WRP_RailsBeyondRutland_Jul15_3v_Layout 1 7/2/15
Beyond the Rutland
Rails
PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS AND TECHNIQUES
The Thinking Railfan Photographer GUEST COLUMNIST: GREG MONROE
Now operated under the Vermont Rail System banner, you’ll see the early operations of the Vermont Railway, Clarendon & Pittford, and the Green Mountain Railroad! From the marble quarry pits to piggyback trailers, from steam excursions to heavy freight!
The goal was to capture this Union Pacifi c ballast train in a composition that showed not just the locomotives, but also some of the loads of ballast, but winter conditions on this April 12, 2010, day required some thinking to fi nd a location that would avoid an uncomfortable lengthy wait standing in the snow and cold. I then remembered this curve by a grade crossing about a mile east of the Moffat Tunnel west of Denver where I knew there was a safe parking area off the road, I was able to capture this shot while sitting in the warm comfort of my truck. GREG MONROE PHOTOS
From the Rutland’s last gasp to the Vermont Railway’s modest start, you’ll enjoy great black and white photography documenting this picturesque New England shortline from end to end. A detailed locomotive roster and diverse equipment photos round out this look back at Vermont Railway’s early years. LIMITED SUPPLY, order your copy today!
VERMONT CLASSIC
$12.95
Plus shipping & handling Order Item #CRS-RBTR
(877) 787-2467
WHITERIVERPRODUCTIONS.COM P.O. BOX 48, BUCKLIN, MO 64631
54 OCTOBER 2015 •
RAILFAN.COM
AS RAILFAN PHOTOGRAPHERS we generally tend to approach each shooting situation in the same way we always have. Typically we all started out in railfanning by going trackside with a camera simply to record the object of our interest, usually in a standard 3
/4 -wedge
or full broadside angle in full sunlight. As the months and years flew by this “standard” ap- proach of taking the same composition using the same camera settings and lenses became ingrained in us. Even for those who have come to favor more of a “creative” approach, there can still be that initial urge when first arriv- ing at a trackside location to automatically set up for the traditional standard composi- tion before we remember we are after some- thing different. At least I know I still often go through this non-thought process. In addition, in years past to take even ordinary good photos we had to be a skilled photographer. Most cameras many of us older railfans used were all manual focus and man- ual exposure, motor drives (if available) were an accessory attachment, and some cameras did not even have a built-in exposure meter. This was in addition to understanding how lighting, composition, aperture and shutter speed selection, and other aspects of photog- raphy would affect the look of your photo. A railfan really had to think a lot about what he or she was doing. Modern technology has changed a lot of
this. With today’s sophisticated automatic exposure and autofocus, about all one has to do is walk out to trackside on a sunny day and wait for a train to take a technically good
photo. But while today it is easy to get the technical aspects right, relying 100 percent on these automatic features will never let you consistently move beyond average images, since to capture really eye-catching photos, even if shooting in automatic modes, you still need to understand the appropriate use of ap- ertures and shutter speeds, light and shadow, and how to compensate for lighting variations that can fool your camera meter. Also, you should think about the intended use of your photo, be it for trading, publication, or framed prints, and who will view them, be they fellow roster shooters or friends who like action or creative images. So in a way, things have not really changed.
To maximize your trackside experience you still need to be a thinking photographer!
Understand the Light
A key factor for the success of any photo is how light is used, and this means more than simply putting the sun at your back, and more than understanding how to get proper expo- sure in different lighting situations. Study the light to determine how it illuminates your subject. Is it possible to capture the locomo- tive bathed in full sunlight against surround- ings in deep shade to dramatically empha- size the locomotive? Is a distracting shadow from a nearby pole, tree, or building falling on a stationary locomotive in a rail yard, and would waiting a bit let that shadow move off the subject? Would the sun being lower in the sky eliminate dark high-in-the-sky mid-day sun shadows on the trucks or steam locomo-
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