Tuesday, January 3, 2017

First river photos of 2017

Yesterday wasn't the greatest day for shooting, but I tried.

First, the AEP Mariner as it came down the river pushing 15 empties.


Then from the Ohio side of the Gallipolis,er, Robert C. Byrd Locks and Dam, how some debris has accumulated in the piers and the fog.


Finally, the Nell. This was taken from WV Route 2 below Point Pleasant in a difficult place to get good pictures. The road is wedged between some railroad tracks and the river. There is little if any berm to stand on, and there is no place to pull your car over to get a decent shot when one presents itself. In this case, I stopped on the road and kept my eye on the rearview mirros while Adam got some shots from his seat.


In theory, I could have parked the car down the road and walked back up on the railroad tracks, but I could have lost the shot if the Nell moves. Plus I didn't need a form letter from CSX warning of the dangers of trespassing on railroad property. If a train had come by, there would have been little place for me to find safety quickly.

This section of the river is below the mouth of the Kanawha, and it gets so much traffic that its surface is rarely this smooth and reflective, so we got the shot while we could.