Rails of Color
Texas Bluebonnets grow thick and wild along a long out of service stretch of rails near Kingsland, Texas.
Texas Bluebonnets grow thick and wild along a long out of service stretch of rails near Kingsland, Texas.
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Apr, 2017Views
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Awards
Contest Finalist in Empty Railways Photo Contest
People's Choice in Central Texas Wildflower Fields Photo Challenge
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Outstanding Creativity
Absolute Masterpiece
All Star
Magnificent Capture
Genius
Superior Skill
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Vimophoto
May 25, 2017
Congrats on winning peoples choice. This was my second favorite. I am glad you won. I love this photograph. What part of Texas was this?
PRO
PRO+
Cookies4U
July 04, 2020
beautiful editing, making a rail line look like a place to be--especially in the time of COVID! Wish I could just go and sit a spell!
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
These abandoned tracks are located near Kingsland, Texas. Exact location I will not divulge, but it doesn't take a lot of effort on Google to find the specifics. It's a fairly popular spot to shoot, but I went quite a bit further down the tracks than many do and shoot back at this bridge from the far side giving a different perspective than many shots here.Time
It was late morning by the time I got out on location here, EXIF states 11:04 am. I had spent the night in the western Austin area after spending the evening shooting at Pedernales Falls State Park and got a fairly late start to the morning, but a text from another photography friend of mine saying he was in the area got me moving out his direction to where he was shooting. Skies were partly cloudy, keeping shadows fairly uniform and not too harsh.Lighting
Landscape photographers know Golden hours and Blue hours are the magic hours, but sometimes mother nature cooperates a bit longer than that and you're able to get some decent outdoor shots well into the later hours of the day. The clouds and just a hint of haze added some depth and interest to the conditions that one would normally not consider ideal for landscapes.Equipment
My trusted Canon 6D paired with the hiking-friendly lighter weight 70-200 F4L. This location is more than a mile from the road along these uneven abandoned tracks, making the going fairly slow with a camera bag on your back. Stopped down to f/13 for some depth of field even at the full zoom of the 200mm focal length long end, I was able to shoot this hand held while kneeling and giving good support to the camera and lens. The IS built into the lens and keeping the shutter speed at 1/200 allowed for a clean sharp image.Inspiration
It wasn't the greatest year for bluebonnets in the Texas Hill Country this past spring, but it had been a few years since I'd traveled the back roads of the region looking for the early spring blooms so took a chance on a long weekend road trip. After dodging monster hail storms the first night, and a long night shooting under the stars my energy levels might have been a bit low by this point, but these tracks had been on my wish-list to visit for too long to pass up shooting with a good friend who happened to also be in the area at the time. Have to give him credit for getting me moving and back out exploring that morning.Editing
Both Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop were utilized in the editing of this image. Mostly for color balance and contrast work. Adding richness of color and contrast to an image shot at 11am was important to pull the viewer into the frame and down the tracks. Selective color masking was used to enrich the colors of the bluebonnets while also brightening the grass around them to enhance the striking color contrast.In my camera bag
One of my two Canon 6D bodies and a variety of lenses depending on the location and style of photography being shot. For most of my landscape outings, at minimum I'll have my 16-35 F4L and 70-200 F4L lenses, allowing for ultra wide and moderate telephoto looks at minimal weight. For longer walks like this one, I'll also be carrying the MeFoto GlobeTrotter carbon tripod for when I need to get the camera steadied.Feedback
First and foremost, never shoot on live tracks or anything that might even be live tracks. I avoid abandoned tracks in general, as they are still private property, but these are well known in the area by photographers and those looking to get a photo of their kids in bluebonnets each spring. Still have to wonder what this shot would have looked like at around 7am though with some more of that golden hued light of those hours.
