Today was a bit different. A family friend who is deep into photography asked if she could tag along one of my adventures. I said that sounded like a lot of fun and it was perfect timing as Daisy’s transmission is about to blow and I haven’t been taking her very far these days because of that. Did I mention the two cars I usually borrow in place of her also died or were being used? Yeah, it’s been a bad few weeks for cars around here…

Anyway! I wasn’t sure where to take her but I wanted to pick a spot that would give ample opportunity to photograph. I figured the abandoned Central Steam Power Plant in Fitchburg would be super cool… but this is really just me loving the sight of industrial decay. Hindsight it may have been a little hardcore for a first trip out…

It took a little coaxing just to get her to drive into the parking lot. I provided reassurance, letting her know I have yet to get in trouble for snooping about… and this wasn’t in the dead center of Fitchburg or anything, it was in a weird windy little neighborhood on the outskirts I actually hadn’t been to yet. This is a little odd as it seems I’m always in Fitchburg for one reason or another. Yes, it’s a city with a rough reputation but this place seemed quiet. It was also slated for demolition according to sources online.

We drove to the end of the parking lot where there were three rusted out old train cars just sitting there next to a live track. That seemed as good as an opportunity as any so with a little more coaxing I hopped out with my fancy new used camera and set about steam-punking it up.

My travel companion is far more learned in the ways of photography than I am having actually spent the time to educate herself and dive deep into the hobby for a number of years. Me…. I’m just someone with a fancy camera, an itchy trigger finger, and a fistful of marbles. Half the time I don’t even stop walking as I snap away. Nothing wrong with either approach – as it turns out she took vastly different photos than I did which in it’s own way was fascinating. Who knew two individuals could spend an afternoon in the same little area and come up with such a fantastically different set of images! Hers were of flowers and close ups of the train tracks. Mine were all over the place… a bit of adorable graffiti I found of marshmallow cartoon characters being sucked up into a spaceship, a few horizon perspective photos of the train track, and of course a large focus on the beauty that is industrial decay. It was pretty cool and no one came by to arrest us so all went well…

***I apologize for any missing photos and galleries as I continue to work getting Catching Marbles fully migrated to a new host. Please come back soon for restored photos and thank you for your patience!***

If you are enjoying Catching Marbles please consider adding a dollar or two to my limited gas money fund so I can continue going on adventures and sharing them with you! Thank you!