Down the Tracks and Away

Train tracks. The most lovable cliche of photography. I don't think I'm exaggerating, either, just run a Google search for "train tracks" and you'll see basically the same image over and over again; low-angle, peering down the tracks until they converge on the horizon or turn around a corner.

Usually this would be a good time for some corny Inspirational Poster line about life or following your own path. Something groan-inducing to anyone that's not a middle-aged woman or an easily inspired pre-teen.

But let's get something straight, I LOVE this type of shot. Something about train tracks draws teenagers in (I blame the film "Stand By Me,") and I spent a lot of time over the last decade walking up and down the tracks in my hometown, dreaming of adventure or just goofing off with friends. Subconsciously, that's what train tracks mean to me; adventure, pioneering, travel. For someone stuck in a small town with big-city ambitions, it's definitely a symbol I relate to.

As for the cliched angle I described above...well, how else do you take a picture of the tracks? From the side or overhead, all it will be is a picture of two bars parallel to each other with some wooden beams in-between the space. Unless you see where they're going, and get the feel of just how endless the track is, they just lose their imagery and become steal and wood.

So, the shot may be cliche, but I think it's a shot every photographer either has done, or should do, without worry of how many people have done it before you. Just try to put some of your own unique style into it.

My style happens to be Photoshopping the absolute shit out of it until it looks prettier. Behold!

Funny enough, this was actually one of those pictures that came out very well from the beginning. Hell, with the original, it already looked like I had applied a filter to bring out the color a bit. (This doesn't count as my second pic of the day):

Honestly, the only thing I set out to change at first was the sky. It's a bit bland and boring, and would be pretty simple to replace and enhance. Admittedly, I got a bit carried away at that point. Then again, the point of this was to add a unique spin to it. I took a good picture, if I may say so myself, and the setting of this track and how old it is (it's currently out of use, hence the state it's in) speaks for itself. But there's nothing about it that really felt like it was MY perspective, so I added a bit of flare.

If I share some of my older Mad-Max style photos I did with an old friend, you'll understand how I can go overboard with the above color-scheme. I love it a bit too much.

This picture also taught me something about cliches. While they may be overdone, and there may be a hundred pictures of the same thing at the same angle as yours, you can always makes yours unique in a way that revives the cliche, if not for others, than at least to yourself. This is a lesson I'll have to take to heart, as I've avoided certain pictures in the past for fear of blending in with the rest of the photography crowd.

For the TL:DR version: today I learned to strive to be unique, but not to automatically shun a certain shot because it's been done before. You'll never get any pictures, or practice, that way.

-Track

Oh, before I forget; bonus picture!

I found this little guy scooting around the road a few months ago, and forgot all about this picture until I found it last night. He was sprightly for a caterpillar, too. Usually the monarchs roll into a ball when you pick them up and play dead, but this one kept wriggling around and shuffling along my hand as I tried to get a close-up.

This is actually the second pic I took of him, the other one was a better close-up of his head. Then I realized just how terrifying caterpillar faces look when up-close.

Just be thankful I posted this one. Trust me, it's the shit of nightmares and you'll never think of these spiny bastards is cute ever again.