Tracks

After doing some work on my truck and eating dinner, I decided to take a drive to see if the evening light would present something interesting to shoot. I asked my wife if she wanted to come along. She said yes, so off we went. Before heading out, I mounted my 70-300mm on my DSLR and kept it out of the bag just in case we ran across some wildlife.

We took a short tour of some familiar back roads. As much as I’ve traveled these roads, the drive never gets old. The clouds were gradually dissipating letting the setting sunlight peep through. The golden hue on the rural pastures was alluring. As I expected, we ran across some deer, a couple of young bucks to be exact. Before I could get in position to attempt a shot, they scampered into the trees. Shooting wildlife from a loud vehicle is not the best way to get good shots, even though I have gotten lucky on occasion. My usual wildlife ventures involve me getting up early and hiking to a location where I let the wildlife come to me. This works quiet well. I’ve actually ran into a bobcat stalking a rabbit one morning years ago. I don’t know who was more afraid, me or him. Check out the shot here. We continued down the road when we came across a subject that I have photographed many times. I decided to stop and play around a little.

There is something about railroad tracks that I find captivating. I believe it is the sense of adventure and wanting to know what is around the bend. My wife and I grew up close to railroad tracks. We reminisced about walking the tracks when we were kids. I could remember walking to and from baseball practice along the tracks and waving at the engineers as they roared down the mountain. She remembered the sound of the large loose rocks crumpling under her feet. For a brief moment, the thought of living like a hobo hopping trains from town to town seemed appealing, just for a moment. After this trip down memory lane, I began making some photos. Below is my first shot after trading the telephoto for my 30mm prime. This is my favorite combination with my DSLR. The large aperture gives you more creative latitude.

Train Trestle – Maury County, Tennessee – Olympus E520 / Sigma 30mm f1.4

The next shot is my favorite. I had to help my wife get her balance. After a few tries, we managed to get the shot below.

Tracks at the Train Trestle – Maury County, Tennessee – Olympus E520 / Sigma 30mm f1.4

My wife found this next shot. She liked it because the numbers on the plate is her birth year.

Tracks at the Train Trestle – Maury County, Tennessee – Olympus E520 / Sigma 30mm f1.4

The remaining shots were just a few things I found interesting.

Tracks at the Train Trestle – Maury County, Tennessee – Olympus E520 / Sigma 30mm f1.4

Train Trestle – Maury County, Tennessee – Olympus E520 / Sigma 30mm f1.4

Rails near the Train Trestle in Maury County, Tennessee – Olympus E520 / Sigma 30mm f1.4

Rails near the Train Trestle in Maury County, Tennessee – Olympus E520 / Sigma 30mm f1.4

Old Railroad Vehicle – Maury County, Tennessee – Olympus E520 / Sigma 30mm f1.4

Old Railroad Vehicle – Maury County, Tennessee – Olympus E520 / Sigma 30mm f1.4

This was not a bad way to spend the remaining couple hours of daylight. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I love the freedom of one lens and one camera. While it may limit you to certain shots, it also makes you more creative. Thanks for reading. I hope to get my Nashville street photography scans back next week. I can’t wait to see them, so stay tuned!

Images Best Viewed in Lightbox Below!

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”126″ gal_title=”Tracks”]