Railroad family portraits

[bratkinson]

As a refresher...Railroad tracks, buildings, equipment, rights-of-way and even their highway vehicles are private property and taking pictures on or even too-close to railroad property is not only trespassing, but can be extremely dangerous, as well.

In parts of the US, electric trains are running faster than 120 mph. In Europe and Japan, their electric trains run over 200 mph. Not only are they nearly silent, but they are closing at the rate of several hundred FEET PER SECOND! You don't HAVE a second to see it and jump clear! At that speed, anything within 10-15 feet is strongly affected by the wind "blast", as well.

BE SAFE! Your life and those around you can be gone in less than a second!

 

[GlowingAmber]

This family wanted to do it for their dad- he is retired from the railroad and they thought he would love it.

I call BS on this this thread. Any family of a retired RR employee would be aware of and respectful of RR trespassing laws. Not buyin' it.

all i can say is wow. what is there to "buy"?

 

[Designer]

This family wanted to do it for their dad- he is retired from the railroad and they thought he would love it.

I call BS on this this thread. Any family of a retired RR employee would be aware of and respectful of RR trespassing laws. Not buyin' it.

all i can say is wow. what is there to "buy"?

The term is sometimes used in reference to "believing a story".

ps: Are you going to post the picture?

 

[unpopular]

yeah, guys. they're called abandoned or unused tracks. i have my doubts that Amber is planning on heading to the nearest Acela line and plopping the family down for a few snaps.

Don't be so dramatic.

 

[pixmedic]

we are all anxiously awaiting the pictures from the first session she had over the weekend. quite a few gave some really good advice on how to get the shots she wanted. I, for one, would love to see the results.

 

[GlowingAmber]

honestly i'm scared of you guys! second, i've never done it, do i have to reformat them?

 

[GlowingAmber]

thank you pixmedic . still having hard time with blur. took the advice, used a tripod, increased f-stop for family focus, then later tried increasing ss and iso, but still blurry. i was on av mode so i couldnt adjust all 3, cause i know when i do those 2 i need to lower fstop. even in sun, when my pics are usually sharp. it may be a problem with my af point/points. trying it all kinds of ways, like af in center, focus on one person, and also, all af points in use, and focus on whole group. still having trouble. time for lessons from a person, i need some interaction.

 

[pixmedic]

honestly i'm scared of you guys! second, i've never done it, do i have to reformat them?

reformat the pictures? as long as they are in JPEG form you can post them on the forum. just keep the file size under a 1mb.
you may find most peoples willingness to help greatly diminished if you keep asking for their help, but never post the results.
C&C on pictures is one of the best ways to get specific advice on how to improve. people can see what you got right, and what you got wrong. and you need to know BOTH if you want to improve in the future.

it is obviously your choice to post pics or not...but personally, I don't see much point in helping you again if I cant see if any of it worked.

 

[GlowingAmber]

yep, you're right pixmedic!

 

[Dikkie1]

To get inspiration:
RailPictures.Net » Photo Search Result » Railroad, Train, Railway Photos, Pictures & News

 

[kathyt]

thank you pixmedic . still having hard time with blur. took the advice, used a tripod, increased f-stop for family focus, then later tried increasing ss and iso, but still blurry. i was on av mode so i couldnt adjust all 3, cause i know when i do those 2 i need to lower fstop. even in sun, when my pics are usually sharp. it may be a problem with my af point/points. trying it all kinds of ways, like af in center, focus on one person, and also, all af points in use, and focus on whole group. still having trouble. time for lessons from a person, i need some interaction.

You are not going to be able to take control of everything like your aperture, ss, and iso at the same time until you are in manual mode. Once you learn manual mode, then you take control of everything your camera does so you are left with no surprises.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Portraits taken on train tracks, should be taken from the perspective of the guy that drives the train. Perhaps have the subjects pose with a look of surprise, or horror. Add some radial motion blur for added realism!






Just funnin'.

 

[PlanetStarbucks]

lol...do you guys really let those little signs that say "union pacific private property" stop you? I've been on those lines countless times when a train rolls up. I usually wave to the conductor and he waves right back. They really don't care.

 

[GlowingAmber]

LOL!! Funny stuff!

 

[GlowingAmber]

Thank you Kathy. I don't usually shoot in manual, but I have learned and practiced on an online course. It doesnt come quick enough for me to use it at a shoot, with babies crying and parents getting frustrated. I'll be there soon hopefully.