Ragin' Rails Raid Photo "Secrets"

Okay, I don't usually do much talking about the various facets of my trip report photography, preferring instead to just post my favorite pics and videos shot along the way and let them (and accompanying captions) speak for themselves.

However, the moderator of this fairly new Train Photography forum, GG-1 (Eric), thought AU folks who also enjoy railroad photography might be interested to read a topic about the ways I go about pursuing these fun hobbies - railroads and photography - that go hand-in-hand so well. While not sure how much I might have to contribute to the overall subject, perhaps GG-1 is right. And since he's a personal friend-O-mine, I agreed to give it a shot. Even if there's nothing new or worthwhile to be learned from my photo rants, hopefully comments and contributions by you, the Valued Reader, and other Valued Readers, WILL provide useable and worthwhile rail photo ideas in an ongoing discussion. Hey, I'm out here ragin', road trippin', and photo takin' for another 4 weeks. Surely among us all, and in all that time, we can come up with SOMETHING!

Let's start with the hardware basics. No camera reviews or recommendations, only what I'm using to capture the stuff that ends up getting posted - and all the stuff that gets trashed during editing before seeing the light of day as well.

The camera is a Kodak EasyShare 1015 IS. It's no longer made, and I bought it new near the end of the model's production run. It's a glorified point-and-shoot, with 15X optical zoom. Right off the bat we have a couple points that take us beyond the hardware itself:

1. Although the 1015 is classified as a point and shoot camera, I only rarely just point and shoot. Unless I have no choice I carefully select and work to get a shot I believe would be optimal. Light direction, shot angle, range, and like that. The more you can do to get a good original shot with the camera, the less you'll need to mess around with the editing software later. See, my goal is presentable photographs, not snapshots to print or e-mail to aunt Zelda. Though I've never used any of the pocket cameras that are so popular these days - point-and-shoots personified - I'm convinced that their features are almost never maximized by the vast majority of those who employ them. One only has to look around at any theme park, beach, or other tourist ghetto to see people trying to shoot family group shots into the sun, or worse. I used to try to warn 'em: "That's not gonna work." Almost invariably they pay no heed, and probably end up blaming the camera for their own incompetence when their pics don't turn out like the TV commercials that convinced them to buy the camera. My niece thought she had a bad camera because many of the shots she saw were out of focus. "Let me see that," I said. She hadn't read the instruction manual, and didn't know to press the shutter button only half way, let the autofocus work, then press down the rest of the way to take the pic.

2. NEVER use digital zoom. I could give a long-winded technical explanation all about why, but take my word on this one. If you want more zoom than the typical 3X on a point-and-shoot, get a camera with greater OPTICAL zoom capability.

3. There is no third thing. Yet.

I'm neither professional nor dogmatic when it comes to rail photography, and I look forward to comments and questions that may be useful for all. This is merely a brief beginning.

WhoozOn1st said:

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Thanks Patrick, you take some pretty awesome photos, so your tips are much appreciated!

Thanks, rrdude.

On rereading the initial post I can see how it might seem like I was badmouthing point-and-shoot cameras, and those who use them to take snapshots for their Aunt Zelda. That was not the intent, but I coulda chosen my words more carefully.

The thing is, folks pursue photography of trains for different reasons, at different levels, have different needs and wants when it comes to cameras of choice, and of course have various budget considerations. Whatever camera you're working with, if you're comfortable with it that's a good thing. If you're satisfied with your photos, that's good too. And if on top of those things Aunt Zelda is not some hypercritical old bat and likes the prints or e-mails of snapshots, then all is well.

But many folks would like to improve some aspect(s) of their train photography, and that's what we can try to do here. Not by posting every not-so-hot pic that comes down the pike, then seeing how people Photoshop the hell out of it. Instead, I think that at least for the duration of the Ragin' Rails Raid we can discuss general principles and ideas that anybody can apply to their picture taking without it costing anything but a little time and diligence.

Let's start with time. If you're taking pics from a moving Amtrak train, or maybe on the platform during a smoke stop or crew change, there's never gonna be enough time. Those are the occasions to pity people trying to change lenses on their big, honking digital SLRs in time to squeeze out a shot before the scenery changes or the boarding call sounds. Point-and-shoots rule at such moments.

When you're doing train photography from the ground, on the other hand, you can make time your ally if you're willing to take some. Try to set aside some time specifically for the purpose of train photography, as opposed to just doing it as an activity incidental to some other pursuit. If you can manage to do some practice shooting on a regular basis, rather than just breaking out the camera for the occasional vacation, I can virtually guarantee that your photos will improve, even if you take no other concrete steps in the improvement direction. This is simply because shooting regularly will give you a better eye for what works. You'll have a larger body of your own work under various conditions in your own personal knowledge and experience base, and increasingly be able to work from that in future situations as you encounter them. The lessons learned and applied from regular practice shooting will also carry over to those moving train and platform shots where time is short: you'll be able to size up a shot and get it faster just cuz it has become comfortable second nature.

I was also asked to talk about editing and software, and I'll try to get to those topics next time. That might be a few days out, cuz the Ragin' Rails Raid is heading into Rail Fest 2011, which runs July 21-24.

Here's a sequence of shots I took this afternoon at the old (and decaying) Chicago, Burlington & Quincy - "Burlington Route" - depot adjacent to the Omaha Amtrak station. It shows another aspect of time in train photography, and that's waiting as shot opportunities develop and present themselves. Team Whooz had been across the river in Iowa, scoping out the U.P. museum before a Tuesday visit (closed Sundays/Mondays), then walking around the small Rails West railroad museum that was close by, both at Council Bluffs. As we were finishing up at Rails West a BNSF manifest freight was departing a nearby yard, passing right by our location. Back on the Nebraska side of the river, at the Burlington depot, the same freight- still moving at a snail's pace - was seen exiting the river bridge. Got shots of that, and that might have been the end of it as the train disappeared behind some trees. But there appeared to be a junction, so I waited - took the time - to see if the train might come my way or head away south along the river. My way it was, for some bonus shots as it passed before my location on the old platform. All it took was some time and patience.

Great advice, great pictures and most of all it really highlights what you can do with a P&S.

I'm completely spoiled by my "big camera" at this point, but folks like you and Track Twentynine really show off what can be done with a non-SLR.

How is your Kodak on shutter lag? That's the one thing that drives me batty when trying to shoot with a P&S these days - on my D90 I know that the shutter is going to fire at the exact moment that I press the shutter. Even with the half press to get the autofocus set, I haven't found a P&S that doesn't have some amount of lag when you take the picture.

WhoozOn1st said:

That might be a few days out, cuz the Ragin' Rails Raid is heading into Rail Fest 2001, which runs July 21-24.

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Looking forward to your "Time Travel Secrets" topic! :lol:

trainman74 said:

WhoozOn1st said:

That might be a few days out, cuz the Ragin' Rails Raid is heading into Rail Fest 2001, which runs July 21-24.

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Looking forward to your "Time Travel Secrets" topic!

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I have geographic issues too. When first posting elsewhere about the Fest I placed it at Rockford, IL.

Ryan said:

Great advice, great pictures and most of all it really highlights what you can do with a P&S.

I'm completely spoiled by my "big camera" at this point, but folks like you and Track Twentynine really show off what can be done with a non-SLR.

How is your Kodak on shutter lag? That's the one thing that drives me batty when trying to shoot with a P&S these days - on my D90 I know that the shutter is going to fire at the exact moment that I press the shutter. Even with the half press to get the autofocus set, I haven't found a P&S that doesn't have some amount of lag when you take the picture.

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Thanks!

I have a Nikon P7000, which is at the upper range of the point/shoot set. I'm hoping to get a DSLR soon, but I'll still use my P7000 because it has several advantages:

• It fits in a coat pocket. Great for shooting in photographer-unfriendly areas (I'm looking at you MetroLink). Also great for putting away if you're in an area where you don't want your camera on display.
• The lens is small enough to fit through a chainlink fence. Great for overpasses.
• It's light enough and small enough that I'm not bothered carrying it almost everywhere in my bag. That means I'm likely to have it whenever a good shot comes up.

It also has some disadvantages:

• Harder to zoom in to focus on specific subjects quickly and easily.
• Less range on the zoom.
• Smaller sensor (lower image quality).
• More likely to be seen as a tourist rather than as a photographer.

But it is certainly possible to get good shots with a point/shoot. Here are a few of my favorites from my recent trip to Cincinnati Union Terminal. These shots might have been easier to get and they probably would have been of higher quality with an SLR, but I think the biggest determinant of getting good pictures is practice. I actually made 2 trips to Cincy Union Terminal: One during the day, and one at dusk. The result was a range of pictures, many of which I didn't upload because they were duplicative.



Taking lots of pictures is also important because you're more likely to get a picture you're satisfied with. And patience is essential. I stopped in LaGrange, Kentucky on my way up to Cincinnati. This little town is home to street-running, where CSX freight trains run right down Main Street for 2 blocks. I got there just as a train was passing through, and I wasn't able to get any shots. I wandered around a little scoping out how the track/street setup worked. I was just about to leave, when the signals at the north end of town came on (signaling that a train was approaching). I took some time to scout different angles and locations, paying special attention to the light. The result was okay. I wish I'd had more time there, though.



Finally, the train is coming. I wish I'd waited a little longer, but I was standing in between the rails (in a crosswalk), and I kind of wanted to be out of the way.



Panning, I got this shot, a better angle due to the position of the sun, though it doesn't have the street-running.



This one I took while I was waiting on the train to show up.

Tracktwentynine - if you are back down in the La Grange area, let me know. I live about 45 minutes from there. We have another town closer to where I am that has street running, too, but only one train a day. be glad to meet with you and take some pictures.