Railroad weeds
One of the awesome things about railroads is what is immediately adjecent to them. Whether apartments in an urban area or the wild growth alongside this track in Indiana, there's always something interesting to see.
Contrary to some's belief, this is not "prarie", or original grassland, growing besides the track. This is the same as believing if you don't tend to your backyard that the prarie will return. It will not.
Praries are complex ecosystems and thus need not only time but space to recur. Now, if you had 10 acres, then yes, you could restore the land to its earlier ways. But on any land, perimeters are always dominated by certain species and plants, things like "weeds" and rats and icky bugs... and that's exactly what train tracks are, a boundary.
In the 90's they built the Biosphere in Tucson, Arizona, as a grand experiment to see if they could create a self-sustaining, oxygen-generating environment. They attempted to recreate over a dozen different ecosystems under one closed roof. The experiment failed--in the long run the system couldn't generate enough oxygen for the humans staying inside, One of the interesting observations was that the team spent most of their day "weeding". In other words, they hadn't succeeded in building a dozen ecosystems, just a dozen sets of boundaries.
So yes, weeds and nasty critters dominate the boundaries of our earth systems. But who says weeds aren't pretty?
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Comments and faves
KLnyc, the-father, Mary Trebilco, MakingMemories(Deja-Vu photography), and 80 other people added this photo to their favorites.
KLnyc (58 months ago | reply)
Man, thats one cool shot.
Nice POV too and your Vivitar rocks!!
Ekler (58 months ago | reply)
this is really cool shot of a railroad and again - thanks for the info!
what were you standing on taking this? Doesn’t look that it was taken from a bridge - too low.... tell me please!
Mary Trebilco (58 months ago | reply)
Awesome shot, Kevin!
That line just goes on forever, doesn't it?!
crowt59 (58 months ago | reply)
Nice saturation, great perspective!
the-father (58 months ago | reply)
great perspective!
You are my winner!
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MakingMemories(Deja-Vu photography) (58 months ago | reply)
excellent lines..aweosme shot
Guylaine_B (58 months ago | reply)
Excellent perspective Kevin
Kelvin Wong (Away) (58 months ago | reply)
Wow! what an amazing perspective here my friend!!! superb!
This is Perfect!
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*setsuna (58 months ago | reply)
Great...gorgeous green colour!!
andie.smith (58 months ago | reply)
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Definitely a winner!!!
You deserve another one.
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XStormyX [deleted] (58 months ago | reply)
Interesting description! Thanks for sharing!! & I say weeds are beautiful (as long as they aren't in my yard lol) Great capture!!
Vali... (58 months ago | reply)
I love traveling by railway...watching how the land is passing, meeting people, reading in between...
We had the first around 1850
kretyen (58 months ago | reply)
I have a hard time finding a sense of scale--the tall poles on the right and the short poles on the left are visually confusing to my little brain!
And the tall poles on the right are so close to the track. Mmmmm.
I love the idea about boundaries. Great work.
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Anne Strickland (58 months ago | reply)
Thanks for the information, Kevin. Train tracks are always good subjects to photograph. Very thought-provoking.
Paul_C_Reus (not around) (58 months ago | reply)
Wonderful never ending rail line, Kevin - and a bonus of your educational environmental information!
All the best
Paul!
berctander (58 months ago | reply)
After looking through your work, the perspective is the main element. And this is one of the best ones. The paralel ones are taking you as far as you can go...
usbdevice (58 months ago | reply)
An amazing perspective!
And thanks for the interesting informations.
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Dean Forbes (58 months ago | reply)
great tones and light
Sir Cam (58 months ago | reply)
fantastic composition, kevin! love the vp!
Amit Basu (58 months ago | reply)
great perspective.
Steve-h (58 months ago | reply)
stunning shot and a most interesting caption !
♥ Hazed ♥ (58 months ago | reply)
wonderful composition!
ilsebatten (58 months ago | reply)
That is what I had suspected because I also see the predominance of nasty weeds (mostly exotics which then drive out the indigenous plants, like in our case the lantana). Thank you for bringing this to our attention. But I have to tell you that your photograph is beautiful and I love the tracks diminishing into the distance.
Gold Seal of Quality
Yaci Andrade (58 months ago | reply)
Great perspective!
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Yaci Andrade (58 months ago | reply)
Oi! Sou administrador de um grupo chamado Loucos por Fotografias e nós adoraríamos ter isto adicionado ao grupo!
Michelangelo da Sistina (58 months ago | reply)
Good capture!
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Memo Vasquez (58 months ago | reply)
Your Photo Wins a Heart
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Ari Magnusson (58 months ago | reply)
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very nice shot, interesting idea, congrats!
mferrol (58 months ago | reply)
excelente perspectiva!!!
Jocko B. (58 months ago | reply)
Great point of view and composition.
3whiteroses [deleted] (58 months ago | reply)
Great perspective - I love the tone of your photo. I have been wanting to shoot trains, but have not had the time to hunt down a great spot. Thanks for sharing.
xuvira, (58 months ago | reply)
EXCELENTE FOTO
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rkramer62 (58 months ago | reply)
Very interesting
chase.willsey (58 months ago | reply)
Wonderful!!!
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+faster+ (58 months ago | reply)
what a wonderful shot for tones and vanishing point. Perfectly exposed!One of my fav!
AnnuskA - AnnA Theodora (58 months ago | reply)
fantastic atmosphere... great colors and composition ;-)
gfidias [deleted] (58 months ago | reply)
beautiful perspective!
totes mcgoats (58 months ago | reply)
the Biosphere was very disappointing - their marketing tactics was a bit of an exaggeration of their aquatic life. I do applaud their efforts - there are no recipes in creating natural systems hence why I've given up on tropical fish. Anyways beautiful image as always, makes me want to watch stand by me.
AnnuskA - AnnA Theodora (58 months ago | reply)
lol
indeed...
my poor Hadouken... was so scared! ^.^
f650biker [deleted] (58 months ago | reply)
sidewalk flying (58 months ago | reply)
Your essay made me think about prairies and borders and the nature of weeds.
lepuzzi (58 months ago | reply)
Wowser! What a track!
I love that you cannot see the path anymore and it disapears!
Great Kevin!
. SantiMB . (58 months ago | reply)
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This is an Amazing Shot! Please consider adding your photograph to the group Amazing Shots!!
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lepuzzi (58 months ago | reply)
This photo took my BREATH away
Pls add this photo to the
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*toni.r (58 months ago | reply)
in a way though, boundaries are also there to contain us... to give us something to rail [ha!] against, yet still hold fast... hence why all the action takes place on the perimeter... it's where freedom twinkles. i also read this week, that the planting along individual train-lines is so 'samey' because seeds blow onto the train from the side of the track and then get carried down the line until they get blown off again + take root. who'd 've thought it? [oh, and this looks like a really rather posh photo for the viv. well done you!]
Márcia_Marton (58 months ago | reply)
I just love railroads! Excellent perspective!@Excellent shot!
Malage21 (58 months ago | reply)
hasta el infinito... MJ
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loydyoo (58 months ago | reply)
This is amazing...........:)
sREe inspired. (58 months ago | reply)
absolutely love this.....
great contrast....the green looks stunning....
superb capture my friend
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reiffgladys (58 months ago | reply)
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I LOVE HOW YOU TOOK THIS PICTURE. BEAUTIFUL ANGLE