I've begun to shoot the technology project. I did the train shot, which is one of the "maybe you should pay attention to your surroundings" types. It was great to work with a stylist, Sarah Jong. She brought all kinds of outfits and accessories, stuff I never would have thought of. The model, Davis, was killer, and he brought a lot of poses, again, stuff I would not have thought of. My assistant, Ching, was available the same day and was a real life saver.
Here's a rough version of it. There's a bunch of retouching to do and I'm not sure I'm capable of it - I took out a huge tree in the center of the frame, the tree around the signal gate looks weird, and I'm not sure about the train. In fact, I'm not even sure the train is necessary...
Originally, I wanted a composition that would have shown more of the front of the train, with the track receding into the distance on the left side of the frame. That put my camera about a foot and a half from the tracks. The trains at this intersection don't stop, they don't even slow down. So the first time a train came by, all 493287498237 tons of it at 23947329874 miles an hour, like six inches from my elbow, the racing of my heart convinced me to recompose.