CSX G192 empty grain northbound at Robards, Ky

November 20, 2017 – CSX MOW crews work on finishing the installation of the new cantilever signal bridge at the new south end of Robards, Ky, as empty grain train G192 heads north on the Henderson Subdivision. At left is the new track being installed that will join the current sidings at Sebree and Robards, Ky together to create a new two track main that will run from the two towns. While the new track hasn’t connected to the sidings as of yet, crews are moving closer everyday.CSX G192 empty grain NB at Robards, Ky

BNSF Freight northbound in Cajon Pass, CA


September 27, 2011 – The sun begins to dip in the sky as a loaded BNSF freight train heads north up the grade in the Cajon Pass in southern California, approaching the Summit of the pass as BNSF 7726 leads the way. Shooting directly into the sun can cause many exposure issues, but if you get it right it can make for some spectacular photographs.

I shot this as a RAW file on a Nikon D700 Full Frame Camera and exposed more for the sun, but made sure I still had enough exposure in the midtones by checking my histogram.

By doing this I was able to bring the highlights down in RAW to bring the sun more in line with the rest of the photo and also used a gradient filter to help control the brightness of the sky. I also opened up the shadows in RAW to bring out the detail my sensor captured there, resulting is this final scene.

Day 31 – iPhone Daily B&W Photo Challenge: Being Silly

November 30, 2017 – Day 31 – iPhone Daily B&W Photo Challenge: Being Silly – My niece Elaina is one of my little shutterbugkids and today she came and asked me if she could shoot pictures, so I give her my iPhone 7 plus. She wandered around the house and front porch photographing two of her favorite subjects, my cats! Eventually she ended up back in my office wanting to shoot a selfie with me. After she got her shots I asked if I could shoot one and started to shoot it thinking it’d be my picture for the day, when she said, wait, I need glasses like you! Wouldn’t that be funny? So, she got another pair of the Dollar Tree readers that I have all over the house and put them on. Of course, to add to the silliness the tongues came out for the picture! When photographing kids it never hurts to take their direction as it can make for interesting photos! LOL If you’d like to see some of her work or that of her brother and cousins pay a visit to http://www.shutterbugkids.org. There’s links there for their Facebook and Instagram accounts, which have their most current photos.

Day 30 – iPhone Daily B&W Photo Challenge: Boxes

November 29, 2017 – Day 30 – iPhone Daily B&W Photo Challenge: Boxes – What is about kids and boxes? Capturing photos of kids in their everyday environment, doing what kids do, can be a challenge. The key is to shoot, shoot, shoot, until you get that special picture that sings to you. With digital you can really never shoot too much! My nephew Damion had been feeling under the weather for several days and when he asked me if he could build a house out of a box this afternoon I couldn’t refuse! Of course, I knew that in the process there’d be a good picture or two! LOL All my nieces and nephews know me and my obsession with taking pictures!