CONTINUING ON MY RAILROADING THEME

BNSF AT SANDCUT, CALIFORNIA, 2006

I sat with this image for six years. I knew that there were elements of the composition that appealed to me, but I never could interpret it in a manner that reflected what I wanted to share. This closely matches my visual recollections of the type of lighting I recall in the lower San Joaquin Valley. The reason why I think I was stuck for so long in my dealings with this image is that I kept pumping up the saturation. I have a version of this photograph where the sky is very alive. The problem is that the sky in that part of the country is seldom vivid. The air is full of particulates, and the "haze" (a polite term for smog), is almost always a big factor in the clarity of one's vision.

SATURATED SANTA FE

I can say that this image is my interpretation of what I saw that day, and for the past six years I wanted this to be it. The truth is that I really do like both visions of the scene. I still have not determined if and when I will invest some paper and ink on this photograph. I think I will sit with them just a little while longer.