This morning I saw a Tweet that an overturned truck that had spilled lumber across the Interstate 90 Westbound on ramps from both directions on Interstate 405 in Bellevue. The frame above tells the story, though the overturned truck had already been hauled away by the time I found this vantage point. As a photographer, I am always looking to find the best angle for and image — one that is interesting or helps tell the story. Some times you have to work for the the good view, and that was the case on this breaking news shoot. More photos and thoughts after the jump…

When I arrived close to the scene of the accident via surface streets, I found a nearly obstructed view, see the photo below.

So I notice the embankment to the abandoned rail road bed above me and start to head up the hill, until I ran into a thicket of blackberry brush. The view from here was better, but still not getting me the story telling photo.

By now I know where I want to be — on the rail overpass — on the other side of the thorny foliage. There is no way around at this point, and I can barely see the tow truck hooking up to the overturned vehicle to take it away… my scene is starting to disappear. At this point the drive to get a good photo combined with some sheer stupidity, lead me to the decision to forge ahead uphill through 50 feet of thorny blackberry brush and slick rocks. Dirty, bleeding and lightly swearing at myself, I got to the top and made the good images I was chasing. Needless to say I found myself a long way around to exit down the tracks… Wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.

Below is a quick screen capture from my phone, showing the WSDOT traffic camera and the accident scene. My vantage point was the rusted train overpass visible in the background. Totally worth the bloodied hands and an afternoon pulling thorns out with tweezers, but I am absolutely taking the easy way I found next time…