The Cascade tunnel is marvel of engineering and I enjoy the challenges of photographing it and the trains that dwell within.
Here’s a pretty unique shot that will give you an idea of what it’s like inside. Safely taken with a long lens.
That’s a neat picture.
OK -how long ?
Just amazing !!! I don’t know which is more impressive - the technical skills to pull that off, or the imagination to think it up. [bow] [bow] [bow]
Please consider entering that in various competitions - esp. the non-rail variety - if you’re into that. I’d say it has a good chance of being the winner there, too. The rest of the world ought to see more of what this industry can be about.
Steve, with the places you go and what you do, I’d be happy just to be your ‘pack mule’ for a few days.
Thanks for sharing 1
- Paul North.
I’d go with both—!!! That is amazing![bow][bow]
I’d love to get my hands on that lens…[:O][8D][bow]
Yesssss…[8)]
I assume that those two dark lines running down the top of the tunnel are the clearance cuts that were recently made in the concrete. It is interesting that the two surfaces in each of those two cuts pick up no illumination while the rest of the tunnel lining does.
Also interesting is the fact that you can see the irregular depth of the cuts, indicating a slight irregularity of the distance between the track surface and the tunnel roof.
Proving that railfanning isn’t filling a frame with a head on shot of an SD70M cab or a 3/4 wedge of the same train with a different engine at any given location (which makes no difference because you can’t tell the location). Yes, this is competition photography. Imaginative, creative, just plain neat!
Well, after thinking about this some more this morning, I’ve concluded that -
The really great part of this photo is the imagination that thought it up, and how to execute it ! [tup]
Steve, you’ve figured out a way to solve a long-standing problem in rail photography - the inside of tunnels and other dark, basically inaccessible places such as deep cuts, under stations or other buildings or long overhead bridges, etc. (Similarly, many years ago in Trains I recall that Editor David P. Morgan asked something like, ‘‘Have you ever gotten a really good photo of a flat car ?’’) There’s lots of photos of trains exiting and even entering the tunnels, of course - but darn few of the trains in the tunnels, or of the tunnels themselves. Now we can have a whole new genre and class of rail photography - the ‘inside the tunnel shot’, which I hereby nominate to be known henceforth as a ‘Steve Carter photo’ - kind of like how Mitch Goldberg (I believe is who it is
I’m on board with this dilemma, too, Great shot!
NICE SHOT!!
Reckon you could make it down this way and shoot the old K & IT bridge across the Ohio River without the New Albany, In. police getting in your way? (with the long lens of course.)
Wow! I’m overwhelmed by the response and somewhat unworthy.
I’m also tardy in responding appropriately. I must give full credit for the idea for this image to Ross Fotheringham. He perceived the concept and allowed me try my hand at it, along side (maybe over his shoulder, don’t recall) him at just the right location.
Here’s Ross’ version: http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=312868
I will accept credit for having the minimal skills necessary to pull it off, and my vision of how it should look post-processing.
It’s pretty nice group of rail fans out here that I “hang with”. We share information and frequently inspiration, along with a healthy seasoning of competition.
Paul, I see your reference to the Foss River bridge shot. I’m not sure if you’re referring to my version of that or Dave Honan’s, which won the Grand Prize for the 2009 Trains/Canon contest. In a very similar way, my shot was Dave’s inspiration. Dave is a very talented photographer. He put is own spin on it and was clearly very successfull.
It’s clearly one thing to be inspired by a photo and another thing to be able to produce a credible image based on that inspiration. I’m quite appreciative of the comments, I just don’t want to let the guy with the real vision of this image to go unnoticed.
In regards to the question of the two thick black lines. I’ve manipulated the image so the shadows are not so intense and you can in some spots, see a very distinct notch. What’s interesting is that it’s not consistent. Makes you wonder if the tunnel ceiling was that inconsistent or the road bed is and the notching was based on measurements from the rail