Fantasy at the Railroad Crossing

Fantasy at the Railroad Crossing
Originally uploaded by randubnick.

This is an image taken with my phonecam, but I call it a fantasy not because I was daydreaming at the railroad crossing (although I was), but because the image has been digitally modified. Today, trying to get home after running some errands, I found myself first in line at the railroad crossing just as the commuter rail train from Boston was approaching the station. I love trains, so while I was sitting there, I took out my cellphone and took a picture with my cameraphone. I was interested in the diagonals of the train and the wires in the sky. But when I opened the image in my computer, I was frustrated by an annoying street lamp that interrupted the long line of the train. So I decided to open the image in Painter IX and see what I could do. I did some cutting and pasting, and used some digital pastel and airbrush. Now I like the composition better. You may think that is a lot of trouble to go to for a tiny image of a fleeting moment. But art makes you look, it makes you notice, and it makes you value the fleeting moments that make up a life.