The best camera is the one that’s with you.
– Chase Jarvis
Well, OK, I can see the truth in this. Of course given both the opportunity to prepare and the thought to do it I want a different lens for landscapes than for birds, but if I don’t have any camera with me, however inadequate it might be compared to hypothetical perfection, the shot is lost entirely. It’s hard to see how that’s a good thing, even if all I have is my phone camera.
Similarly, the best scene is the one that’s in front of me. Of course I appreciate iconic scenes in ideal lighting conditions and the time to find the best place to stand, but even a standard road-trip yields lots of things worth photographing, even in insufficient light and even through the car window.
Bridges, for example, at dawn and past dusk.
More bridges (because, well, bridges), including twin bridges. Fraternal twins, by the look of them.
Pipes at a gas station. For ventilation of underground gases? Dunno, but it made me a bit uneasy.
Various signs at various rest stops along the interminable interstate.
And, never exactly finally but the last in this series, shafts of light as the sun rises behind low-lying banks of cloud. How could you not go toward this light?
Isabel – sorry to rain on your parade, but your fraternal twin bridges look to me to be fraternal twin bow-string trusses – one on each side of the travelled roadway.
John – But what about the second bridge? I think it’s a railway bridge.
Sorry, my mistake. I was referring to the bridge in the right hand picture under the title, “Bridges, for example, at dawn and past dusk”. I failed to see that title the first time around.
Dropping down one panel below that I now see what you mean. However, they are still not fraternal twins. The highway bridge uses Warren trusses for suspension. The railway bridge uses an unfamiliar to me truss system. The railway bridge trusses look sort of like a combination of two or more common truss systems that only make sense to an engineer designing railway bridges. Railway bridges have to withstand the dead load of a stopped freight train and the impact (momentum) load plus the dead load of a moving freight train so they are sometimes unique to their location.
John – Thanks for the clarification. Sort of. 🙂
Well, thanks to John Whitman for alerting us to the differences in trusses for railway bridges and road-traffic bridges! But perhaps while he was at it he could have solved the mystery of those gas station pipes that will haunt me until I learn their purpose.
Laurna – Calling John . . .
Good guess Isabel! However, I did have to Google it to be certain.
Unfortunately your blog won’t let me include the schematic drawing of a fuel storage tank vent system that can be found at the link below. Your blog also won’t let me insert it as an actual hyperlink so you’ll have to copy it and paste it into your browser.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969718337549
Hope your concerns are exorcised Laurna.
John – Good guess, ha! I am almost an engineer after all the years spent (invested?) editing their writing. For anyone inclined to take a look at the details, here’s the link from John.
Some lovely shots — almost makes me miss travelling.
One wonders what happened in that restroom to elicit such a sign…
Barbara – I know, right? I’m sure I’ve never seen a sign about pets in restrooms. As for the rattlers, well, I prefer it when they’re clearly marking a no-go zone as opposed to just general good advice.