A Railroad Revisited

A group of us returned to East Broad Top on Saturday. I'd been clouted heavily with the flu during the week and was still feeling a little under the weather so was really pleased when Melony offered to drive. Scott joined us at my house and we had a fun and chatty ride up.
The staff were there to greet us again but didn't bother with their usual spiel as they knew we'd been before, and I'm guessing most of us were looking past them at the doors to the tool shed, anxious to be let loose. I was especially keen to use my camera since last time I'd had to borrow Barb's due to having no battery in my own. The photos had turned out pretty well but I'd not been able to take any low light images so I was looking forward to taking plenty of those today.

I found myself focusing mainly on lighting and texture as I worked my way around the rooms. We were also allowed in the blacksmiths shop which we hadn't had access to previously. Above is a lump of coal catching the late morning sun. 5 minutes later and the sun had passed it, leaving it as just a black lump in the shadows.

Crackled paint on the side of one of the locomotives.

This was looking through the screen of one window and focusing on a light bulb shining in another window across a courtyard.

My favorite shot of the tool shop, a lone bulb casting a yellow light across the dark room while the sun brightly lights up the buildings outside.
For lunch we returned to the bed and breakfast across the street and were fed homemade sloppy joes with a chicken, corn and pasta soup, both of which were delicious. Then with full bellies we went back to the rail yard to shoot the exterior.

Richard pointed out this sign and explained a klaxon is the trumpet style horn you see on the cab roofs of trucks. For a wonderful selection of klaxons to listen to, click here.

Robert took this shot of Andrew and I walking along the tracks chatting.
After we had finished shooting the rail yard, we went and found some other rail cars that were languishing on tracks in a wooded area.

Richard also found this awesome Beth Steel box, which of course he kept, to maybe turn into a shelf.

On the way home, we stopped to photograph some old cars we'd seen on the journey up. We couldn't believe the keys were in the trunk lock of one of them, and the owner came out, having a hard time understanding why we were having such fun looking over what she regarded as junk.
I was glad to finally get home. The day had worn me out, I hadn't realized the flu had weakened me so much. I could barely muster up the energy to feed and fuss the cats but once their bowls were filled I headed straight to bed, sleeping 10 hours straight.

Rural Relics and a Vulture Interrupted

Om Sunday I set off for the drive down to Fort Defiance, an abandoned military school which has been closed since 1984. It looked very imposing and interesting in the few images of it on the internet so I thought an investigation would be in order to see if there was a chance of me getting a group of photographers in there.

 I had a quick detour around the town of Shenandoah then carried on.

 Totally adored this little bevvy of summer colored classic cars that I spotted.

Is it me or does that tree on the right look like a rooster wondering how he's going to get in the house?

 I managed to stumble across a wealth of beautiful old abandoned houses before I arrived at Fort Defiance. Elkton had a gorgeous large farmhouse, well sealed, and a lovely bakery sign above a now closed establishment. Nearby was a closed art deco style cinema. The photos immediately above are of the old Baltimore and Ohio Railroad passenger station at Fort Defiance.
Then just up the road is the old military school.

 This huge building now seems to be a shell, it's falling badly into disrepair. I could see through some of the windows, many of which glass was missing from, and I could peer through gaps in the doors. There's a large courtyard inside and I could see interior walls were missing.

 I walked to the museum which was supposed to be open but wasn't, so grabbed an info sheet with a number that I'll have to call another day. Feeling a bit miffed I drove off, I'd been hoping to see at least the inside of the museum on my arrival.

 Driving past a farm I had to make a u-turn and return for another look. I had spotted an old car sitting in a barn and on closer inspection it turned out to be an old 1939 or 40 Studebaker. What a waste!

 I almost missed another abandoned house tucked away in some trees and had to backtrack. The place looked like a hurricane had torn through it. Personal papers and clothes were thrown every where. I strolled around and then carefully made my way upstairs, and as I peered through the bannisters I saw a big black vulture staring back at me.

 She didn't seem to be too ruffled by my presence but as I moved slowly closer she hopped up onto the window ledge and fluttered out of view on to the roof. I looked down knowing that she must have been sitting on a nest and was surprised to see just one solitary egg on the bare floor, not a twig, or soft down or anything to resemble a nest beneath it at all. I knew she'd be wanting to return and not wanting the egg to get cold I quickly turned about and went back downstairs without looking around further.

 Just a nifty couple of snaps on my way out and I left. I looked back up at the roof and the vulture was missing from her perch so I was glad she'd gone back inside. I looked them up later and found that laying their eggs on the ground is the norm and that her partner was out getting food. Black vultures apparently have a very poor sense of smell so spend a lot of their time soaring in the sky looking down for and then following turkey vultures, who have an excellent sense of smell and find food much more easily. She was a sweet docile bird and I'm quite tempted to go back and visit baby when he emerges from his shell.

Creative Cell Phone Photos

On Saturday I attended a local class on cell phone photo apps. I wasn't really expecting too much from it except to maybe pick up the names of a few cool apps and have a chat. Yet it was local and free so it was wonderful not having to think too hard about scheduling times and journeys.
There were only 10 or so of us there and we all had iPhones bar one. Many of the apps work on all platforms so that one person wouldn't be left out.
Don had really prepared for this class and I was impressed with the set up. he had a large screen in front of our table which his phone was hooked up to by a HDMI cord. He started off by showing us some of his images and then told us cool aspects of some of the apps he used. We all wanted to know how to place random birds in our images and he knew that. We ended up learning the best apps for rays, skies, blending images, brushes, and so much more. Some of us started downloading apps immediately, taking advantage of the library's free WiFi. I had deleted a stack of apps in the past from my phone that I never used and actually ended up installing a couple of them back.
I had been snapping a few images through the week in preparation for the class, and as soon as we'd finished I raced home and started playing. I briefly regretted not accepting the free tablet from AT&T that I'd been offered when buying my new iPhone. A bigger screen would have been nice but the regret soon passed. I really don't need extra gadgets and charges.
And so my efforts are below.

 These used a combination of the Rays, Tiny Planets, Mextures and Alien Skies apps. Sometimes four apps were used in one image.

 Mextures and Snapseed apps.

 Images using Tangled FX and Rays.

 Drawing effects from Enlight.

 Combinations of Enlight and Mextures. I only spent $10 on these apps and had a bundle of fun. Don also gave us a list of the apps he preferred and why, pointing out their most useful tools. There's still a few I have to purchase and try out. Watch this space!