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.

Robin at breakfast

AMERICAN ROBIN, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, MARCH 17, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/2000 sec. f9.0
ISO 1600

Another in yesterday's harvest of robin shots from the Botanic Garden, this one shows the subject feeding on winter-dried fruit from a David crabapple tree. I'm learning that it takes patience to get photographs of birds physically interacting with the world around them, not just perching prettily on a branch. Click for a large version.

One small step for a robin . . .

AMERICAN ROBIN, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, MARCH 17, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/4000 sec. f9.0
ISO 1600

For a change it was a nice morning outdoors at the Botanic Garden with a hazy sun in the upper 50s. The robins were out and about in force chasing each other in amorous sport, for it's the breeding season. This one struck a noble pose atop a branch of a David crabapple tree in the English Walled Garden. Click the photo for a large version.

Gimme

GRAY SQUIRREL, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, MARCH 14, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300 at 300mm
1/500 sec. f8
ISO 400

It's almost spring and I went out on the backyard deck this afternoon for a little wildlife shooting practice. A gray squirrel waited aloft for me to bring out another cup of bird seed, as I do each morning, and when I didn't he gripped the tree threateningly and scolded me for my lax attitude. Cheeky little tree rat. Click the photo to see him close up in all his belligerent glory.

Joinery

GAZEBO ROOF CORNER, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, MARCH 3, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-DA 55-30 at 107mm
1/500 f8
ISO 800

The angles and texture of the joists caught my eye this cold and overcast afternoon, and I plan to come back in the early morning one fine spring day when the low sun will very likely outline the grain of the wood in high relief and ivy leaves afford contrasting color. Much effective photography, I am learning, consists of picking a scene--and planning ahead for the best light.

Marty Feldman reincarnated?

GRAY SQUIRREL, EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, JANUARY 2, 2011

Pentax K-5
SMC Pentax-F* 300mm f4.5 ED (IF)
1/500 sec. f9.5
ISO 1600

Reviewing the backyard squirrel shots of the last couple of months yielded this almost overlooked frame that reminds me of Marty Feldman, the late British comic actor famous for his hyperthyroidic bug eyes (he was unforgettable as Igor in Mel Brooks' "Young Frankenstein").