The early bird

AMERICAN ROBIN, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, APRIL 24, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/1600 sec. f8
ISO 1600

It's beem rainy all week, and the robins in our back yard are having a turkey shoot with the earthworms, as you can see from the soil-bedecked beak of this specimen. It's standing tall, almost on tiptoe, to better hear its quarry wriggling under the grass -- or perhaps to keep an eye on the cat that lives next door. Click the photo for larger version.

Bursting bud

YELLOW MAPLE BUD, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, APRIL 24, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/180 sec f8 with on-board flash
ISO 800

I stepped out on the backyard deck on an overcast day this morning to see if any squirrels or interesting birds were about, but none were. Then I noticed that the buds on the yellow maple tree my elder son and I had planted in 1975 were opening, a sure sign that spring is here to stay. The versatile Pentax 55-300 zoom lens focuses closely enough to be used as a semi-macro.

Steady now, just a few more feet . . .

CONDUCTOR SPOTTING HIS TRAIN AT LA PLATA, MISSOURI, APRIL 5, 2011

Pentax K20D
Sigma 17-70 at 70mm
1/125 f4.5
ISO 400

Some experienced engineers know instinctively where to stop their trains to put a desired car right in front of the station, but most need the radio guidance of a conductor for precise car-positioning. This conductor was in charge of Amtrak 3, the westbound Southwest Chief, when it stopped at La Plata, Missouri, late in the evening on a sunny April day.

Brute force

GENERAL ELECTRIC ES44C4 ON POINT OF INTERMODAL STACK TRAIN, LA PLATA, MISSOURI, APRIL 5, 2011

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/350 sec. f13
ISO 400

That long, long Burlington Northern Santa Fe stack train is being pulled by four 4,400 horsepower diesel locomotives, with an additional two 3,600 horsepower engines pushing on the rear -- a total of 24,800 horses. The foreshortening of the long lens, to me, just adds even more brute force to the composition. The leading locomotive is less than a year old. Click for desktop-sized version.

Agent at Albuquerque

STATION AGENT HANDLING BAGGAGE ON THE SOUTHWEST CHIEF, ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO, APRIL 6, 2011

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-DA AL 35mm f2.4
1/500 sec. f4.5
ISO 560

Ordinarily this would be a mundane shot, but there's something that caught my eye in this Amtrak agent's stance in the door as he waits for his mate to come up with the baggage cart. The picture was taken during the westbound Amtrak Southwest Chief's service stop in Albuquerque.

Stack train in the desert

BURLINGTON NORTHERN SANTA FE STACK TRAIN IN THE NEW MEXICO DESERT, APRIL 8, 2011

Pentax K20D
SMC Pentax-DA AL 35mm f2.4
1/2000 sec. f4
ISO 400

This shot was taken early in the morning in the high mesa country of western New Mexico from an eastbound Amtrak Southwest Chief. The train in the background is a hotshot container stack train hauled by four 4,400-horsepower diesel locomotives, with two smaller engines shoving on the rear. The photograph is at its best when clicked on to desktop size.