Railway pictures (6)

Thank you, Peter!

I was tempted by the a7r, but ultimately decided to opt for the better AF of the A7. The AF with the 55mm f1.8 is great.

This area of Echo Canyon should be snow covered, but as you can see, there is no snow. We are having a warm spell. Its like spring has come in February. Some animals that normally hibernate are coming out early. Also this area is being used by some large animals for grazing. I'm assuming Elk, Moose and Deer, so there are droppings everywhere. Plus since we did have snow in December there is a lot of mud. For sure I know what Gert must experience with his wonderful Pig and other farm animal photos!

Well, I did say I should post rather than chat.

The focus is not where it should be on the driver. My excuse is that conditions were less than favourable and this Steam Loco was at some speed and not stopping. I could have upped the ISO but I have an inbuilt aversion.

BRAUNTON STEAMER Passing through Severn Tunnel Junction

a99 * 300/2.8 SSM * iso800 * f2.8 * 1/160th [+0.3EV]

Very, very nice photo, Peter! As for the ISO, I was the same way with my A99 until recently. When I purchased the A7 I decided to give auto ISO a try. I found that with most photos, ISOs up to 3200 were not an issue, and now I set both cameras to M, set my shutter speed and aperture where I want and don't worry about the ISO, unless it blinks in the viewfinder. I have high ISO limited to 3200. This way for my railroad photography I can keep the shutter speed no lower than 1/320, usually set to 1/500. In the past I found that with my a99 I had too many blurred images because my shutter speed was too low. In this case, you had no problem with 1/160. Did you have your camera on a tripod for that big lens? I'm envious by the way -- one of those is on my wish list. I'm also envious of all the steam ops that you and Allan have in the UK (Wales, right?).

Anyway, I like the focus of the photo on the driver, as it should be. That would be the fireman here in the US on that side of the locomotive.

Keep those photos coming, Peter!

Regards,

Kelly



Edited by AudioDoc - 17 February 2015 at 17:32

magicman841 wrote: AudioDoc wrote: UP3214 local freight eastbound. That one is very nice, Kelly. Just one comment about your train photos: as a general good practice, it is best to not cut the tail of the train off. Try shooting curves or using natural elements!

Thank you Mathieu! And thanks for the tip! You mean go wide? I think I know what you mean, though in Echo Canyon, its not always easy to do. By natural element you mean disappearing around a curve, in a tunnel etc?

Edit: OK, looking over my photos, I think I'm seeing what you mean. Some of them the train is cut of by the edge of the frame! Very good point.



Edited by AudioDoc - 17 February 2015 at 20:38

Very good advise, Mathieu! Much appreciated.

BTW, you got my vote for the shadows! I love that photo

Ithaca?

Beautiful light and mood in this photo, Mathieu! Looks cold! At least you have snow there. Its like spring here!

I will miss your beautiful Canadian Rockies photos, though. I guess they should be singing "Welcome to New York", Mathieu! Looking forward to more NS, CN, etc. photos!

Regards,

Kelly

You mean, "Yanks"! The entire Rocky Mountain range from Mexico up through Canada is so beautiful and there are so many good railroad photo ops for sure!