{"id":21330,"date":"2018-06-03T13:40:59","date_gmt":"2018-06-03T17:40:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/?p=21330"},"modified":"2018-06-03T13:28:20","modified_gmt":"2018-06-03T17:28:20","slug":"three-tips-for-making-better-railroad-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/three-tips-for-making-better-railroad-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Tips for Making Better Railroad Photos"},"content":{"rendered":"

1) Use your foreground<\/strong>. Unless you\u2019re a ballast enthusiast, avoid emphasizing the ballast. Too many railroad photographs suffer from excessive foreground clutter and other distracting elements, so when you\u2019re composing an image pay attention to the bottom of your frame.<\/p>\n

2) Watch your focus<\/strong>. Although most modern cameras have auto focus systems, too many use center-weighted auto-focusing sensors. These produce an unfortunate side-effect of encouraging novice photographers to center their subject, which tends towards bland and ineffective composition. More advanced cameras have tools such as variable focus points and focus locks that help you get around the centering problem.<\/p>\n

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Although an imperfect image, take notice the focus: A center weighted autofocus system may have resulted in the front of the locomotive appearing soft, while the hoppers at the center of the image being \u00a0tack sharp. Alternatively, I \u00a0may have had to alter the composition to suit the failings of the auto focus system, which would have produced a compromised photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

3) Avoid Flare. <\/strong>One of the reasons traditional photography technique stressed over the shoulder lighting was to avoid the unpleasant effects of lens flare. This is caused when the primary light source hits the front element of your lens and cause streaks and patterns across your image while lowering overall contrast. You can make successful backlit photographs by finding ways to minimize direct sun or other primary light sources; stand in the shadow of a tree, building or other object; no shadows available? Make your own with a flat piece of cardboard, book, or spare copy of TRAINS magazine. One last point: while you should avoid flare, this doesn\u2019t necessarily mean you should eliminate it entirely. In certain circumstances, a little flare can improve a photo. Watch the way Hollywood uses flare for dramatic effect.<\/p>\n

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To make this backlit shot work, I used a 28mm wide-angle lens and shaded the front element with my left hand to avoid unwanted lens flare. Notice how the clouds and foreground elements frame the primary subject, adding interest and balance without becoming overly distracting. Also, would a dark colored locomotive have produced an equally effective photo? The effect of slight backlighting on a silver train can result in a dramatic effect.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tracking the Light Posts Daily.<\/span><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1) Use your foreground. Unless you\u2019re a ballast enthusiast, avoid emphasizing the ballast. Too many railroad photographs suffer from excessive foreground clutter and other distracting elements, so when you\u2019re composing an image pay attention to the bottom of your frame. 2) Watch your focus. Although most modern cameras have auto focus systems, too many use … Continue reading Three Tips for Making Better Railroad Photos<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[10,48],"tags":[4712,4716,2588,1640,1969,7,2506,1493],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Amtrak_837_in_Northeast_Direct_with_Vermonter_at_Palmer_MA_Oct2001_Contax_G2_28mm\u00a9Brian_Solomon_610251.jpg?fit=1734%2C1152","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2BVuC-5y2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21330"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21330"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21333,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21330\/revisions\/21333"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}