Inspired by the political season and a certain contest, I tried my hand at a railroad photo, that’s just a little different.
Let me know what you think:
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=250164
Steve Carter
very cool concept, but im sure someone on here will lecture you on the dangers of trespassing and such.
+1 but change someone to many people.
Or give a harsher lecture to the guy he caught on film that jumped out of his car and rain dead on toward on oncoming train.
…Well that certainly is “change”…and I think, an interesting photo.
I wouldn’t mind owning the shipment from which that stuff is falling!
The photo is interesting mostly for its technical aspects. The short depth of field (note that the far rail is out of focus) suggests that the photographer used a tripod-mounted camera with a telephoto lens, a large aperture and a short shutter speed. I would venture to guess that he had set up this situation and was a safe distance back from the tracks.
The subject title intrigued me and then the photo was a complete surprise. I love it!
Mookie
Thanks all for the positive comments.
I guess I have to clear up some details. The shot was handheld, but a long lens, and I was quite some distance away from the rails (engineer didn’t even blow the horn). The shot was not planned, but rather I saw an opportunity. Trespassing was not an issue, nor was my destruction of U.S. currency. The photo only illustrates what happened to some coins run over by a train. How the coins got there is a much different issue, one for which I take no responsibility.
I’d like to point out that I have a young son (not with me for this photo) and we’ve seen countless incidents of children placing coins on the rails, with or without their parents presence. My son has always been told never to do this and always been warned to stay well away from said coins. In this case the coins shot out about 20’. I doubt they would have caused any significant injury, if at all, but it certainly validates my concerns.
…I agree with Paul…along with seeing the short depth of field…it was shot {most likely}, off to the side and out of harm’s way.
Try handheld, 285mm, and f/5.6 [;)]
It’s absolutely a great capture, did you do it in burst to make sure you got the right timing?
Agreed, I’m curious about how you caught this. I know I would have never caught it with my reflexes!
Nice shot, and nice change of pace from the same old RR photos!
Ok, here’s the story (thanks again for the nice comments).
I was headed for a location along the water (Puget Sound). This area is frequented by people of all ages (you should see the shot of the girl walking one rail of one of the main lines - high speed curve) and there was a group that I saw as I rounded a curve, lingering around Main #1 (water side). They didn’t seem much in a hurry to move and I had just heard a roll-by on the radio, so I knew a southbound would be showing up in a minute or two. When I got close enough to warn them off, I noticed the coins. Having been thinking about this very idea after seeing a similar shot on RP.net, I saw my chance. Not much time to get settings exactly the way I would have preferred, but yes, burst mode was the first setting. The fact that the tracks are along a rock rip rap wall with the beach below, allowed me get off to the side and at a pretty low angle to the rails. This was the best of the burst.
The kids had crossed to the other side and one of the thanked me “for saving their lives”. They seemed to have forgotten about the coins (or maybe the coins weren’t their’s). The second burst of shots didn’t come out very well, as I could see the coins flying towards me and I lost a bit of concentration. Yes, I have some of the coins.
i like all of the photos that you have shared with us. your night shots are very inspiring.
I would like to see a pic of this said “rail” [:D]
Very nice picture.
Paul
Ottercove,
Now this is what I call “getting the money shot” Thats good split second timing…Great pic,thanks for sharing with us…
Great shot, though it appears to be several coins and that could be approaching dangerous. Hopefully the people who did leave the coins on the tracks aren’t inspired to try something else sometime. But what a catch, talk about being in the right place at the right time.