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Albuquerque Rail Yard!

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A busy Summer in the yard and an unscheduled trip to see our grandson made for slow shooting this year. As the Summer was drawing to a close, a friend let me know about a photo opportunity in Albuquerque NM. New Mexico Heritage Rail owns and operates the Santa Fe 2926 Steam Locomotive, and was taking the 2926 to the Albuquerque Rail Yard for a night photo workshop. I couldn’t resist the opportunity so I registered for the workshop, loaded up cameras, and headed to New Mexico.

I met several friends who are railroad photographers and had a wonderful couple days. I ate a lot of great Mexican food and saw some beautiful country.

The morning of the workshop, we headed to the Rail Yard to watch the 2926 roll in! While we were waiting, we explored the Yard. Now owned by the City of Albuquerque, the Rail Yard was a major center of operations for the Santa Fe Railroad, evidenced by the huge facilities there. Albuquerque is restoring the Yard and hosts a farmer’s/artist’s market on Sundays.

I haven’t studied the Yard to ensure that I know the function of every space, so any description is conjecture. What I do know is that these facilities are a photographer’s dream.

I shot the pictures below handheld using a Canon EOS R5 camera body with a Canon RF 15-35 f/2.8 L IS USM lens. I made 5 exposures of each scene (-2, -1, 0, +1, +2). I loaded all 5 exposures into Adobe Camera Raw software and selected the set of exposures to blend into a high dynamic range (HDR) image file. The HDR file was then taken into Photoshop for further processing. I finished each image with a filter from either the NIK Collection or Topaz Studio.

This modern sign is on the end of the Blacksmith Shop, facing the parking lot. This is the only building that I know its previous use for certain.
With the sun coming up behind the Blacksmith Shop, the light inside was fantastic! This is not stained glass. As panes of glass were broken over the years, repairs were made with whatever was available. This stained glass look was the result.
When the 2926 arrived, I captured this silhouette by peeking through windows on the other side of the Blacksmith Shop.
I believe this is the former Engine House. While it’s relatively clean, there’s still work going on so I didn’t go inside.
Looking through to another space. I think a Machine Shop.
The City has restored the structure, roof, and floors. The large door at the far end goes to the Blacksmith Shop.
Just WOW!
The clerestory windows in the roof provide additional light into the work areas.
These buildings are just beautiful! I hope you agree!

I haven’t ‘developed’ the pictures of the exteriors because I got so busy with the interiors and pictures of the 2926. Stay tuned and enjoy – PHOTOROGR

The Big 81 Weekend!

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Dateline: October 8-10, 2021

Location: Nevada Northern Railway, Ely NV

Subject: CELEBRATION!

Trains magazine has been in publication for 81 years. The Nevada Northern Railway is completing the restoration of Locomotive 81, a 2-8-0 built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1917. This locomotive was retired almost 60 years ago, but was resurrected by the dedicated crew at the NNRY. (If you’ve ever thought about being the Engineer on a steam locomotive, go the http://www.nnry.com and click on the visit/ride tab to see how you can do it!) Could there be a better reason to have a big weekend-long celebration?

Actually, Trains magazine had plans to celebrate 80 years of publication in 2020. We all know what happened then so they delayed their party and partnered with NNRY to have a much bigger impact. And what a weekend it was!

My lovely bride accompanied me on the adventure. She patiently sat on the trains while we rode to various locations, disembarked the photographers, and then the locomotives pulled back and forth numerous times at each location to the delight of all the cameras. She also served as my assistant around the East Ely Yard, but managed to get in a few frames of her own with her cell phone. I appreciate her support of my photography hobby. Je t’ami, Mon ChouChou!

I won’t bore you with all the images from every location we visited, but I will try to share the feeling of being there. Enjoy!

One of our first scenes – the Steam Crane demonstration. This crane is mounted on a rail car and powered by a steam engine. It was used to clear the tracks after crashes to keep the railroad moving. In this image, the crane is lifting the ore car to set it back on the tracks. Go to http://www.nnry.com to find more information on this beautiful machine.
This is the crew, taking a well deserved rest after the demonstration.
From the East Ely Yard, the 81 pulling a train.
A longer view.
Locomotive 81 with the 1956 Pontiac Hy-Rail car at the wig-wag signals.
Add in Locomotive 93 for a scene not found very often – in black and white for fun! With 60 photographers and videographers in attendance, space in the photo line was at a premium.
Locomotives 81 and 93 team up for the haul up Robinson Canyon in this image.
My favorite image from the weekend. We stepped off the train and navigated through tall sagebrush. Everyone turned right and headed for a road to set up up the photo line. I turned left and ventured into even taller sagebrush. Setting my tripod as tall as I could, I used the articulating screen on the back of the camera body to look up at the composition and take the shot.

As I said, I didn’t share all the images from the weekend. I hope that I have provided a nice cross section of images so you have a feel for how much fun it was, despite having to fight (figuratively, not literally) for a spot on a crowded photo line.

The NNRY received several grants in the last year to improve equipment, preserve and archive the rich history that makes this railway a National Historic Landmark, and restore the track that connects the East Ely Yard to the Magill Depot. I look forward to making more images of this wonderful piece of history.

Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

Eagle Season – 2021-2022!

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A couple months ago, I had lunch with an old friend who had moved away and returned for a visit. In the course of catching up, he chastised me for not blogging – especially my steam locomotive images. As you can see, it still took me a while to decide to share any images. My apologies!

The 2021-2022 Eagle Season has been wonderful for me. I’m getting more and better shots than I have at any time. I credit the Eagles for being accessible and patient, but I also credit the upgrades to my camera kit. A little over a year ago, I went mirrorless and purchased a Canon EOS R5. I worked it out at the Nevada Northern Railway Photo Workshop in February (and I did share those images!), through the summer in our travels to Glacier and North Cascades National Parks, and again in Ely at the big 81 weekend (celebrating Trains magazine’s 81 years of publication and Locomotive 81’s triumphant return to the track) in October.

For my return to blogging, I’ve chosen to start with Eagle images. In early December, my youngest son and I had planned a ride in our side by side. The weather didn’t cooperate (it would have been a very chilly ride) so we changed the plan, loaded cameras into the F-150, and headed out in search of Eagles. As we drove into the ‘Hot Zone,’ the area where I’ve had great success finding Eagles, I stopped and reminded him to keep an eye on the trees on his side of the truck. He immediately responded, ‘…like that one right there!’ Sure enough, in a tree no more than 20 yards away sat a gorgeous Bald Eagle. I pulled off the road and ran back to start shooting.

For the most part, he posed in a very dignified manner…
…but then he tired of us…
…and flew away!

As part of my new kit, I also purchased a Canon RF 800 f/11 lens. This lens, with its 800 mm focal length, allows me to bring my subjects close and fill the frame. This lens has a fixed aperture (f/11), allowing me to use a shutter priority mode and be ready for movement. The eye tracking focus feature in the R5 camera body keeps the focus point on the eye as the subject moves. The picture above illustrates how well those features work together to make a great picture.

Not all the subjects are that close, and the 800 mm focal length is constantly challenged. My camera is up to that challenge, however, as the following images show.

…easy to spot but a challenge to shoot against the dark tree…
…the shallow depth of field is perfect for wildlife pictures…
…I’m not sure what he got into, but he looks fairly intense…
…and then he got bored, and yawned like the rest of us…
…sometimes they are very serious…
…and sometimes they just look pastoral as they survey the river for food…
…this subject was in a tree not far from where my friend and I were standing…
…but chose to relocate to this tree a much farther distance away…
…and sometimes I get lucky and catch the subject adjusting position…

There’s more to follow as I continue to venture out, so stay tuned. Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

The Backyard Challenge continues…

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The smoke seems to come and go. Our air quality is a little better, but seeing the mountains and sky is hit or miss. The flowers in the backyard, however, are doing just fine and loving the camera.

So far, I’ve chosen to shoot with the Tamron 150-600 lens handheld. To improve the quality of the images, I need to use a shorter lens and tripod. I enjoy experimenting, and using the big telephoto lens for macro and close up images is an experiment for me. I need to refine my processes, but there’s hope.

And so, here’s a sample of the last couple days.

Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

How I Spent My Summer Vacation – Volume 5

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While preparing my post this morning, I realized that I didn’t finish my ‘summer vacation’ series last year. This volume will showcase images from our trip to Yosemite National Park in August 2017. I was taking a night photography workshop and we decided to spend a few extra days enjoying the Park.

I rented a Canon 6D camera body for this trip to enjoy the ‘full frame sensor’ experience. I liked it and subsequently purchased a Canon 6D Mark II body.

There were fires around Yosemite last year which impacted our time there. They were not as bad as this year, however. Without further ado, here’s my stuff.

We entered Yosemite through the Tioga Pass entrance, uphill from Lee Vining CA. We took our time crossing the Tuolumne Meadows to avoid the daytime traffic in the Yosemite Valley. One of my images of Tenaya Creek…

…and another image from Tioga Road…

…and more Tenaya Creek.

One of the iconic sunset views in Yosemite (El Capitan on the right) obscured by the smoke.

I got to looking around while making the previous image, and found that I liked this view of the Merced River at my feet much better.

One of the images from the famous Swinging Bridge during the night portion of the workshop. The glow on the rocks in the lower right of the image is Yosemite Village.

And the Milky Way did not disappoint. The photographer could have done a better job, however.

Tunnel View.

We were in Yosemite during the solar eclipse and had just arrived at Glacier Point as the eclipse was in progress. My lovely bride made friends with a family looking at the eclipse (they shared their solar glasses with her) while I made this image.

Everyone who goes to Yosemite should ride the Green Dragon. If you don’t know what it is, then you need to go find out. One of our stops was on the Merced River. I used a log as a tripod and made multiple exposures for this HDR image.

Yosemite Falls didn’t disappoint. I got up early one morning and took a walk with the camera and tripod. With few people around at that time of day, I had my pick of vantage points.

We had a wonderful time in Yosemite. We celebrated our wedding anniversary with a dinner in the big dining room at the Majestic Hotel. Go to Yosemite when you get the chance!

Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

 

What to shoot when there’s nothing to shoot…

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Today started like any other day. I woke up, did my morning things, and went to the kitchen to make breakfast. I was just about to take breakfast to my lovely bride when she walks into the kitchen with her iPad showing a video presentation called ‘what to shoot when there’s nothing to shoot.’ We watched while we ate, enjoying the images on the screen and the commentary.

As we watched, I got to thinking about the current situation here in the Carson Valley. We have serious smoke from the wildfires in California – some news reports indicate that Gardnerville has the worst air quality in the country. Visibility is almost nil. We haven’t seen the mountains in a long time. Of course, the smoke makes for some interesting sunsets.

This has been our view of the evening sun for the last 4-5 days. I shot this with the Canon 7DII, big lens, handheld. Look close and you can see the outline of the mountains in the lower right corner of the image.

The guy making the presentation talked about a time when he was leading a photo workshop in Monument Valley and a snowstorm kicked up. The storm obscured the grand views and challenged his creative processes to make the trip worthwhile.

This is not the first time I’ve faced conditions like this. A year ago, my lovely bride and I were in Yosemite National Park and many of the vista shots were obscured by smoke, so I made the best of it and shot on a smaller scale. I came away with some beautiful images. And I see that I didn’t post any of those images – stay tuned!

With this year’s smoke, I’ve chosen to shoot on an even smaller scale – macro in the back yard.

This is a Rose of Sharon flower being pollenated. (Get really close and one can see pollen on his head and body.) Handheld Canon 7DII with the big lens, from about 9′ away.

Our Hibiscus has been a favorite subject for several years. More close up than macro, as these blooms range from 6″-12″ in diameter. This mature plant produces a large number of blooms for a couple weeks every August.

Another point the presenter made was to give yourself a challenge to make you get out and make images. Taking this to heart, I’ve decided to give myself a new challenge every month. I’ll continue my backyard challenge this month and set a new challenge for September.

Until next time…Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

Wyoming landscapes!

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While I was in Wyoming this spring, my Dad and I took many drives to places that neither of us had ever been or hadn’t been in a very long time. The landscape around Cheyenne is high plains, as opposed to the high desert and mountains around my home in Nevada. The mountains rise up as you travel west to Laramie. On most days, the skies did not disappoint. Montana advertises itself as ‘Big Sky Country,’ but we had them in our travels in Wyoming.

Traveling on Round Top Road west of Cheyenne, we came across this scene – one of the historic ranches.

Closer to Laramie than Cheyenne, this is one of the smaller rock formations in the Vedawoo recreation area. This image was taken from the shoulder of Happy Jack Road (Wyoming Highway 210).

Traveling on one of the dirt roads off Happy Jack Road, we drove past Crystal Reservoir on the way to Buford, and passed this little scene.

If you’ve ever been to or viewed images of the Palouse Region in southeast Washington state, you know what a photographic place it is. Dad and I took a drive around eastern Laramie County one day and found landscapes that, in many ways, rival the Palouse for its beauty. Here’s one…

…and here’s another. This barn is actually in the Burns township and an old friend if mine chastised me for not calling while I was ‘in town.’ He later admitted that he wasn’t home that day so I was forgiven.

I shot this from US 85 approaching the town of Hawk Springs.

This is also on US 85. I stopped here a couple times. This is the second shot where I got out the neutral density filters to smooth out the water on the spillway.

This image was made along Wyoming Highway 313, east of Chugwater.

This is the Snowy Range west of Laramie. I’m standing near the middle of Wyoming Highway 130. Snowy Range Pass (the road) tops out at 10,850 feet elevation and the views there are stunning!

Well, this is just a little peek into the beautiful scenery that can be found in my former stomping ground. I hope you can see why I refer to the area as God’s Country.

Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

A very fun evening!

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Action Camera and Tamron lenses sponsored a photo walk in Virginia City yesterday evening. Ken Hubbard, the walk leader, is a national representative for Tamron lenses. I’ve had the privilege of taking night photography workshops with Ken previously, so I was excited to explore Virginia City in the evening light.

The town is quiet at 8 p.m. A few cars on the street but, with most stores closed, the pedestrian traffic was very light. VC’s street lights are beautiful, and cast an orange glow on everything. I chose building exteriors and store windows as my subjects for the evening. The store windows offered challenges with interior lights creating hot spots the images and competing with the ambient light from the street lights. I set the Canon 6D Mk II on Manual, played with ISOs of 100, 200, and 800, and various apertures. Shooting on a tripod, I bracketed exposures. This allowed me to be choosy in my selection of images to combine while processing. I also experimented with black and white for several of the images, as you will see in the images below.

Walking up Main Street and I saw these bottles in the window, backlit by the room lights. Next time, I’ll use a smaller aperture to extend the depth of field and make the bottles a little sharper. Of course, shooting at an angle through vintage glass may not allow full focus on the bottles.

One of the store fronts. I tried to mask the interior light using the item nearest the glass, with limited success (in my mind). I worked this image in both color and black and white, and decided I like the b/w version best.

Another of the store fronts. I had better success using the ambient light in this image. I combined 4 of the bracketed exposures and then applied a filter from the Nik Collection for the final image. I liked the color version of this image. Another challenge was the condition of the glass in the store windows – this glass wasn’t too bad.

My favorite image from the evening! This restaurant on the south end of town was wonderful. When I first saw this scene, there was a pickup on the right encroaching into the building. When I walked by again a couple hours later, the truck was gone and I was able to get this. Again, I compared the color version to the black and white version, and chose the b/w. I cropped in a little to reduce clutter on the sides, and had to decide if the fluttering bunting in the center of the image was worth worrying about. (You can’t take your eyes off it now, can you?)

Low light photography is challenging but fun – I experiment with is occasionally. The smoke around Virginia City wasn’t horrible, but did limit my shooting. The moon came up and was a beautiful reddish orange from the smoke, but I didn’t even try for moon shots mostly because of the smoke. Take a chance and go out in the late evening, and just experiment. You will learn a lot and might surprise yourself. Be careful where you go. Take a friend to watch your back. Yes, I’ve found myself in places where I shouldn’t have been without backup so I speak from experience.

On a positive note, the music from one of the bars made the evening pleasant! Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

My favorite critter…

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As a Wyoming native, I spent my formative years with images and representations of the Bison, although we always called them Buffalo at the time (kind of like Pronghorn…we always called them Antelope). They have always been one of my favorite animals and on my bucket list since I took up serious photography. I spent several months in Wyoming this spring, and had several opportunities to take pictures of the Bison there.

If you’re traveling to or through Wyoming on I-80, stop by Bear River State Park on the Wyoming-Utah border. Take Exit 5 (maybe 6) and turn south. Bear River maintains a Bison herd. In March, I stopped and took some shots in a snow storm.

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One day, Dad and I made a run to Fort Collins CO. On the way back to Cheyenne, we stopped by the Terry Bison Ranch (Exit 2 on I-25) because the Bison were fairly close to the frontage road. While I was shooting over the fence, a nice guy in a Jeep drove up and engaged me in conversation. Turns out he was the ‘Boss’ at the Terry Bison Ranch, and he told me to drive on in and get some pictures. ‘Don’t get out of the car and don’t drive too close’ were his only words of warning. I was able to make these images.

7PS6406-e2-w7ACR6365-e1a-w7ACR6382-e1-w7ACR6368-bw-e1-w7ACR6349-e1a-w7ACR6424-e1a-wAs many of you have experienced,  I use this image as my ‘Rolling On The Floor’ (ROFL) emoji. It just seems appropriate.

Of course, I’ll make more Bison images when we head to other parts of Wyoming next summer. This will have to hold you until then.

Enjoy – PHOTOROGR

I must be a very bad boy…

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…because two times today I was accosted for not posting in a long time. Twice! In one day!! Holy cow!!!

Well, it has been a long time since my last post. I apologize and make no excuses. Now that I’m home, I’ll be going through the images from the last 9 months and you’ll see more from me.

In a feeble attempt to make up for my transgression, I offer the following images of Pronghorn Antelope for your viewing pleasure. Pronghorn outnumber humans in Wyoming (or maybe it just feels that way!) and can be found throughout the state. They are commonly found in the plains areas. Pronghorn can run as fast as 45 mph, which makes them one of the fastest land animals.

These images were made from the side of the road in the southeast corner of Wyoming (around Cheyenne) and just across the border in northern Colorado.

Enjoy – PHOTOROGR