Yes, I’m still experimenting with shooting “redscale” film, in which the film is inserted backwards into the camera so that the film’s back emulsion layers are exposed first. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But when it works… wow it works.
Case in point. December 21, there’s maybe a chill in the air but there’s no snow on the ground. I had already loaded a film cartridge with some generic ISO-400 color film, with the film “flipped” and re-inserted into the cartridge. I loaded the film into my Nikon F100 camera, and drove out to Watervliet.
There is a Delaware and Hudson railroad bridge that spans over Route 32, just near the Purple Pub. I parked the Blackbird, grabbed my camera, and went out for a shoot.
The first shot I got was a set of electric power lines that ran along the length of Route 32. I had no expectations of how the photos would turn out… but I gave it a try.
Whoa.Β Nice like spice.Β I really like how the reds are enhanced in this picture, while the purple-red sky blends into a dreamy pastel.Β And I realize it’s premature to suggest anything right now… but I’m going to put this photo in the consideration for competition season.
I took another shot of the power lines, this time from a side angle.
Nice, but not as nice as the previous shot.
Then I decided to take a few pictures from the bridge itself. I don’t remember there being any railroad traffic on the bridge – in fact, I hadn’t seen a train cross that bridge in the two years I’ve lived in the neighborhood – but I didn’t want to waste the sunshine or the opportunity.
There’s a marker for the bridge. 1858. Well, at least we know the original structure was built in 1858, the bridge probably went through a few modifications and upgrades since then.
I climbed up the hill to the trackside and –
Hold it a second. Where are the railroad tracks?
Wow, this must have been another decommissioned stretch of track, and the rails were gone. Probably removed years and years ago. In fact, I could see through the trackbed of the bridge, all the way to the cars passing along Route 32 below.
Another shot with the Nikon F100. I decided to get a shot that showed the abandoned rail bridge, along with what must have been its original rail route.
Spooky.
I remember last year, when I tried to photograph star trails along the Black Bridge that spans between Green Island and Van Schaick Island, how spooky and creepy these abandoned railroad bridges can be. And dangerous. One wrong step and you’ve gone from the bridge to the windshield of a passing car. Not good.
Still, I’m liking the redscale effects of these shots, and I’m definitely getting closer to what I hope to achieve with this technique.Β That, and finding more abandoned railroad structures and pre-“rail trail” conversion projects to photograph is a good thing as well.
Chuck The Writer 