Foggy train crossing – My Photo of The Year 2025

I love this picture. I immediately thought of it when I read Hamish’s Call for Entries for photo of 2025.

One Sunday morning in October, I was on my way out the door to meet my wife. It was around 8:30. I walked out to dense fog. There was this moment of excitement because I’d been waiting for a day like this. Fog in north central Texas isn’t very common, and nearly each time it happens, it’s during the week when I am commuting to work. I can’t exactly drop what I’m doing, grab a camera and hit the streets.

But today, I could. I had a roll of Tri-X loaded in my Pentax Spotmatic and was halfway through the roll. These were perfect conditions to finish the roll.

I drove around my town taking pictures of vacant streets, making my way downtown to the square. I photographed an old A-Frame style Whataburger that still had neon (a popular Texas hamburger chain), making my way to a train crossing. I took a few photos there and was walking back to my car when I heard the “dingdingding” of a crossing some distance away. A train was coming so I turned back, positioned myself and waited. Out of the fog appeared 3 lights and the faint form of an engine. Just as it was emerging from the fog, I clicked the shutter. I took a few more and finished the roll.

The photograph came out exactly as I’d hoped it would. There’s a moody atmosphere, lots of texture and contrast. It is grainier than I expected but that’s okay. I hope you enjoy the photo and thanks to Hamish for the opportunity to show it with some awesome work by this community.

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