Man's Best Friend
There's nothing like sharing an afternoon of railfanning with your best friend, even if she's a little crazy (and I'm not talking about my wife). On this chilly but delightful winter afternoon, my dog Minnie watched a westbound Z train cruise along the Wenatchee River near Dryden, WA. You don't always realize at the time how special moments like this can be. Two months after I captured this, Minnie nearly died after being attacked by a pony. It took two surgeries and three months of healing for her to be able to spend a whole day outside again, but through it all she never lost her will to live nor her tongue-hanging-out-to-the-side smile. Yeah, she's slightly neurotic, she's invariably getting into some kind of trouble, and she might be slightly dumber than a pile of lemmings (learning to climb a ladder notwithstanding), but she's my dog and I adore her even with all her flaws.
Landscape photography is difficult due to the challenge of combining good light and good scenery. Good railroad photography enters another level of complexity since it requires the first two while there is a train in view.
