You guys are better than school. I signed on because narrow gauge railroading has fascinated me since I was a tot. I expected to learn a lot more about trains, but the lessons about photography and what the photographer is doing and why is a treat!
I know a little about telling stories (which ultimately is what the photographer is doing). It comes down to, "What is the storyteller trying to tell me?", and "Can I trust them?" I am a fan of the late outdoor humorist Patrick McManus who had stories to tell that didn't necessarily say it the way it "was", yet the way you came to feel about what he had done and how he regarded it may have been more true than if he had just recited the bare facts. My outdoor experiences have never been quite the same since I encountered McManus and that in a good (if perhaps slightly warped) way.
Having looked at Jerry's photos I have never asked, "Is he misleading me?" (never even occurred to me) but instead I look back at the things he looks at and ask myself, "What did I miss?", and maybe I should just wait a little longer and see what develops....." And I also realize after doing that "Jerry (and the others) is (are)
good"
I am never going to have the time to spend on the Colorado narrow gauges that Jerry and you others have and will have. What you tell me enriches me and I am along for the ride, including how you try to share it. It changes the interactions I have with it all in the few times I can get there and that in a good way. What more can be asked?
Thank you for the photos, and the discussion.
Timothy