I regard myself as very light level Tabi-
Tetsu, a photographer who prefer shooting local railway senery.
This is the second time since last fall when the line was reopened to traffic. As in the previous trip, I had a 3-day vacation, so I became “the guy who shoots Tadami Line only for 3 days” again. This time, I will write the articles in the order in which I took pictures. For basic information about Tadami Line, please refer to the following website.
Unfortunately, it was raining on the day I arrived. I started shooting at Takiya River Bridge (between Takiya and Aizu Hinohara) in the light rain that continued until the evening.
By the way, the equipment used this time was
PENTAX K-3III, smc DA 50-135mm F2.8 SDM, HD DA 16-50 F2.8 PLM
In addition, for auxiliary use
LUMIX GF10, LUMIX G 12-32mm F3.5-5.6, LUMIX G 35-100mm F4-5.6
for further assistance.
13:08 Takiyagawa bridge Aizuwakamatsu-bound train no. 428D (to right)
The K-3III and DA50-135 are splashproof equipment, so rain doesn’t bother them. If you zoom in, you can see fine rain falling, and the entire photo is slightly smoky white due to the rain, but I consider this a positive because it is a scene that can only be captured at this time.
The Takiya River Bridge has a “photographer stand” along the prefectural road, but I wanted to take a shot looking down on the flow of the river below the bridge in order to intertwine it with the train, so I climbed a little higher up the mountain behind and took the photo from the woods (another famous photo location). You can look down the “stand” here.
The stand will look slightly up at the bridge and train, so you should be able to get a different picture. If the conditions are good, such as a blue sky background or sunset, you may try it someday. However, since the number of trains on the Tadami Line is limited, it may not work out the way I want it to because of the time difference between trains passing by.
Now, I got into the car with my rainwear on and headed for the next shooting location. Our goal was Hosogoe Bridge (a.k.a. Eye Grass Bridge between Hayato and Mizunuma).
I had a little time to spare before the train arrived, and I planned to take pictures under the shelter of the snowshed to avoid the rain, so I carried my GF10 under my rainwear and took some shots of the Tadami River flowing along R252.
The rain has not let up and a thick fog is descending on the mountains. The difference between the water air temperature make river fog, which is rarely seen in this season, is also rising.
I managed to get a view of the Megane-bashi Bridge from under the eaves, but the surrounding trees were in the way and the composition was cramped. In the end, I put the GF10 back in my pocket and went out to an open space by the side of the road to set up my tripod again in the rain.
14:39 Hosogoe-bridge Koide-bound train no.427D (to left)
I was happy to be able to capture the atmosphere of the misty mountains of Oku-Aizu, but I realized later that I had made a big mistake in this photo. I had put on a rain cover for the camera to protect it from the rain even though it was drip-proof equipment. But when it came to the important part of the shot, the cover was slightly extended and the upper corner was vignetted, so I had to crop the photo by a few percent of its circumference OMG.
The next shooting location was Natsuigawa Bridge (between Aizu Kawaguchi and Honna). I have never been to the section beyond the Aizu Kawaguchi Station, which was “reopened” after the flood disaster. This is my first visit.
I had already learned that I could take pictures from the parking lot of “Kagurakan,” a sports facility in Kanayama Town. When I arrived at the parking lot, I found that I was right, and I could see such a wonderful bridge scenery at random.
15:19 Natsuigawa-bridge Aizu-Wakamatsu bound train no.430D (to right)
This was taken with the DA16-50mm (also splashproof and reassuring).
The Tadami line runs through a mountain village where rice planting has just finished. The scenery of the village being drenched by the rain was moist and emotional, and although the rain is inconvenient and bitter in many ways, I was thankful for the blessings of God at this moment.
I was about to go to Honna Station and the 6th Tadamigawa Bridge for a series of photo shoots, but had to give up the idea due to some circumstances. However, I had to abandon the plan due to some reasons. I found out that the time limit for another place I wanted to visit on the same day was approaching.
That place is “Miori” here. It is a facility of Tohoku Electric Power Company built adjacent to a roadside station near Aizu Nakagawa Station.
I had heard that this facility is quite impressive and I wanted to visit it if I had the chance.
It had been a long time since I had been able to come to this area, and moreover, I encountered rain that restricted my activities. Since the museum closes at 4:30 p.m. and admission is until 4:00 p.m., I decided to leave my photography behind and head for the museum so as not to miss my chance to visit today.
I also took a few photos at “Miori”, but since these are not really related to Tadami Line photos, I will post them separately after I finish introducing a series of traveling train photos.
So, this is the end of the first day of photography. Let’s start from the start of the second day next time.
