Random Ramblings - A Bad Place For Trees

Union Pacific; Tobin, Calif.; March 12, 2007

Ah, yes. Green trees add to a nice scenic photo. Trees between you and your subject can be distracting, but as long as the trees are behind the train, everything is good. or is it?

Sometimes you have bad tree placement that makes it appear the tree is attached to the train. In the photo above, taken along the former Western Pacific in California's Feather River Canyon, you have to wonder how that tree got tied to the cab and how did it make it through the bridge.

Perhaps even more bizarre is the train below on the Cedar Rapids & Iowa City pulling a National Railway Historical Society convention trip. You can tell by the way the tree mounted on the slug unit is bending in the wind that the train is traveling very fast. We won't mention the extra light attached to the cab roof of the lead locomotive...

Cedar Rapids & Iowa City; Oakdale, Iowa; June 22, 2012

So the next time you're out shooting, remember that trees in front of the train aren't the only problem.