For several years I’ve been eyeing the view from Laurel Hill Cemetery as a place to make a railway photograph of the former Reading Company bridges over the Schuylkill. I was intrigued by combination elevation and the complexity of the scene. My brother Sean and I scoped this out last winter, but the light was dull and trees blocked the angle I wanted for a southward train. Recently the view was improved as a result of extensive tree removal around the river-side of the cemetery. Yesterday, Sean, Mike Scherer and I investigated photographic views from Laurel Hill. Our timing was right; I made this image of CSX’s symbol freight Q439 rolling across the bridge at 2:22 pm. I’m pleased with this effort, since catching a train here has been a challenge and the angle is a new one for me, yet I see room for improvement. Finding a train here an hour or two earlier in the day might offer better light on the side of the locomotives, while a slightly longer lens would tighten my composition.
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as usual plenty going on in the photo
This multi-faceted, historically layered setting provides a great context for the train, passing through its place and time. So interesting is this picture!
Interesting shot, Tons of old and new for the eye ball to scan.
So who did you get to cut the trees down? 😉 Now if you could only remove the two motorway bridges in the background!
That’s a lot of work to put into a cluttered, mundane location. This might have been a nice shot 50 years ago, but it isn’t worth shooting today, IMO.