Catching the 8:05

I was out photographing the prairies here around Fort Worth one morning.  I had parked near a railroad track and was photographing a ranch road as it went across the prairie grasses.  After making my shot I packed up and put the large format camera back in the SUV.

Then I heard the train.  I decided to see if I could get an image with the 4x5.  I knew the train was close, I had maybe 90 seconds to get set up.  Maybe.

I sprung into high gear.  Set the tripod back up.  Opened the camera pack and grabbed the Arca.  Racked it out.  Put on the 75mm.  Did a quick rough focus.  Leveled.  Put in some Efke 25 and used what I had metered before as my exposure.  Cocked the shutter and pulled the slide.  The engine was less than 100 yards away.  As it sped past I fired this image.

Speed and luck were with me this day.

The Arca made this possible as it is so easy to set up and use it can be done quick.  My buddy with a folding wooden field camera also tried setting up but got no where near ready.  

Gotta love the Arca!!

FWIW, I took the top image after the train had passed.  I was lucky to get set up so quick but had no time for the obligatory camera on tripod shot before.

Rail Cars

An old tanker car.

Something about old things that just beg to be photographed. Maybe it's nostalgic. Maybe it's the wondering of life in a bygone era.

This old car sure looks like it saw many a day on the rails. No idea how long it was in service, now it sits on a side track near the old depot in Grapevine, Texas.

It seemed a natural for monochrome, so I even took the digital as a mono to see what it could do and what it might look at.

Digital by LX-3. Film image was Astia 100 and I did convert it to mono also.

Ride Control

I was in the historic downtown of Grapevine, Texas at their train station looking at some old railroad cars they had there.

The surrounding modern buildings and powerlines did not offer much of a scene setting locale for such interesting pieces of history so I decided to make an image of the springs on one of the cars.

Here is where the LX-3 really came in handy. Before I went about trying to set up this image I first switch the LX-3 over into 3:4 aspect ratio and made several images to check the composition. Only when I found the right one did I set up the shot with the 4x5.

You can see the set up at the top and the bottom image is the test composition straight out of the LX-3 (in Dynamic B+W mode).

I may have been using color film but I just envisioned this image as some sort of monochrome. Maybe a sepia.

I liked what the LX-3 got and I now had a pretty good representation of what I wanted from the film.

I framed up the Arca as close as I could get to this and set about focusing and metering the image. When I get the chrome back from the lab, I'll scan it an go for monochrome.

By the way both images here are from the LX-3.

The Low Trestle

At the location I often photograph the train trestles is a spot where the floodplain of the Trinity River is rather broad. As such the rail lines have extended low bridges that run across the floodplain. Here you can see two. Different styles from probably different eras of rail development.

From a photograph perspective it was a great place for the view camera. With the rail line running away from me I was able to use a small swing movement to put the whole trestle in focus instead of just the part close to me.

That selective focus is a neat feature. I can use it to pus everything in focus or I could use to put only a sliver of the image in focus. A simple yet powerful tool. Good reason to keep one of these cameras around.

Trestles on the Trinity

A series of railroad trestles across the Trinity where three lines converge on the downtown area.

The railroads turned Fort Worth from a place the cattle passed through to the place the cattle went to. Several lines come into town and many of the trestles are of the classic steel and concrete style from the early part of the 20th century.

On a clear summer morning I took the camera out to photograph these three at first light. The steel, the weathered look, the reflections-it has alot of the elements to keep my interest and I make several images.

Having locations like this in my town are a nice perk to life here in Cowtown.

RR Crossing

Fort Worth may be aptly called Cowtown, but it is also very much a railroad town. Tracks crisscross the area heading all directions. The cattle may have been the reason the railroads showed up but the agriculture and industry of today still keep them busy. The are has many old trestles and bridges that make a wonderful subject to turn the camera on.

Despite their obvious hand of man they also seem to just fit into the area. Railroads might be a sign of industry but almost seem historic (despite how vital they are in commerce) and like they belong with the land.

Here is a simple railroad crossing west of town. It itself it is as ordinary as the come. With the right light, clouds, powerlines, and rolling grass backdrop it somehow becomes even more remote and lonely than it actually is.

This could be Texas, Kansas, or Wyoming. The typical scene of the American Great Plains.

A little found scenic of the west.