This is a continuation of the ramblings of an eternal beginner photographer, also known as “a man who only takes pics of the Tadami Line for only 3 days.
I belong to the extremely light class of ”Toritesu”, railfan photographers. However, as I have written many times before, I was inspired by the article “Railway in the mist: A man who takes pics of Tadami Line for 300 days.” and came to Oku-Aizu with a flying determination to visit and take pictures of the Tadami Line as a member of the “Toritetsu”.
Then I came to the 2nd bridge in the morning.
It’s a common railroad photo story that can’t be helped by saying that if the train had passed 10 minutes earlier, the fog in the mountains would have looked even better. This time, however, I think I did a fair job as a result, because I was able to get a good water mirror image even though the fog was gone.
By the way, there was quite a mess before I took this picture.
The 2nd bridge is located in a village around Aizu-Nishikata Station, adjacent to Route 400, which has relatively heavy traffic. While this makes it easy to come here, it also makes it difficult to find a good place to park and take pictures. I came here after hearing that the local government, which is making efforts to attract tourists, had recently built a space for photographers at the foot of the bridge, and that the conditions had improved considerably.
This is the space for photographing. The 2nd bridge is just beyond the level crossing on the left, so this is a prime location at the foot of the bridge.
However, if you look at the second bridge from this space, you see this view.
Oh well, the trees were unfortunately an obstacle at this time and I could not find a good composition. Plants grow and change their shape if you don’t look at them for a while.
I had already figured out Plan B, which was to shoot from a little distance with a telephoto lens, so I started to search for another position. 25 minutes to go until the train passes!
The photo below was taken from the Tadami Line train window as it crossed the 2nd bridge. I thought I could take the photo from the pavement on the right side of the R400, but actually I could not find a satisfactory composition. I walked all the way to the end of the pavement, where the long, thin white line of the concrete wall breaks and a grove of trees begins in the photo, and finally found an angle that allowed me to take the photo without any obstacles.
But. There is a good amount of car traffic, so it’s not a good idea to stand on the roadway, even if you have a handheld. With time running out, I managed to find a spot outside the guardrail that would serve as a foothold for my tripod, and finally took the photo at the beginning of this article.
Tadami line runs only 6 round trip a day. So every train is precious shutter opportunity for photographer.
About 15 minutes later, I knew that a opposite direction train was coming, so I hurried back to the space for taking pictures. I moved a little closer to the railroad crossing, and took another handheld photo at a spot I had spotted in advance that I thought might work.
This photo was taken on the spur of the moment, with a white flower blooming under a tree branch in the foreground and the train and bridge in the background. I thought I was being tactful by staying low and just barely avoiding the branch above me, but when I looked back at it later, I realized that the composition was skewed to the left.
But I consoled myself by saying, “Well, as a eternal beginner, I did well just by taking a trial on the shutter chance.
So, this was a slapstick report on the 2nd bridge. Finally, as a bonus, here is a photo of the second bridge, which I could barely see from a distance when I climbed up to the first bridge view point.
I took this photo because it is barely visible, but just for the sake of it 🙂
Equipment used: K-3III, smc DA*50-135mm, GF10, LUMIX G12-32mm
