I travel Elverta Road from my house to Hwy. 99 and take the same route home again often but in almost 25 years, I have not encountered a train at the rail road crossing just beyond Levee Road. I had begun to wonder if the track was still in use but Saturday evening as I returned from a quick trip to Santa Rosa and I approached the crossing, the lights began to flash red, the crossing guards lowered, and a freight train rumbled past at high speed. I guess I just haven’t been there at the right time. I grabbed my camera (this is why I always carry it with me) and took a few shots. It’s fascinating to me that at the slow shutter speed, the train’s wheels don’t show at all but the cars show as blurred streaks. I took this shot at ISO 1000, f/2.8, shutter speed, 1/5 second, focal length 48mm. I processed the shot in Perfect Effects 9 adding both a grunge layer and an HDR layer.
