Photo 101: Edge

Photo 101: Edge

by Mara Eastern

18edge (1)

Are you fed up with my railway photos yet? I’m fed up with the railways, but I can’t help using them. So in response to Photo 101 clue edge, I’m vengefully posting another pair of railway landscape, appropriately grungy and edgy, as one would expect at the edge of civilisation. The photos show a disused bridge that arches over the tracks and leads from the railway station on one end to thick bushes on the other end. Very useful.

94 thoughts on “Photo 101: Edge”

    1. Awe, glad you like! I did the effect in post-processing by playing with the saturation and finally applying a filter that boosts the reds while suppressing other colours. I can’t shoot, but I can post-edit 😉

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      1. Aw,don’t be so modest.You are one of the terrific photographers I have ever met !! I need to learn post-edit , all I know is one-click edit of Picassa !

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        1. *blushes* Thanks! I actually don’t know most of the time what I’m doing when postediting, I’m just playing around and sometimes it works. Often it doesn’t 😦 Picassa? Hm, I found that too hard to use!

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          1. It has just few buttons,one click this or that and thats all,I can’t post edit a specific area of the pic….

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          2. I see. Maybe the very easiness of the thing confused me :-O I’m using not the classic Photoshop but a thing called Corel Paintshop. Like Photoshop, but more user-friendly. It has one catch, and that is that it’s a paid software. And they also don’t pay me for endorsement!

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          1. Picassa has hardly any options.Just regular ones. If one wants to do something special like Mara’s pics,picassa has nothing to offer except making it completely B&W 🙂

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          2. That’s kind of what I thought. I tried a free version of Photoshop once (they make the older versions available free on Adobe’s website), but I didn’t have the time to do any of the tutorials and trying to jump in without knowing what I was doing was a colossal headache. I’ve kind of given up on it at this point.

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          3. I also tried Photoshop once and was hugely disappointed. It’s overpriced and user unfriendly. I’m using Corel Paintshop because it is much easier to use and has in-built help panel. I can imagine your pain, I experienced something similar as I was reading my camera manual the other day — I didn’t take it in all at 😦

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          4. I need to reread mine, but I think it’ll take me all night to do it – I need peace to read technical stuff like that, and peace is hard to find when the kids are awake.

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          6. If I wasn’t the one doing the driving, that would be a great idea! Oh, wait – the kids come with me on my commute. Oh, well. There’s always midnight, right? I hear that the most intelligent people are night owls, anyway. 🙂

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          7. Sadly, I commute by trains, in my country it’s quite common. I understand that in the US it’s normal to have one or more cars in the family and only the very poor don’t have cars. Maybe I understand it wrong though. The point is, I don’t drive on my commute, and so I’m free to do something useful, as far as the rickety ride allows 😉

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          8. I think car ownership is less of a thing in big cities because public transport is available and (maybe?) cheaper than owning your own vehicle. But out here in the sticks, it’s the only way to get around.

            That said, I would love to put that hour a day to productive use. 🙂

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          9. Ah, I see the argument about no need for cars in cities. That of course makes sense. Yep, public transport apparently was meant to be cheaper than owning a car, but it depends. My husband’s car uses alternative fuel rather than petrol and this spares a substantial amount of money (besides its being nature friendly). He commutes about a 50 km distance, and at this point the costs of using a car and the costs of using a public transport amount to about the same. It’s not like just taking a tram or an underground from one part of the city to another. Well, enough of this, commute safe, once you have to!

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          12. That’s perfect if you found something that you might like! I was happy with Zoner for a long time, but then I decided I wanted to do even more with my photos. Zoner looks like a sensible compromise between the free basic editing apps and between professional software. Good luck trying it out!

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          15. It’s possible. But all their computers in school (including the ones the school sends home with them) are Macs, so who knows. The ability to right click confounds them. *shrugs*

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          17. Right? We grew up using Macs in school, too, but in ninth grade, we were forced to learn how to use PCs and I haven’t gone back since. I find Macs frustrating now because I right click so much.

            The other night Bubbles asked me something about a smiley face in an email he sent me. My email program didn’t recognize the emoji he used, so I didn’t see it, and he was amazed when I explained the old-school way of creating smiley faces and the like. Whether or not he’s remembered what I told him, I have no idea, but it was a fun moment nevertheless. 🙂

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          19. Nope, they only have one mouse button. It sucks. They seem to be one of those things you either love or hate, and I am decidedly NOT a fan.

            I remember DOS, but T602 is a new one on me. I hated DOS, mainly because I wasn’t familiar enough with it to remember anything, so I would save stuff all over my computer and then be unable to find it again when I wanted to change something. It was a pain. I do love reminiscing about it, but I’m glad I don’t still have to use it (for the most part). 🙂

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          20. Its confusing for me too.That’s why the one0click is working fine for me so far.But seeing the miracles Mara and many are creating,I have to try and learn 🙂 Thank you for replying Kay 😀

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          21. You’re welcome! I can definitely relate – at one point, Microsoft Paint was too challenging for me.

            Actually, now that I think about it, it still is. But maybe that’s just because the proper use of the lasso tool escapes me. 🙂

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          25. Macs only have one mouse button? Ohh… It would be a cruel and unusual punishment for me to use these. I’m not flexible in this respect. It was great reminiscing about Dos though. I remember I had huge problems using it too, now I’m much better. My IT teacher would be shocked 😉

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          26. Right? I’d like to know where exactly all those wonderful commands I access by right clicking are hidden on a Mac, except that then I’d have to actually use one again, and I really don’t want to do that.

            I’ve learned a little bit of DOS, but it’s hard to access on newer computers. It was fun reminiscing about it, though. 🙂

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    1. Thank you for indulging me! It’s funny that you can’t get enough of railways while I’m fed up with them 😉 Given that railway things are very much the only thing that you can shoot in my village, there’s surely more bound to come!

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  4. These are really great, Mara! I particularly love the bridge photo. Something about old train bridges appeals to me. Maybe it’s because they keep tearing out all the old bridges around here.

    And I’m not sick of the railway pictures, either – we don’t have much here in the way of passenger trains, since we’re out here in the sticks, and trains stir my imagination in a way that few other modern modes of transportation do. 🙂

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    1. You’re a fan of old train bridges? Nice! I didn’t even realise this is a thing 😉 I like metal constructions in general, I’m fascinated by the lines and the symmetry (and the edges!), so this is a subject I like to shoot anytime. This is actually the only bridge in my area that I’m aware of, but I surely could find even more spots to shoot the railway from, so as long as you’re not fed up yet, I’ll try to take some more shots like these on my next shooting trip 🙂

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      1. I am! Railroad expansion really helped develop the country, so there are a ton of old railroad bridges around here. Mostly the old railroad lines have been converted to bike trails, but some of them are still in use (just not as many as there used to be). I think the history of them is what appeals to me, because I love history, and the railroads were so important to the communities springing up across the country in the nineteenth century. In many cases, if your town didn’t get a railroad running through it, the town died out. In one case, the residents of a small town near where I live actually moved the whole town five miles south and joined with the community there because it had a railroad.

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        1. Oh, that’s quite fascinating! And I’m not even interested in history. Here the railroads were not that important, but we have quite a dense railroad coverage. The trouble is obviously the lack of money required to maintain such an expanded system, so other than the major thoroughfares, the railroads are in poor condition, including the carriages, the buildings and other property. The good thing is that they make good photos 🙂

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          1. They do, indeed. Passenger rail coverage seems to be more of a thing in the big urban areas here, but Iowa is mostly small towns (and the few big cities we do have aren’t really all that big when compared to other regional metropolises like Chicago or Minneapolis/St. Paul). I guess the state figures it would cost more than it’s worth to implement and maintain a rail network like other places have, but the trouble is that they don’t seem to have the resources to maintain the highway infrastructure that we all rely on so much. It could be worse, but it could also be a whole heck of a lot better, and what gets me is all the money they spend on temporary fixes every summer. If they would just save the money to do it right, they wouldn’t have to spend every summer patching up the highways.

            But of course, the government would never do something like that. Why wait to do it right when a cheap fix right now will do?

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          2. Hm, that is more and more interesting. Here the big cities (well, the largest city has only one million people, so the relatively big cities) use buses and trams for locals, not city trains. Longer distances, or any distances between villages, are usually served by buses and/or trains. Very much everything is in poor shape here, but the poor condition of our roads here is notorious. It’s little difference whether you take a train or a bus, you’re mostly bound to have an uncomfortable journey. I thought that patching the roads rather than fixing them properly was our trademark method 😉

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          3. The biggest city here has ~200,000 people. There are buses and things there, but that’s it, I think. Driving there is a pain – I hate driving in cities, though other cities are much worse (the eight lanes of traffic in Atlanta was a terror to ride through, and if I’m not mistaken, there were another eight lanes of traffic going the other direction, but it’s been a while since I was there – regardless, I was scarred for life).

            I’m not sure our rotten roads are notorious, but they are pretty bad. Smooth road is hard to come by, which is probably why I love driving on fresh asphalt. 😉

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          4. Eight lines of traffic?! No please, the mere idea of this makes me sick… I’m not comfortable driving because I drive so little. When I do, I mostly drive on empty roads, however pothole-ridden, and all I need to do is just to stick to the road and go on… Heavy traffic would make me nervous. It’s great to learn more about your place, it’s a sort of knowledge I wouldn’t get elsewhere… So thank you for enlightening me, really!

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          5. You’re welcome! I completely agree – learning about new places is so much fun. 🙂

            Heavy traffic makes me nervous, too, mainly because there isn’t a lot of it where I live. Two or three lanes of traffic is heavy here, and that’s mostly on the interstate or in the cities. Though I don’t like it, it’s manageable. Eight lanes in one direction is not.

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  5. Keep these rolling stock coming! 😀 they’re great. Love the grunge texture. And the photo of the stairs looks like the tree has grown right through the openings?

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    1. Good to know that you can still take in more grungy railway shots! I suppose I might make these my trademark, haha 😉 Yes, there are bushes and trees grown through the stairs, it has been apparently disused for a long time. It literally ends in bushes.

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  6. Good morning Mara, did you sleep at all? 😉

    Love these, especially the one of the ascending stairs, you have captured an (edgy) air of mystery and menace…a bridge that leads to nowhere, or perhaps not…

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    1. Good morning to you! Why, yes, I sleep, but often during the day because I’m a closeted vampire. Ha. I’m lucky to work mostly from home on a flexible schedule, and I prefer to work at nights.

      I’m glad that the photos turned out well — I’m not too enthusiastic about them, but I’m glad that I was able to make at least something out of them. It’s frustrating when one runs out of things to photograph, so I was grateful even to discover the ugly bridge. Of course I always knew it was there, but I didn’t attempt to penetrate the bushes into which it leads before.

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      1. Well, I’ve never known a real live vampire before, so this is exciting… 😉

        I think if I had a flexible schedule like that I might never do any work at all….how do you discipline yourself?

        I was about to reply to your point about running out of things to shoot by saying deep things about angles, perspectives, different light etc then saw a notification popping up with some new macro shots…so, off to see those in a moment (oops, I mean after I have done some work…)…I think that you can keep on showing us more of your world with a new twist…I feel the frustration but I sense also that you can keep showing us new things… and maybe one day we will see what lies beyond those bushes…

        sorry, I am rambling on… 🙂

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        1. You might be the first person ever to be excited about meeting a vampire. Anyway.

          Yes, the best AND the worst thing about working from home is that you are your own boss. It helps to have a regular schedule and I’m naturally an organised person, so I’m managing, more or less. Not as easy as publicity suggests though.

          Oh yes, angles, perspectives and such things, I’m trying to exploit as many options of shooting one and the same subjects as possible, but at the end, there are still only so many ways to shoot a piece of wood in the backyard. I’ll need to travel to new locations because I have very much exhausted all photogenic (all less so) subjects within reach of my house.

          I can tell you precisely what lies beynd those bushes: more bushes and a field. Been there, seen it… 😉

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          1. Depends on the vampire I suppose…

            My heart is with you…both in terms of the search for new perspectives, subjects, inspiration…and the balance between reality and public appearance…

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          2. I think your comment is so lovely that I’m totally dumbfounded. Or maybe just dumb. Thank you so much. I promise I won’t bite into your heart, vampire or no vampire. ❤

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    1. Thank you, Debbie, it’s so nice to hear! Happy to see you around 😀 I just checked out just edges and they are stunning! Much much better than mine. And I totally agree with your sentiments as to edges! Not for me either…

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  9. i’m embarrassed to admit I didn’t notice the B&W with a dash of red … I was too focused on the trees growing out of the steps. Am I right? … has nature started to aggressively reclaim its territory? I’m wondering if that might not even be noticable in summer when the branches are full of leaves.

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    1. Oh dear, no need to be embarrassed! You’re actually quite observant to comment on the bushes and trees reclaiming their territory and growing out of the steps. You’re quite right that it would be probably hard even to get there in summer, it was tricky enough to fight my way through in autumn!

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    1. Oooh, thank you so much! Maybe you’re doing it right to focus on photography rather than on photoshop, which is something that I do. I can’t use the camera settings properly, so I’m playing around with effects in postprocessing. You devote more attention to the very subject that you shoot, and I like this approach.

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  11. I must say this has a very edgy appeal to it…scuse the pun just couldn’t help the corniness of it all. Fab photos, love the grungy look to it and use of the colours popping through as well as vegetation hehe x

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    1. I know, the edgy pun is irresistible! 😉 Thanks for indulging my grungy railway again! It looks like there’s nothing but the railway here, and it’s actually an accurate description. Fields and the railway.

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  13. Definitely not fed up with railways. You have to look closely – but I managed to get a glimpse into one of mine today.

    Your edges are inspirational. I could use them as a design source.

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    1. Love it that you love it! I was fiddling around with options and tools when postprocessing the photos to give them a more edgy feel, so it’s great to hear that it worked out 🙂

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        1. I use Corel Paintshop, like Photoshop, but I like it more. I should finally write a post about this tool as we’ve been discussing post-processing here a lot recently!

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