Another from a couple years ago. I pretty much gave up train track shots a while back just because they tend to seem a little too "senior portrait cliche" to me... but I still get the occassional request from clients to shoot someone with a guitar walking on train tracks.
Ok, I might be flamed for this , but I have to express how disturbed I am by the current trend of taking portraits on train tracks. Sure the final photo looks good, but it is still very dangerous and you are taking a huge risk whenever you do this. Even if you have the train schedule, there are times when unscheduled maintenance trains use the tracks, and if the wind is blowing the wrong way, you often can not hear the train until it is too late to move out of the way, especially if you are working with little kids.
That is another thing- even if you tell little kids not to play on the tracks, if you then bring them to a train track and have them play and pose for a while during the photo shoot, they will then, in their little minds, think that it is ok to play on the tracks- and this could end up in a huge tragedy.
Also, if they see photos of others posed on train tracks, they will again think it must not be dangerous, and could end up with a tragic death or disfigurement.
I live in the northeast , and believe me, we still get news reports every now and then of people being hit by trains. It is not something to be taken lightly.
Anyone that gets hit by a oncoming train while standing, might be better off. If you can't see a train with a photographer looking one way and a model looking the other, then, how smart are you?
If you can't see a train with a photographer looking one way and a model looking the other, then, how smart are you?
I don't really believe in this. I know a few photographers who unintentionally blank out the world around them when their eye is in the viewfinder. You are watching the model, the viewfinder, the viewfinder readout, the decisive moment, a typical portrait focal length may narrow your field of view considerably, and if you pull your eye away it might only be to look at the other camera displays. It's so easy to get distracted for an extended period of time. I watch friends doing street photography and they get so tunnel-visioned in the viewfinder and unaware of their surroundings that I have to remind them where they are and to regularly look around them to see if there are unwanted bystanders a little too close to their camera bag and if maybe their equipment is still where they left it (sometimes it is not).
If I was to do train tracks there are quite a few local spurs that are used infrequently or not at all anymore. I would gravitate to those. I would be reluctant to shoot on one of the main lines. Every year people get hit. The only way I would shoot on a main line is with two additional undistracted friends looking both ways with minimum 15-second escape margins.
just be careful!
in Bethlehem, PA by the old steel plant there are lots of active tracks. A Philly photographer was arrested because his model was nude, and it was seen by a cop across the river at a local park.
I shot these before knowing the tracks were live. I will probably NOT shoot on them again at this location, not worth the chance of someone dying on their wedding day.
static displays are aok.
later in the evening we had a visit from the train, I almost had a heart attack finding out we were shooting on live tracks. I worked on a dinner train for 3 years while I was in and recently out of college. I have a healthy respect of trains and know the pain any accident has on the rail operator who has little to NO control of preventing an auto-train or train-person collision. Yeah train tracks are cool for photos, but never again on live ones.
I don't really believe in this. I know a few photographers who unintentionally blank out the world around them when their eye is in the viewfinder.
Try that as a sports photographer and you will get hurt very quickly. Motocross photography has got to be the most dangerous photography I've ever done, but you learn very quickly to NOT get tunnel vision, be aware of what is happening outside the camera. I almost got hit by three very large, heavy and fast moving high school football jocks once as well. Kart racing photography, that's another place to get yourself hurt. Ditto for full-size cars on a track racing around at high speeds. How about court-side at the NBA?
And yet we still photograph football, we still photograph motocross, and I'm about to photograph another car racing event next month.
You cannot, and SHOULD NOT, remove all risk from your life. You just have to properly manage it.
Someone else asked why we're drawn to train tracks. Personally I want to photograph a sports car and railroad tracks together. Its a "car on rails" type of thing for me. But that personally goes past my boundary for safety. Cars really can stall on train tracks and not re-start. Has to do, I've been told, with the trains creating a magnetic field on the rails that interferes with the ignition system. I could be wrong, but not willing to find out.
I don't really believe in this. I know a few photographers who unintentionally blank out the world around them when their eye is in the viewfinder. You are watching the model, the viewfinder, the viewfinder readout, the decisive moment, a typical portrait focal length may narrow your field of view considerably, and if you pull your eye away it might only be to look at the other camera displays. It's so easy to get distracted for an extended period of time. I watch friends doing street photography and they get so tunnel-visioned in the viewfinder and unaware of their surroundings that I have to remind them where they are and to regularly look around them to see if there are unwanted bystanders a little too close to their camera bag and if maybe their equipment is still where they left it (sometimes it is not).
If I was to do train tracks there are quite a few local spurs that are used infrequently or not at all anymore. I would gravitate to those. I would be reluctant to shoot on one of the main lines. Every year people get hit. The only way I would shoot on a main line is with two additional undistracted friends looking both ways with minimum 15-second escape margins.
Sorry, but I still don't buy it. It's a train. Thousands upon thousands of TONS of metal, it's not silent. Hell you can feel it in your feet.
There are no L angles on train tracks, there is always a way to see ahead no matter where you're looking (up or down the tracks)
Like I said, if you get hit by a train, you deserve it.
Comments
Another from a couple years ago. I pretty much gave up train track shots a while back just because they tend to seem a little too "senior portrait cliche" to me... but I still get the occassional request from clients to shoot someone with a guitar walking on train tracks.
Portland, Oregon Photographer Pete Springer
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I swear I've gone cold-turkey on this kind of cliche photo these days!
I think the bigger question is why are photographers-- especially newbies -- so drawn to train tracks?
I even once shot a fashion show on a moving train/streetcar!
Portland, Oregon Photographer Pete Springer
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Anyone that gets hit by a oncoming train while standing, might be better off. If you can't see a train with a photographer looking one way and a model looking the other, then, how smart are you?
Stand by me comes to mind when looking at Jim's Pics
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a few more here: http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=112020
But, what if it is true?
I don't really believe in this. I know a few photographers who unintentionally blank out the world around them when their eye is in the viewfinder. You are watching the model, the viewfinder, the viewfinder readout, the decisive moment, a typical portrait focal length may narrow your field of view considerably, and if you pull your eye away it might only be to look at the other camera displays. It's so easy to get distracted for an extended period of time. I watch friends doing street photography and they get so tunnel-visioned in the viewfinder and unaware of their surroundings that I have to remind them where they are and to regularly look around them to see if there are unwanted bystanders a little too close to their camera bag and if maybe their equipment is still where they left it (sometimes it is not).
If I was to do train tracks there are quite a few local spurs that are used infrequently or not at all anymore. I would gravitate to those. I would be reluctant to shoot on one of the main lines. Every year people get hit. The only way I would shoot on a main line is with two additional undistracted friends looking both ways with minimum 15-second escape margins.
Welcome to the club, Nik.
Portland, Oregon Photographer Pete Springer
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Little more subtle with the train tracks here.
Portland, Oregon Photographer Pete Springer
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Very nice indeed! For some reason I suddenly want to be a train track when I grow up.
Nikon | Private Photojournalist
in Bethlehem, PA by the old steel plant there are lots of active tracks. A Philly photographer was arrested because his model was nude, and it was seen by a cop across the river at a local park.
Keep the shots coming!
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Jeff
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Nice pics!
Its like a runaway train
sorry couldn't resist.
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I shot these before knowing the tracks were live. I will probably NOT shoot on them again at this location, not worth the chance of someone dying on their wedding day.
static displays are aok.
later in the evening we had a visit from the train, I almost had a heart attack finding out we were shooting on live tracks. I worked on a dinner train for 3 years while I was in and recently out of college. I have a healthy respect of trains and know the pain any accident has on the rail operator who has little to NO control of preventing an auto-train or train-person collision. Yeah train tracks are cool for photos, but never again on live ones.
And yet we still photograph football, we still photograph motocross, and I'm about to photograph another car racing event next month.
You cannot, and SHOULD NOT, remove all risk from your life. You just have to properly manage it.
Someone else asked why we're drawn to train tracks. Personally I want to photograph a sports car and railroad tracks together. Its a "car on rails" type of thing for me. But that personally goes past my boundary for safety. Cars really can stall on train tracks and not re-start. Has to do, I've been told, with the trains creating a magnetic field on the rails that interferes with the ignition system. I could be wrong, but not willing to find out.
A former sports shooter
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It's all about the moment...
they were all shot with an on camera 430EX flash with a make shift reflector using fun foam. Thanks for the comments!
Canon 7D, Canon 40D, 24-70mm f/2.8L, 70-200mm f/4L IS, 50mm f/1.8, 430EX
Nice shots-- and especially cool considering you used a fun foam modifier
Portland, Oregon Photographer Pete Springer
website blog instagram facebook g+
There are no L angles on train tracks, there is always a way to see ahead no matter where you're looking (up or down the tracks)
Like I said, if you get hit by a train, you deserve it.