When I first got into photography, I found myself always wishing I was somewhere else. Somewhere I would be able to make more interesting photographs. At some point it dawned on me that part of what makes someone a good photographer is being able to see and find interesting photographs within the confines of their everyday life. So I set myself to the task of observing my normal surroundings more, and the goal of making interesting photos from what I saw there.

This is certainly not a new concept, and many better photographers than me have made careers out of the same general principles, but at the time it was new to me, and really changed my perspective.

My friend John and I have been going out to take photos at least once a week for 4 years now. For a few different reasons, we often end up in Ashland’s railroad district. Ashland, Oregon is a small town in southern Oregon, about 5 miles from where I live in Talent. The railroad district is a small area about 3 blocks wide and 10 blocks long, on the east side of Ashland. If I had to guess, I’d say that I have been down taking photos in that area on at least a hundred separate occasions. Nowadays it’s actually quite difficult to go down there and actually find something that I haven’t taken photos of 2 or 3 times already.

Over the years I’ve been taking photos, I keep coming back to one prominent idea. Sometimes I get discouraged about photography, especially when I think about going somewhere for the 50th time, but then I remind myself that “there is ALWAYS something worth photographing”, I just need to find it.

The included photos were all taken with my Fuji Klasse, on the same roll of Fuji Superia 400, on two recent outings in Ashland’s railroad district.