Good timing

[TGV]

Sometimes the timing makes a better shot that exposure or framing. This was taken this morning at Conington in Cambridgeshire. Waiting by the track with a load of other photographers but we were lucky - the 91 was approaching at twice the speed of the A4 and if we had been 500 yds up the line, all we would have seen would be an east coast train with steam behind it.

I fired off a load of shots, but this was my favourite. It's been processed from RAW and massively reduced in size to get it on this forums size limit.

 

[HST Power]

Fantastic! You really captured the moment there!

 

[ainsworth74]

Good shot! And personally I think the 91 in the background actually enhances the shot, turns into something of a then and now picture.

 

[TGV]

Thanks guys. There has been a lot of talk in other threads about the ECML being boring - esp in the southern half, but I personally think this stretch over the Fens south of Peterborough is very photogenic. The flatness of the landscape makes for some dramatic long and level straights like this one. Plus you can easily get a good vantage point.

Camera was a Canon EOS 7D with 70-200mm L lens. 1/1000th @ f/5.6 for those interested.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

What I like about that pic is the (apparent, but probably false), impression that the driver of the A4 has nowt better to do than lean out of the window while the unused pile of coal still in the tender is so plentiful that it rises above the roof-line. (Actually, having 2 tenders is a bit of a cheat, in my opinion).

. . . There has been a lot of talk in other threads about the ECML being boring - esp in the southern half . . . .

And I've been a vigourous opponent to that sentiment of it being 'boring'!
There are so many interesting and dramatic sights between P'bro and Huntingdon, with so much intriguing history. But, sadly, none of that fascination comes simply by looking out of the window, a little research beforehand is always going to help. Anyone reearching the 1876 Abbots Ripton Flying Scotsman accident will learn a lot the about permanenet changes to railway signalling that followed. It also killed the man who gave his land to the site of my home.
Anyone curious about the solitary church at Woodwalton will learn something about the policies of widespread movement vs containment of mass diseases - a lot of people died there. Anyone interested in local geography will be intruiged to know that the ECML travels through land below sea level for part of that stretch.

And this post hasn't even got me started!

 

[HST Power]

T
Camera was a Canon EOS 7D with 70-200mm L lens. 1/1000th @ f/5.6 for those interested.

How much will that be new?

The ECML is not boring, and your picture proves that!

 

[TGV]

Camera body is around £1100-£1200 depending where you shop these days. Lens is around about the same. Battery grip plus extra battery about £200 in total so just over two and a half grand(ish).

The ECML between PBO and HUN is really nice on a sunny warm day. Busy too. Waiting 20 minutes for this shot there were umpteen 91's, HST's, 365's, a West Coast 47 by itself, 2 freight services hauled by 66s and of course the A4 itself. Not bad for 20 minutes. Made for plenty good practice shots anyway.

 

[HST Power]

Camera body is around £1100-£1200 depending where you shop these days. Lens is around about the same. Battery grip plus extra battery about £200 in total so just over two and a half grand(ish).

Well I won't be buying that camera any time soon! Unless the trees in my garden start growing £100 notes...

You can get some excellent stuff from the ECML. Where I live, there are lots of farmyards and fields, with the line running alongside them in perfect position. Thus, there are numerous locations I can park the car and go photographing. And, it's always quiet.