Where do you take your pictures?

Questions on editing, camera settings, equipment, critiques, how to upload photos, etc....
pica
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Location: Mich.

Where do you take your pictures?

Unread post by pica »

This question is mainly for Michigan residents. I've been a railfan for years but just recently got interested in Railroad Photography. My only problem is finding good locations to shoot. I live in West Bloomfield, not really a railroad Mecca. I just don't want to take pictures of a train going down a straight track, although those can be cool too. But I'm looking for curves and different angles to shoot from. I don't want to have to trespass into rail yards or on railroad property. I was curious where some of the better locations are. Where do you go to take your pictures?

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railohio
Photographer of Wires in America by Rail of Ohio & Wisconsin
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Re: Where do you take your pictures?

Unread post by railohio »

"I shot the freight train / But I did not shoot the fantrip"

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J T
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Re: Where do you take your pictures?

Unread post by J T »

pica wrote:Where do you go to take your pictures?
Depends on how far you're willing to drive.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimthias/
GRHC - you know every night I can imagine he is in front of his computer screen sitting in his underwear swearing profusely and drinking Blatz beer combing the RailRoadFan website for grammatical errors.

pica
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Location: Mich.

Re: Where do you take your pictures?

Unread post by pica »

railohio wrote:Well here's a start:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/railohio/tags/michigan
Thanks a bunch.

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conrailmike
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Re: Where do you take your pictures?

Unread post by conrailmike »

There are links to some railfan guides in the Railfan Wiki here on the site. I started the ones for Michigan but haven't had a chance lately to get back to linking photos to the locations that they were shot. There are a few with more to come. There's quite a few added to the guides for Ohio, personally I'd rather go there anyways due to the amount of trains but that's just me.

http://railroadfan.com/wiki/index.php/R ... ion_Guides

pica
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Re: Where do you take your pictures?

Unread post by pica »

conrailmike wrote:There are links to some railfan guides in the Railfan Wiki here on the site. I started the ones for Michigan but haven't had a chance lately to get back to linking photos to the locations that they were shot. There are a few with more to come. There's quite a few added to the guides for Ohio, personally I'd rather go there anyways due to the amount of trains but that's just me.

http://railroadfan.com/wiki/index.php/R ... ion_Guides
I do get down to Ohio once and a while although not as often as I'd like. When I do go to Ohio I usually go to Fostoria, sometimes Deshler. I've heard people talk of other places they like better.

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railohio
Photographer of Wires in America by Rail of Ohio & Wisconsin
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Re: Where do you take your pictures?

Unread post by railohio »

The first rule of any kind of photography is to know your audience. It doesn't matter if you want to seek publication, acceptance on railpicture.net, or the admiration and respect of your peers; having a defined goal in mind will make it much easier to take "good" photos.
"I shot the freight train / But I did not shoot the fantrip"

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M.D.Bentley
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Re: Where do you take your pictures?

Unread post by M.D.Bentley »

I take pictures to please one person, ME ! Some are to record historic images . Some to be artsy . But all to please me. If other people like them that's OK too.

pica
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Location: Mich.

Re: Where do you take your pictures?

Unread post by pica »

I'm not looking to get pictures published or anything like that. I did have a picture accepted on railpicture.net which was pretty cool after getting many rejections. I'm just doing it for me. I love trains and love photography and thought it would be fun to combine the two.

bnsfben
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Re: Where do you take your pictures?

Unread post by bnsfben »

Pica, I live in Rochester so I'm not too far from you. The Holly Subdivision north of Waterford is really nice. It has a lot of curves and there are still many old searchlight signals. It is really neat between Andersonville and Gaines. This is pretty close to your house, but there are very few trains. There is a northbound that goes through usually between 2 and 5 PM (train 451), and a southbound between 4 and 7 PM usually (train 502).

pica
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Re: Where do you take your pictures?

Unread post by pica »

bnsfben wrote:The Holly Subdivision north of Waterford is really nice.
I've explored the Holly Sub a little bit in Waterford around Holly and Fenton. Like you said there are very few trains on the Holly Sub nowadays.

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DT&I
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Re: Where do you take your pictures?

Unread post by DT&I »

I take mine by the tracks.
I'm just here to put in time claims and complain

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Jochs
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Re: Where do you take your pictures?

Unread post by Jochs »

I live near St. Joseph, and during the off-season (right now, the place is full of beach-goers) you can get many photo angles. The tracks are below the bluff, and you can get photos at ground level, or go up on the bluff and take pics.
New Richmond, south of Holland, is where the GR crosses the Kalamazoo River and is very scenic.

East of GR there is the Thornapple River Bridge near Whitneyville, and the bridge at Grand Ledge.

It depends on how far you want to drive, like J T said.
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GTW6401
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Re: Where do you take your pictures?

Unread post by GTW6401 »

The best advice I can give for shooting pictures in Michigan is to..... Learn the basic schedule, use a scanner, and plan on moving around to multiple spots.

It also depends on a specific area or railroad your interested in. Do you want to go into more urban areas or rural, mainline or shortlines? Michigan does have a lot of different types of railroading but it just doesn't have the train density that other states do.

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Evan
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Re: Where do you take your pictures?

Unread post by Evan »

DT&I wrote:I take mine by the tracks.
no way

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MDH
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Re: Where do you take your pictures?

Unread post by MDH »

Evan wrote:
DT&I wrote:I take mine by the tracks.
no way
Say!
I like great pics and trains!
I do!! I like them, foamer-brains!
And I would shoot them in a boat!
And I would shoot them with a goat...
And I will shoot them in the rain.
And in the dark. And on a train.
And on a car. And in a tree.
They are so good so good you see!

So I will shoot them from a box.
And I will shoot them with a fox.
And I will shoot them from a house.
And I will shoot them with a mouse.
And I will shoot them here and there.
Say! I will shoot them ANYWHERE!
Michael Harding
P&WV fan in HO

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