Photo Friday: Skylit

Photo Friday is a series showcasing a favorite photo of mine. Enjoy!


Sunset behind the College Park
Metro station, enhanced by HDR.

My photostream

Monday Shot: 3rd Street

Monday Shot isn't quite espresso, but hopefully this weekly transit picture will help get your week started.


The 3rd Street/Convention Center stop on Charlotte's Lynx Light Rail.

I had the pleasure of traveling to Charlotte last week for a zoning reform workshop. Taking the train down from Washington put me over 10,000 lifetime miles on Amtrak.

This shot is an HDR image taken from the northbound platform. It combines 5 shots of different exposure values to make a complex final product.

Ten Thousand Miles

If my train is on time, when this post goes live, I'll have just passed 10,000 lifetime miles on Amtrak. And I've enjoyed every single one.



I first boarded Amtrak in May 2005. In the almost six years since, I've ridden our national railroad in 29 states and on 13 routes.

My favorite was definitely the Empire Builder, which winds through Glacier National Park and across the high plains. I think the Cascades has the best rolling stock, and of course, you can't beat the Acela's speed. At least not on this side of the Atlantic. Or the Pacific.

But I've enjoyed all of my trips by train. And I hope my next ten thousand don't take as long to accrue as my first ten thousand.

Taking the train is the nicest way to travel. It's not always the quickest, but when one has time, getting there is a part of the journey worth enjoying.

The image for this post is my first-ever attempt at an HDR photo (the original is here). It's a picture of Amtrak's newly repainted locomotive 145, which made it's first revenue trip on Monday. It's been repainted into a retro Phase III scheme to celebrate the 40th anniversary of our national rail system.