On the Tracks

I'm blogging tonight from a hotel room in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I'm here to see our new niece, shoot a wedding, shoot a couple's anniversary session, and visit with family. Rather than flying or driving, I rode the train for my very first time. I spent the entire day in rail cars - no seriously, the entire day: from 7:30am Eastern time to 10:30pm Central time. It was such an experience! I'm so used to going-going-going, it was actually a unique sensation to be forced to simply sit and gaze out a window.

For the first few hours, I did just that. I watched the world float by from a completely different vantage point. To see everything from the back: the rail yards, junk yards and the backs of buildings was just so different from the blacktop and billboards that we're so used to seeing, I couldn't stop staring. The ever-changing landscape of exposed and peeling brick walls, boarded up windows, piles of scrap metal, rusting pieces of junked automobiles and rail cars...to the fields of wildflowers, wide open plains, and swollen rivers was enough to make me actually physically ache inside. I wanted to yell to the conductor to Stop the Train! I wanted to photograph everything, all of it, every bit, every rock, every flower, every rusted nail. I wanted to capture it, collect it in my small hands, in this little black storage container, to be exposed, relished, savored later. My head is abuzz with inspiration tonight (and admittedly a bit dizzy from 16 hours on swaying railcars...)

I can't wait for the rest of this trip.
In fact, I better get to sleep....
It's well into tomorrow already, and I don't want to miss anything ;)



*** I will have limited access to email and phone calls for the rest of the trip. ***
I'll be back in Michigan on Tuesday, September 23rd, but will be checking emails and voicemails when I can. Thank you for your patience and understanding if I don't answer your call or email right away :)