ISO 1600

Look Out Houston

Nick Suydam — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:10:52 +0000

With just a little over three thousand feet of intermodal containers trailing behind, the Union Pacific’s southbound Z-YCHO-16 blasts through Grant Park, IL at 60mph. Just out of the ramp at Yard Center, this train is hell bent for Houston. I had three of my strobes set up in a tight little circle next to the tracks to see how much light I could get in one spot. I really wanted to get some motion blur, and I think I managed to do alright in that department.

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Passing Lines

Nick Suydam — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:25:13 +0000

With the fresh remains of a good old fashioned country burn out still fresh on the pavement, an eastbound Union Pacific intermodal train streaks under the new signals protecting the west end of Global III in Rochelle, IL.

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Creston Elevator

Nick Suydam — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 22:33:47 +0000

The one overhead sodium vapor light in the grain elevator complex at Creston, IL is casting ominous shadows from the icicles hanging off the metal overhang. Stars in the night sky shine brightly above, no light pollution out here, especially on this full moon night.

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Tangent

Nick Suydam — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 22:42:09 +0000

Slashing through the Heartland, the former Illinois Central mainline provides a straight shot south from Chicago towards the Gulf of Mexico. The route is fast and straight. And on this foggy night, somewhere out in the country south of the tiny town of Ashkum, IL, a distant headlight is approaching. It’s just another freight train, M398, making 50mph or so with tons of lumber, plastics and chemicals, trying to get into Champaign ahead of the due-pretty-soon City of New Orleans. The glow of the headlight on the foggy horizon silhouettes the grain elevator in Ashkum. Pretty soon, the train will be here, I’d better move the tripod.

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Monadnock Down

Nick Suydam — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:21:19 +0000

I’ve been meaning to post this for quite some time. This was taken on the same night as the previous two night views here on the blog. What you see here are two views of the historic Monadnock Building. This is the southern half of the building, designed by Holabird & Roche and is an early example of steel frame construction. I could attempt to explain more about the building, but just follow that link above, or go here to the Wikipedias. Now on to the photos:

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n/p: Booker T & The MGs

Above the South Loop

Nick Suydam — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 02:21:44 +0000

From the same vantage point as last night’s photo, this is turned looking slightly more easterly. The skyline from here varies so much, from the old buildings in the foreground, such as the Manhattan building which was built in 1889, to the 62 stories of One Museum Park, completed in 2008, with its blue top rising in the background.

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Down at the MCC

Nick Suydam — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:54:43 +0000

Lately I’ve attempted to resume my mission of exploring all of Chicago’s parking garages. Not only do I love me some concrete and asphalt, but they tend to provide some elevation and sometimes a unique view of the city. Such was the case with this garage I visited on the south side of the Loop, across from the Metropolitan Correctional Center. This strange triangular building is a federal penitentiary, housing many white collar inmates, both male and female. You can learn more about this place through this link.

I know I’ve been posting old photos lately, but stay tuned, this is just the beginning of a whole hopper full of new images.

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Roadside Indiana and Other Assorted Goodies

Nick Suydam — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 01:42:58 +0000

Boring days of photography, where nothing goes the right way, can often lead to taking photos of random stuff. This includes old compact discs randomly discarded along highways in Indiana. This actually seemed extra appropriate to be found in Indiana.

Anyway, a few more things to pass along before I conclude. You may have noticed a few more categories over there on the right side. That means new things are on the way, something I’ve been working on for a few weeks, and which should start to show up on the blog in the next week or so.

And, lastly, in reading Strobist (which everyone interested in photography should be doing religiously), I found an extra special tip on a little Photoshop trick. His High Pass Post Production technique is an excellent way to quickly punch up a photo, and as with anything, a little bit goes a long way. I’ve been experimenting with it this past week, and it does wonders. You shall see the results in a few photos early next week. Until then…

The Home of Twister

Nick Suydam — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 03:10:42 +0000

The second day of spring in 2007 (read: prime tornado season), found me wandering across the plains of Oklahoma (read: Tornado Alley) on my way back from California and Arizona. Somewhere on the arrow-straight and pancake-flat Oklahoma Highway 11 between Alva and Medford, OK, I noticed a sign to a tourist attraction. I actually had to do a U-turn on the highway to go back and make sure I had seen it correctly. I had in fact seen it right, it pointed motorists north along Highway 11A five miles to the small town of Wakita, OK, where they had what was billed as the “Twister: The Movie Museum”. This I had to see.

Now if you’ve seen the movie Twister, you may remember the horrible special effects, plot and general poor acting. But you may also remember that the town that is obliterated in the movie is in fact called Wakita, OK. Apparently not only was this small town of 360 people the namesake town for the disaster movie, but they also filmed a majority of the scenes around the area. And they made a museum for it. I didn’t get a chance to go inside of the museum, but I did look in the windows. They have several of the props from the movie, and even offer “Twister Walking Tours”. I think Helen Hunt is the docent at the museum, it would explain where her career went. Everything in the town is named “Twister-something”, as you can see in this photo. And you can also see that the skies were growing ever ominous as I explored the town’s main street, so I figured it was time to get back on the road, lest I be an extra in the real-life version of the movie….

You can also find out more about the Twister: The Movie Museum on their website at:

http://www.twistercountry.com/

Be sure to stop by if you’re ever in the area.

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Life in the Dead Mountains

Nick Suydam — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:52:47 +0000

During the day, the Mojave Desert is a harsh, unforgiving landscape. But, in the minutes after sunset, the Mojave takes on a completely different look; different hues and shades of colors appear and rapidly fade into the twilight. Sounds carry for quite a ways out there too. Especially the sound of thousands of horsepower lifting a couple thousand tons of commerce out of the Colorado River valley, in the shadow of the Dead Mountains.

After a quick crew change in Needles, just about 10 miles to the east, a hotshot westbound BNSF Z train is attacking the foot of Goffs Hill, snaking around the ‘new’ line at Ibis, CA. Trailing the power, stretched out across the great expanse of desert, is a mile or so of piggybacked truck trailers, due into the ramp in a few hours with hot loads of freight for the Los Angeles basin. The peaks of the Dead Mountains in the distance are looming in the twilight, the last red in the sky remaining to highlight their jagged edges. The color in the sky will have vanished before the last car on the train passes me, disappearing into the darkness of the desert on its way to LA.

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