Here are some recent examples of photos gone wrong.
It would be grand if every time I pressed the shutter I made a calendar perfect picture. (If, of course, I wanted to illustrate calendars all day long).
Trains move while I’m trying to make photos. If I don’t get everything set right, move at the wrong instant, or the technology slips up, then the moment is gone by the time I get it together.
Many times I get what I’m aiming for, but sometimes I goof it up.
Yes, I make lousy photos. Sometimes.
Auto focus failure. Large amounts of infrared light, the lack of a defined focus area, or low contrast can confuse a camera’s autofocus system.This is really hopeless and I’m not even sure what I was aiming at. Great use of pixels, eh?Too late! There was a photo opportunity, probably about a second before this exposure was made. There’s also too much foreground. Ah well, it was a dull day anyway.I previously published a better version of this effort. Here the framing is off, the level is wrong, and I shook the camera. A bad photo all around, certainly one for the bin! (Trash).Oh no a post got in my way, and I included fellow railway enthusiasts. And it was cloudy and I’m tight to the platform. It’s just ALL WRONG. Time for a beer.
Too often the cause of the lousy photo is malfunctioning technology, or my over reliance on automated camera functions. Other times it’s just me. People make mistakes. Luckily no harm comes if I make a bad photo.
On my theme of ‘getting the angle right’; or rather how slight adjustments in elevation can alter perspective, compare these two recent views of Amtrak 768 Pacific Surfliner at Fullerton, California.
Both were made with my FujiFilm XT1 digital camera and a telephoto zoom lens.
The top view was made from my standing height and aims to include the footbridge.
With the bottom view, I’ve taken a more extreme telephoto focal length while placed the camera very near to platform level. Composition was aided through use of the fold-out rear display. This allows me to hold the camera near to the ground while being able to look down to see the image. (A handy feature of the XT1).
The low angle telephoto is a good means for making a more dramatic view.
A photograph made from my normal standing height. Here I’ve aimed to include the footbridge.For this more dramatic perspective I’ve held the camera very close to the platform-level for a sort of cat’s eye view. The combination of a long telephoto lens and this abnormally low angle makes for a dramatic photo. Back in the 1990s, I made many of these views on film using my Nikon F3T by removing the prism and looking straight down into the viewfinder.
En route to Milan, this Italian State Railway ETR610 high-speed tilting train was ascending the Gotthard Pass just south of Gurtnellen, Switzerland.
For this image I blended several techniques.
To emphasize the wild flowers in the foreground, I’ve held the camera low to the ground and used the tilting back screen to compose the angle. (Aiding this approach is the FujiFilm X-T1’s built in line-level which appears as a ‘heads up’ display on the screen.)
By applying a Lee graduated neutral density filter to the front of the lens, I’ve maintained highlight detail in the sky.
My adjustments the RAW file in post processing lightened shadow density and increased color saturation to help make for a lush scene.
Notice the four layers: foreground, middle ground (the train), near background (the village of Gurtnellen), and the far background (snow crested peaks).
Once the new Gotthard Base tunnel is open to traffic at the end of this year, scenes such as this one of the Italian tilting train on the old route may be rare.
A nearly full moon and foliage with rusty yellow hues can accentuate railway night photography.
The moon will lend a bluish tint to the sky, while illuminating clouds that makes for a more dramatic scene than inky black.
Streetlights, passing automobiles, and locomotive headlights help to brighten the foliage.
Rain makes for puddles that can add atmosphere and interesting reflections. Get low to the ground and use puddles as mirrors.
New England Central switches at Palmer, Massachusetts as a nearly full moon illuminates the late Autumn sky. Exposed in October 2015 using a FujiFilm X-T1 mirrorless digital camera with a 27mm pancake lens. Contrast controlled in post processing using Lightroom.Making a puddle work: earlier in the day it rained, but by evening the sky had cleared. By keeping the camera low to the water, I was able to capture some interesting reflections. It is import to keep the camera dry, so don’t go overboard.
If a train pauses, use a tripod to make very long exposures. A common error with night photography is failing to leave the shutter open long enough to capture sky detail.
Use post processing software such as Lightroom or Photoshop to control contrast, and always expose RAW files to ensure sufficient data is captured.
If time allows, bracket and study exposures on site to see if you’ve caught what you were seeing. Or perhaps find something in the photograph that looks completely different than the scene itself.
Motion can improve or destroy a night photo. CSX Q012 blasts through CP83 at Palmer, Massachusetts as New England Central pauses below the South Main Street Bridge. The moon helps illuminate the night sky. Exposed with a Lumix LX7.A long pan with a steady hand. This was exposed for more than a second using a Lumix LX7.
Here’s two tips for making more brilliant autumn foliage photos:
Aim to catch late season foliage when there are more brown leaves than green.
Don’t use the auto white balance. Instead set your white balance manually, preferably to ‘cloudy’ or ‘shade.’ This will accentuate the red, yellow and orange hues of the leaves.
Late season foliage offers fewer green leaves and more red and brown. By contrast early season foliage may only feature a few brightly colored trees offset by a virtual sea of green. When you are outside the eye is drawn to the odd red tree, but in a photograph too often the lone red tree is lost in the otherwise green foliage.CSXT eastward autorack train symbol Q264 rolls through East Brookfield, Massachusetts in late October 2015.
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