Where do you take your pictures?
Where do you take your pictures?
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?
- railohio
- Photographer of Wires in America by Rail of Ohio & Wisconsin
- Posts: 1789
- Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 7:44 pm
- Location: Wisconsin
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Re: Where do you take your pictures?
"I shot the freight train / But I did not shoot the fantrip"
Re: Where do you take your pictures?
Depends on how far you're willing to drive.pica wrote:Where do you go to take your pictures?
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.
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.
Re: Where do you take your pictures?
Thanks a bunch.
- conrailmike
- Signal Maintainer
- Posts: 2832
- Joined: Tue Jan 30, 2007 9:59 pm
- Location: Less than 100' from CSX (LSRC) Saginaw Sub. MP 61.4 in Highland, MI
Re: Where do you take your pictures?
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
http://railroadfan.com/wiki/index.php/R ... ion_Guides
Re: Where do you take your pictures?
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.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
- railohio
- Photographer of Wires in America by Rail of Ohio & Wisconsin
- Posts: 1789
- Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 7:44 pm
- Location: Wisconsin
- Contact:
Re: Where do you take your pictures?
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"
- M.D.Bentley
- Railroadfan...fan
- Posts: 2477
- Joined: Sat May 07, 2005 4:41 pm
- Location: Downriver
Re: Where do you take your pictures?
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.
Re: Where do you take your pictures?
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.
Re: Where do you take your pictures?
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).
Re: Where do you take your pictures?
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.bnsfben wrote:The Holly Subdivision north of Waterford is really nice.
Re: Where do you take your pictures?
I take mine by the tracks.
I'm just here to put in time claims and complain
Re: Where do you take your pictures?
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.
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.
Jeff O.
Celebrating over 11 years dial-up free!
(18:36:45) MagnumForce: Railfanning is way more fun when you stop caring about locomotives and signals
(19:11:29) cbehr91: I can't believe I'm +1ing Brent but +1
Celebrating over 11 years dial-up free!
(18:36:45) MagnumForce: Railfanning is way more fun when you stop caring about locomotives and signals
(19:11:29) cbehr91: I can't believe I'm +1ing Brent but +1
Re: Where do you take your pictures?
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.
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.
- Evan
- Durand's Gingerbread Kid
- Posts: 1261
- Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2010 6:56 pm
- Location: MP 8.8 of the LSRC Saginaw Sub.
Re: Where do you take your pictures?
no wayDT&I wrote:I take mine by the tracks.
Re: Where do you take your pictures?
Say!Evan wrote:no wayDT&I wrote:I take mine by the tracks.
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
P&WV fan in HO