I know you’ve seen those pictures of oil tank stairs with the long curvy shadows from strong sunlight creating an abstract pattern. I always wanted to try a shot like that but I never really come across the scenario. Well today I got a chance and the results aren’t quite what I imagined. I saw some tanks yesterday when I took a different route to my hotel and I liked how the late afternoon sun hit them. I thought I would try a photo today since it was basically sunny all day. Well, it was sunny, until I started to head to the tanks, then clouds started rolling in! Plus, I didn’t realize from yesterday that I saw them from a bridge over railroad tracks with nowhere nearby to park on the ends of the long span. I looked for an alternative vantage point but there really was no close access to get the right angle. So I explored my options and noticed that the bridge was fairly new and had a nice wide berm on the ramp at just the right spot to grab a photo of this older tank. I waited for the sun to reappear, a quick pull over and snap with a preset camera and I’m done! I would have liked longer, curvier shadows but I’m in West Virginia not Nebraska so the hills prevent getting any real low sun sidelighting. So I couldn’t get anything too abstracty but I like the patina of the tank anyhow. Pentax K20D, DA 55-300.
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Tanked
What I Pic 