Taking videos of moving trains

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VTTrain

Lead Service Attendant
Joined
Dec 3, 2018
Messages
324
I have just recently booked trips on the Lake Shore Limited and the Silver Meteor.  I've been looking at some YouTube videos to get an idea of the consists.

Pardon me if this topic has been debated before, but why do almost all of the videos have the camera turning just as the locomotive passes?  I much prefer videos that have the camera staying steady until the end of the train passes.  I'd rather see something coming toward me than going away from me.  When the camera follows the locomotive, the vast majority of the train is shown as going away from me.
 
For the record, I've seen PLENTY of videos where the camera stays still. I do think that it really is up to the photographer's personal preferences, but my guess as to why so many do what you're describing is to get the longest possible shot of the train. If you just keep it in the same position and orientation the entire time, all things being equal, you get a video that is half the length.
 
For the record, I've seen PLENTY of videos where the camera stays still. I do think that it really is up to the photographer's personal preferences, but my guess as to why so many do what you're describing is to get the longest possible shot of the train. If you just keep it in the same position and orientation the entire time, all things being equal, you get a video that is half the length.
Huh?  This is what I originally said: "I much prefer videos that have the camera staying steady until the end of the train passes."

If you turn the camera as the rear of the train is passing you get just as long a video.
 
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