WRP_SeaboardCoastLine_Jan15_3v_Layout 1 11/30
Seaboard Coast Line IN FLORIDA
PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS AND TECHNIQUES BY GREG MONROE Telephotos For Railfanning
Seaboard Coast Line arrived in 1967 following the merger of Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line, ushering in a modern era of railroading in the southeast. From unit phosphates to Florida orange juice, from long passenger runs and special circus moves, you’ll enjoy 116 pages of quality black and white photography.
PLEASE DON’T CALL IT A “ZOOM” LENS: The compression effect of a telephoto emphasizes the mass and power of the multiple locomotives climbing westbound past Crescent siding on the Union Pacifi c’s “Moffat Line” in Colorado. PHOTOGRAPHY BY GREG MONROE
Go behind the scenes at Gary and Uceta shops. Visit charming stations and busy junctions. Witness the introduction of Amtrak and welcome back steam. Explore a bygone era in Florida railroading through the lenses of local photographers. Order your copy today!
$20.95
FLORIDA CLASSIC
Plus shipping & handling Order Item #SCL-CRS
(877) 787-2467
WHITERIVERPRODUCTIONS.COM P.O. BOX 48, BUCKLIN, MO 64631
54 APRIL 2015 •
RAILFAN.COM
MANY RAILFANS ESCHEW telephoto lenses be- cause they inherently cause perspective compression, resulting in a “mashed look” of a string of locomotives photographed from a trackside three-quarter-wedge angle. On the other hand, railfan photographers with a creative bent can find telephoto effects to be pleasing. And teles have often been favored by railfans in the western states where the wider open spaces allow the use of power- ful lenses (some western railfans consider a 300mm tele to be a “normal” lens!) Teles are best used to allow a larger image
in situations where you cannot get closer to the train. There will be no perspective distor- tion if you need to capture a tight side compo- sition of a distant locomotive. And there are other times when moving closer is imprac- tical, such as if you are looking down into a deep gorge, if you’re behind a restraining bar- rier, or when you don’t want to be too close to the tracks. Teles also enable a tight framing of valve gear, trucks, or other engine detail. But for three-quarter or near head-on compositions there will be that unavoidable “mashed” look. As I covered in the December 2013 CAMERA BAG, a tele will compact the lines of foreground rails and switches, an especial- ly dramatic effect if backlit by a low sun. (A more recent example of this is Bruce Kelly’s photo on page 38 of the November-December 2014 R&R.) And, you can use a tele’s short- ened depth of field (see below) to purposely “isolate” your subject, such as using a wide aperture to throw a busy background out of focus.
What qualifi es a lens as a “telephoto”?
A lens that gives the same view as our eyes has always been considered “normal.” For
the ubiquitous 35mm SLR film camera or full frame FX digital SLR, that “normal” lens is 50mm (give or take a few mm’s). Smaller mm lenses such as 35, 28, or 21mm “stretch” the perspective to take in more of the scene and so are classed as wide angle lenses, while lenses of 70mm and greater are telephotos that bring our subject “closer.” Today a typical railfan DSLR or compact camera might have a wide angle to small telephoto zoom lens, perfect to cover most any railfan situation. However, mm designations mean different
lens powers with smaller or larger format cameras, so it is common practice to see the term “35mm equivalent” to note the effective lens power in terms most photographers rec- ognize. There are charts and equations to fig- ure all this out, but for example a 50mm lens on a 35mm camera becomes approximately a 70 to 75mm lens when used on a DSLR with a “DX” sized sensor, which is smaller than a 35mm film frame (and is the most com- mon sensor size found in today’s consumer DSLRs). With the even smaller sensor sizes (which
vary from camera to camera model) in com- pact cameras, very small mm lenses can ac- tually be powerful telephotos. Most compact cameras will list their 35mm format equiv- alent lens powers in their camera specifica- tions, but if you have only the actual lens’ mm designations printed on the lens, a good rule of thumb to figure the approximate 35mm for- mat equivalent is to multiply by an average factor of around 5. My Canon G9’s 7.4-44.4mm lens is a 35mm equivalent 35-210mm, a factor of 4.7. My wife’s Olympus Stylus SH 50’s 4.5- 108mm lens equates to 25-600mm, a factor of 5.5.
For medium format film cameras, the effec-
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70