Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Union Pacific 844 in Amarillo Nov 3, 2012
Click to enlarge
(C) Steve Douglass
Union Pacific’s last steam engine train, No. 844, rolled through Amarillo Saturday, during its 150th birthday celebration tour.
The train made a service stop in Amarillo just after 12:30 PM.
The 454-ton train left Houston on Oct. 27 and is scheduled to arrive back to its home in Cheyenne, Wyo., on Nov. 8.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Magic Mountain in New Mexico
click to enlarge
(C) Steve Douglass
I'm almost to the viewpoint where I have pre-planned to take my photo when some deer decide to stand in the middle of the highway and block my way. I slow - then pul over to the right and take a few photos of them. They then move out up out of the road and onto a grassy hillside and graze. They seem tame - and don't seem to mind me taking some photos.
I glance to my left and I see clouds moving in over Baldy. It is getting to dark to shoot. I quickly throw my gear in the car and leave the deer behind - sorta mad at myself for letting them distract me.
A mile later - I arrive at the spot I picked out. Looking at the mountain it's almost lost in the clouds that are moving in. It's also too dark to shoot handheld. The light is - ehh.
I then drag out my tripod, mount the camera, focus on the mountain and take a few shots. I tell myself maybe I'll be able to take a long exposure and pull the mountain out of the muck. Twelve frames later - I'm not impressed and am getting cold. I'm seriously thinking about calling it a day - and then - just for a few seconds - the clouds light up.
I literally gasped. CLICK!
Monday, October 15, 2012
Thursday, October 4, 2012
All photos (C) Steve Douglass
click to enlarge
Cumbres & Toltec scenic railway - photographed at Sublette, Colorado. Perfect timing on my brother Paul's part. We took a long slow tour through the mountains - jaw agape after photographing the aspen trees and thought we might have missed the train. Obviously we didn't. We hadn't been in Sublette ten minutes when this slice of the old west came chugging around the track. Standing next to this mechanical wonder was awesome. It breathes like a big beast -whuff -whuff - whuff and lets out clouds of smoke and steam. I'll never forget it.
"Hi - handsome - you want to take my picture?" the flirty pretty redhead said from the window of the train.
I looked around - knowing I hadn't shaved in two days and must have looked like a railroad bum.
"Who me?" I replied.
She answered, "You're the one with the camera."
I looked around - knowing I hadn't shaved in two days and must have looked like a railroad bum.
"Who me?" I replied.
She answered, "You're the one with the camera."
"All aboard!" the conductor said. The metal beast began to chug and chuff. I new I only had seconds to get the conductor's photo. I took two quick snaps and this was the best. I raced ahead to photograph the engineer.
Whuff - chug - woooo! The locomotive begins to lurch forward and lets out a blast of coal smoke. The ground rumbles as the entire train shudders. It begins to move faster and faster. I literally have to catch the train - but first I have to capture the engineer.
I fail to beat the train to get the shot I wanted. Still - it is exciting to have a living-breathing-snorting heavy-metal locomotive shaking my bones and rumbling by. The engineer gives us a final long high-pitched toot-toot as he leaves the watering station. It echoes through the countryside and instantly I'm transported to another time. My brother has a plan. It's a scenic railway - not a high speed railroad. We race ahead and meet it a mile out from the station. It comes out of the mountains and into the high desert - proud and strong - but an anachronism I photograph with a digital camera.
The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad (C&TS) is a narrow gauge heritage railroad running between Chama, New Mexicoand Antonito, Colorado. It runs over the 10,015 ft (3,053 m) Cumbres Pass.
The track was originally laid in 1880 by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. In 1970 the C&TS began to take tourists on six-hour trips between the two towns, using steam locomotives.
As Denver & Rio Grande Railroad San Juan Extension, the railway was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The boundaries of the NRHP listed area were increased in 2007.[1]
Mule Deer- South Fork, Colorado
click to enlarge
(C) Steve Douglass
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Town Dog
You never know when a good photo op will find you. I'm sitting in the truck at a store in Colorado when I spot this pooch in the truck next to me. I wanted him to look my way so I did my dog whistle - a trick I learned as a kid. I purse my lips real tight and can make a whistle only a dog can hear. It worked.
(C) Steve Douglass
Aspens on the Rio Grande River in South Fork, Colorado
click to enlarge
Serendipity and a horse in Colorado
It's early morning in South Fork Colorado. I see some deer - and what looks like a potentially great shot. Unfortunately they see me too and leap a fence into a rancher's field and high-tail it into a dark wooded area where I cannot follow. I'm disappointed that I missed the shot. Then something happens - as it seems to happen often with me - a "conspiracy of nature" takes place where God or whate
ver (for you non-believers) gently nudges me to look in the other direction. I turn - and there's this beautiful horse out for a early morning stroll. He's outlined in light and stands out starkly against the dark woods beyond. I raise my camera - dial in the appropriate exposure setting - focus and wait. The horse begins to move with a flip of his magnificent tail. CLICK!
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(C) Steve Douglass
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
New Mexico landscapes
Photographed on a recent trip to South Central New Mexico/White Sands National Monument
(C) Steve Douglass
click to enlarge
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Sunday, August 26, 2012
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