IMG_5503
Apr, 2015Views
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chrisdaley
May 16, 2015
Thank you Karen, your shot of 6A coming across the Monbulk Creek trestle is fantastic. I am hoping tomorrow morning will be good for smoke like that.
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo in the yards at the Belgrave station of the Puffing Billy Railway, a narrow gauge tourist railway to the east of Melbourne, Australia.Time
This photo was taken around 5.30pm as the subject train was preparing to leave on an evening special train.Lighting
In a nutshell, the heavens aligned and I got lucky. I knew the sun was behind the subject and exposed for the foreground, it was just a stroke of luck that the locomotive released a lot of steam as it started reversing. The sun caught the steam as it wrapped around the front of the engine and the rest is history.Equipment
I used one of my faithful Canon EOS-40D's with my Sigma 50-500mm at 50mm. Shot hand held. Settings were; ISO 200 1/400th f/5.6Inspiration
I have had a life long interest in trains and aircraft. Over the years I have seen amazing photos of steam trains from around the world and I have always wanted to be able to take photo's that show these noisy, greasy, smelling machines as the amazing works of engineering and art that they are.Editing
The RAW image was cleaned up in Lightroom to remove a few spots and clean up the exposure a little. I don't generally do any more work to my photo's as I need a bit more practice with Photoshop.In my camera bag
I generally always have my two EOS-40D's, a selection of lenses (18-55mm, 30mm f/1.4, 70-300mm and 50-500mm), various filters, batteries, memory cards, remote release etc.... I also generally always carry a couple of tripods and a monopod with my (just in case) and a golf umbrella that I can strap to a tripod so that I can still shoot unencumbered if it starts raining.Feedback
Be prepared to be standing in the hot sun, blinding rain or blowing wind for hours on end. Be sure to follow any local laws when shooting around train lines, stay very aware of whats happening around you and if you aren't sure about where you can and can't be, ask, it's always better to err on the side of caution. Even steam trains can sneak up on you if you are focused on something in your viewfinder. Take plenty of shots and experiment with the light that is available. If you are shooting action in a rail yard there is usually plenty of time to try and adjust. Have fun, enjoy the whole experience, don't just focus on your camera. Get to know your subject a little, watch what it does, watch the people around it. Finally, share your photo's here at Viewbug so we can all enjoy them.
