New MBTA paint schemes

So here's a couple-week-old one: The MBTA [just had] a contest to choose the newest scheme for their new engines from MPI (presumably more of the MP36/40 MPXpress family). These are the three options they gave:



(Okay, first off, why's the last one a different engine model than the other two - do or don't they have rear platforms??)
My initial reaction was a very railfan-typical preference for the first design that continues the current, classier lightning-stripe scheme (though the handling of the transition on the roof cowling behind the cab is weak).

With time though my designer side has found more faults with the detailing of that scheme (what's with that little strip in the middle of the nose??) and grown fonder of the other two. The front is really bold, which can feel cheesier and doesn't satisfy my railfan aesthetic, but does appeal to the rest of me. (Also the black on purple with gold pinstripe is just plain pretty.) I think it's fascinating how divided my design opinions are based on my headspace at the time! Regardless, these will be fun to see trackside.

The Second Rule Of Model Train Layouts

(And it's totally HO, not H0, duh.)

2011-03-08 Palmer

I did a little railfanning at Palmer yesterday.




This shot reminds me of a lot of the photos I've seen from the late 70's. Something about the lighting reminds me of the way a lot of the film from then performed/aged I think. Of course, the D&H-inspired paint scheme on an few-decades-old engine helps if you don't look too closely.

three more shots from wednesday evening

On my way to class







[Remarkably, this also makes 14 out of 18 photos on the front page of my photostream as of this date shot with an iPhone - the other 4 were my DSLR.]

couple more not-train photos

Cmnd-Option
My desk at night - I actually had my DSLR in reaching distance, but opted for my iPhone instead even though the technical quality of the photos clearly suffered some (sharpness primarily). Telling.




Desk.

because I have neglected this site

here's some recent snapshots of mine:
(and evidence of why I love the iPhone 4's camera so much)

2011-03-02 UMass - on the way to class in some heavy wind


2011-02-08 Hadley Car Crash


2011-02-05 UMass - Friends walk to the DC past Thatcher in Northeast (UMass Amherst)

My Kitchen Window (photos)

definitely time to practice me some HDR techniques

Dr Seussian Star Wars

by Adam Watson [via @Paisley_67]

some recent(ish) favorites from photographers I follow

By Set and Centered:


By familymansystem:


By VirginiaSouthern:


By familymansystem:


By mudpig:



(More Here)

2010-11-03 Northampton Meadows LandArch Project

We did a one week overview study of the Ward 3 neighborhood of Northampton, MA as part of an ongoing open spaces assessment and revitalization proposal with the community. These are some photos from my site tour of "The Meadows" that came out nicer than just a simple reference snap. (And show off the quality of the iPhone 4's camera!)






This is the only one I did any post processing besides simple cropping - I tweaked the colors slightly.


I decided to procrastinate during this INTENSE project to snap a random process shot. This is when I'm trying to organize my thoughts into some vaguely-cohesive presentation of my findings. (Just barely out of frame is the DISASTER zone I call our living room.)
Full Set

train photo of the day

Worcester MA, 2005-08

this set from 2005-08 still has a couple of my all-time favorites...

not-train photo of the day - 2009-7-6 Mt Tamalpais CA

full set

photos from art project on abandoned bridge on edge of UMass

before:

during:

after:

a week later:


This installation was for a project on Transitory Nature inspired by Andy Goldsworthy's work. My project summary:

Ecology is often viewed as a temporal entity - constantly shifting. Human architecture is usually viewed on a much more permanent basis. But in truth both are equally temporary and permanent - all architectural and ecological entities function on long and short-term scales of time. In this case a pipe bridge was sliced into the “natural” environment of this small river. The bridge became something we generally consider a permanent fixture in this environment. But it’s usefulness came to an end and it was abandoned. It has entered a long gradual phase of decay, and the surrounding ecology began to reclaim it. This installation served to express the inverse process on the scaled-down timeframe of a week - a time span considerably-shorter, and yet not all that different in the global sense of time. The surrounding plant-life was made to encroach into the man-made world of the bridge and to “reclaim” half of it. Through the week those plant-cuttings decayed - a sped up inversion of the bridge’s lifespan. With time the bridge returned to it’s longer-scale state of architectural decay prior to this artificial “natural” intrusion. Art is an endeavor humans pursue to express something about our worlds - in this case to highlight and reinterpret the temporal nature of the interactions between architecture and the surrounding ecology - to highlight the truly “transitory nature” of those processes.





rest of set

pair of beautiful shots of railfan photographers at Fullerton by Ken Szok

train photos of the day

A few 'oldies' from my 2005-2 Syracuse & Selkirk NY set


Dad was w/ me (and actually shot that top image too) and captured an interest one of me:

still rocking my Mom's old all-manual 35mm & our crappy point-and-shoot, which is the camera that captured most of these shots (still have to scan in the 35mm ones I guess?)

Szoksnapshots is one of my perpetual favorite railfan photographers

rest of Ken Szok's library

train photo of the day

re-crop of 2010-06 San Francisco 10 - MUNI Market Street historic PCC car

train photo of the day

2005-08 Worcester MA

'10 Best Japanese Ghost Towns'

asylum.com

Nick Suydam's photo 'Moving Freight While You Sleep'

BNSF Galesburg, IL yard, by Nick Suydam