Uploads from jbdenham, tagged caboose

Endangered Species

nobody@flickr.com (jbdenham) — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 19:47:31 -0800

jbdenham posted a photo:

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Canon EOS Rebel XSi, EF 50mm f1.8 II, f16, ISO100, 50mm, HDR, 5 Exposures

At first glance, I'm sure this image looks pretty plain with a lot of non-pretty stuff in it. But it was an image that I had to make to highlight a couple of subjects that are short lived for this world. The first is pretty obvious and has been the subject of the last two posts - the caboose. As previously mentioned in Well Traveled, these guys are rare and are seldom seen on any string of cars anymore, which is said because it is my favorite rail car!

The bridge in the background is the other item in the frame with a limited life span. It's the Hastings River Bridge and spans across the Mississippi River, connecting Washington and Dakota Counties in Minnesota. Intertwined in the caboose railing on the right side of the bridge, you can see one of the construction cranes working on building its replacement. With the collapse of the I35W bridge in Minneapolis a few years back, there has been a concerted effort to both repair and replace the older bridges in Minnesota. This has been worked on quite a bit and is now on its way out.

Both elements will be missed. They both have character and personality and are quite recognizable. The caboose will likely just go away. The train line I had to wait on the other day was trailed with 3 engines instead of the caboose. The Hastings bridge is being replaced and its successor will likely be very functional and safe, but will also likely be lifeless, not generating a second look from the those passing over it or those wandering around it.

The other component of note in the image is the sunsetting colors. Purposely, this image was taken at this time to symbolize the sunsetting life of both of these old animals, and it didn't hurt that the colors were quite nice, even with little to no clouds adding to it.

The Caboose

nobody@flickr.com (jbdenham) — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 17:31:02 -0800

jbdenham posted a photo:

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Canon EOS Rebel XSi, EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 IS, f8, ISO100, 23mm, HDR, 5 Exposures

This is a better view of the caboose featured in last night's post, Well Traveled. As you can see, this rail car has seen its better days. Even so, it was still very cool to see one in operation. While setting up to take yesterday's image, some one started up an engine on this old guy, which startled me quite a bit, mainly because I didn't expect to be started, but also did not expect it to be able.

Images were taken from both sides of the caboose, but I chose to post this one because of the great, warm light draped around the car from the setting sun to camera left and behind a bit. I especially liked the greasy looking riser in the middle of the car and how the sun's rays bring this out, as well as how they kiss the inside of the window on this side of the car.

The graffiti on this car is pretty modest, but seems to fit right in with the multi-colored siding and the rusted out accents!

Well Traveled

nobody@flickr.com (jbdenham) — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 17:46:07 -0800

jbdenham posted a photo:

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Canon EOS Rebel XSi, EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 IS, f16, ISO100, 40mm, HDR, 5 exposures

A surprise was waiting for me yesterday at the Hastings Train Yard. Right next to the parking area was an old, worn out caboose from the SOO line. Don't know about the trains in your neck of the woods, but it has been extremely rare in MN to see a caboose on any train line. Trust me, with a 4.5 year old boy, we've looked at our share of trains over the last couple of years and I can count the number of cabooses we've seen on one hand. Really, three fingers! They are rare.

I'll share a couple of profile pics of the caboose in future posts, but this image had to be posted tonight. This was actually one of the last set of brackets taken prior to jumping back in the car. I was taken with the grit and wear of the railroad ties paired up with the "experienced" look of the caboose, so I snapped the wider kit lens back on the Rebel and plopped the tripod down so that the longest lines could be framed leading up to the vintage car. The stories this scene might be able to tell, having both elements being well traveled!

The caboose doesn't look like it's sitting straight on its frame and it wouldn't surprise me if it fell off of it by the time the train reached the bridge! The cross ties have something that looks like seed or pine nuts all of over it - I could not identify it - but as clean as the ties were in this area, one might think it to be a synthetic de-icer. Who knows?

Once again, the Silver Efex Pro High Structure preset with a Luminosity adjustment layer was used to bring out the contrast of the caboose and the ties. I love this action! Prior to applying that action, had to mask in one of the original skies back in to get the color and exposure lined out. Applied some definition, sharoening, noise reduction, and vignette in Aperture before exporting.