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hspall

Bug Bokeh

The Nene Valley Railway, golden hour: as the day nears its end a cloud of bugs rise from the ditch on the far side of the line and drift across the line....
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The Nene Valley Railway, golden hour: as the day nears its end a cloud of bugs rise from the ditch on the far side of the line and drift across the line.
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Canon EOS 40D

settings

Aperture f/8 ISO 200 Shutter 1/250 Focal Length 200/1

upload_date

Apr, 2018

Views

696

Likes

+87

Awards

Runner Up in Train Spotting Photo Contest

Zenith Award

Legendary Award

Top Shot Award

Community Choice Award

Great Shot

Peer Award

+161

Top Choice

+16

Superb Composition

+10

Outstanding Creativity

Absolute Masterpiece

Top Ranks

Top 30 rank

Top 30 rank week 1

Top 20 rank

Top 30 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

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Behind The Lens

Location

The location for this photo is just outside the centre of Peterborough, UK, at a place called Orton Mere. It's a great place for a shoot - or just a day out - as there are the Nene Valley Railway, the river and several lakes all within easy reach.

Time

This was taken just before 6pm on a slightly changeable October day. It showered not long before this image was taken (both I and my camera got a little damp)

Lighting

The lighting is all golden sunshine and if it wasn't for the mass of trees behind the train, I would have been aiming straight into it!

Equipment

The camera I was using was a Canon 40D with a 70-200mm f4L and the image was taken at f8, 1/250 sec, 200mm with spot focus on the approaching engine.

Inspiration

A little earlier I had noticed the sun was getting to a position where it made the rails shine and thought it might make a good shot when it had moved around a little further, if it didn't dip behind the trees too soon, so I waited. I was right, but what I hadn't expected was that as the sun moved directly off them, all the insects that must have been hiding in the ditch on the further side of the track would rise up en mass and drift across the track in a cloud. I took some images before the train arrived, but I was hoping the insect cloud would still be around when the last train came through - it was, and I got an extra bonus: the engine on that day was a rather smokey diesel and, as it was travelling slowly to approach the crossing the fumes hung around it like steam and when the sunlight hit that it just blazed like a second sun. Well worth the wait.

Editing

There wasn't a lot needed on this one, though I did have to straighten it slightly

In my camera bag

The equipment I take with me varies depending on where I'm going and what I expect to shoot. My 40D eventually died on me and has been replaced by a 50D plus a 500D. For lenses I have the 70-200 f4L and a 28-105 and they can take a bit of weather, but they're not IS so if the shoot is likely to go into low light I have an 18-55 & 55-250 which are both IS. If it really gets gloomy, I have a nice chunky 550ex flash to light things up.

Feedback

Don't be afraid to stop and wait for the right moment. It might surprise you by being even better than you expected.

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Bug Bokeh