Lineside photos advice

[43021HST]

I'm thinking about doing lineside photography anyone got any advice, Locations, best spots, equipment ETC

 

[mumrar]

I can hardly advise anything if you're unwilling to narrow it down from the entire British Isles

May I suggest www.trainspots.co.uk

 

[theblackwatch]

I'd recommend the Trainspots series of books published by Visions International, plenty of advice on locations. See http://www.visionsinternational.biz/html/books.html

 

[142094]

equipment ETC

That should be quite obvious, a camera and in most cases a tripod to boot.

 

[Ferret]

I can hardly advise anything if you're unwilling to narrow it down from the entire British Isles

May I suggest www.trainspots.co.uk

Well, Trainspots is a good starting point, but it doesn't list half the locations I use! May I suggest browsing fotopic as another source of location gen?

 

[Oswyntail]

While i agree with what has been written so far, you will become a far better photographer if you do it yourself. Find your own location that you think will do, then take your pics and analyse them - distractions, wrong sun, access etc. That way you will know what to avoid when you take your pictures. Then go back and improve. If you simply go to the same locations as everyone else you will end up taking the same pictures, only (probably) slightly worse

 

[Ferret]

While i agree with what has been written so far, you will become a far better photographer if you do it yourself. Find your own location that you think will do, then take your pics and analyse them - distractions, wrong sun, access etc. That way you will know what to avoid when you take your pictures. Then go back and improve. If you simply go to the same locations as everyone else you will end up taking the same pictures, only (probably) slightly worse

Nice point, well made. Learning by doing is a good modus operandum.

 

[Bighat]

I'm thinking about doing lineside photography anyone got any advice, Locations, best spots, equipment ETC

Errr.....next to a railway line would be good!

 

[Swiss Toni]

If you simply go to the same locations as everyone else you will end up taking the same pictures, only (probably) slightly worse

Like THIS.

 

[starrymarkb]

While i agree with what has been written so far, you will become a far better photographer if you do it yourself. Find your own location that you think will do, then take your pics and analyse them - distractions, wrong sun, access etc. That way you will know what to avoid when you take your pictures. Then go back and improve. If you simply go to the same locations as everyone else you will end up taking the same pictures, only (probably) slightly worse

Very true, I'm trying to be more creative with my choice of locations. I like to get trains in the landscape for context rather then just 3/4 front views at the usual stations (a lot of bus spotters are very bad for this)

 

[yorkie]

I'm thinking about doing lineside photography anyone got any advice, Locations, best spots, equipment ETC

The main thing is composition, and this can be done using any equipment at least initially. For not so good composition see many of my shots from 2004, e.g. a photo where the loco or train fills the screen with nothing else of interest taken from a boring angle (example) if I am taking a photo at a station I now try to take a more interesting shot (example) but 'lineside photography' allows many more opportunities, and my suggestion is to find a location that not many people go to (example - everyone else goes to the bridge in the distance or the one beyond that), and sometimes cycling can help to explore an area (there are some bridges that people with cars don't bother to go to as they are not so accessible), however taking photos at speed does require a fast shutter speed so better equipment may be required.

Try to get a balanced composition, some nice scenery, and try not to 'chop' the train off - let it disappear into the distance.

 

[Bevan Price]

I'm thinking about doing lineside photography anyone got any advice, Locations, best spots, equipment ETC

Equipment - digital camera on which you can set the shutter speed. You need a minmum of 1/250 second for moving trains - 1/1000 second is even better for fast moving trains. Compact cameras with fully automatic settings OK for some purposes, but not good enough for most moving trains. Single lens reflex (SLR) camera if you can afford it - gives you the option of using different types of lens on one camera.

Lens - zoom lens gives you more options for locations / composition, but usually at expense of reducing the maximum shutter speed you can use for fast moving trains.

ISO value (speed setting). Use the lowest value you can select in the available lighting conditions - this gives you the best image quality. You can use higher ISO settings in poor light, but you get more digital "noise" in your image (the equivalent of "grainy" images on film.)

Location - visit a variety of local locations and decide which ones you prefer.

Then - practice, practice, practice. Don't give up if your early results are disappointing. Good luck.

Bevan