CSX northbound empty coal train crossing the Copper Creek viaduct in Clinchport, Virginia, in August 2008.
Judge's Comment:
This image immediately caught my eye when I first looked at all the submissions together on my computer screen. The composition of the fog enveloping the train and trestle, and using tree branches to frame the scene made this the Grand Prize winner. Dick loved photographing in fog and I know he would have picked this image too.
About the Photographer:
Chris Starnes lives in Gate City, Virginia, where he works as a Transportation Planning Manager for the LENOWISCO Planning District, a regional planning and economic development agency located in Southwest Virginia. On the weekends he is a shortline railroad engineer on the Gulf & Ohio’s Knoxville & Holston River Railroad / Three Rivers Rambler in Knoxville, Tennessee. Additional, Chris is a co-founder in the popular RailPictures.Net website, founded along with Chris Kilroy in late 2002.
Chris developed an interest in trains at a young age thanks to his father being a model railroader and railfan. He began casually photographing trains around age 14 and became more serious after graduating high school in 2001. After a few years of shooting prints and slides he switched to digital in 2002. He was the first photographer to have a digital image published on the cover of Railfan & Railroad magazine (May 2004), quite a step forward in the early stages of digital imaging in the railroad photography community. Chris utilizes Canon equipment and currently shoots with a 7D body. He credits veteran railroad photographers such as Ron Flanary and David DeVault as early influences. You can see more of his work on railpictures.net, as well as on his homepage, starnesphoto.com.
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