I love the pictures I take, but it's icing on the cake to know that others appreciate them, too.

Zug - When I've gone through some of my lulls, setting up projects for myself has helped get me out of them. The grain elevator project was one. Another was the art and architecture of Denver project. Should I ever find myself in another lull, I can work on those, or I also have another idea (shooting light rail around Denver...that seems to be a neglected subject).

Not sure if you could devise a project that would get you interested again, but it's a thought. If not, I wouldn't worry too much. Maybe your interests are just changing. I have a friend out here that did some amazing photographic work. He recently sold most of his camera gear, though, and has been spending his time mountain biking. He seems to be enjoying that, so it must have been the right path for him. Either way, I wish you luck figuring it out.