San Diego Trolley

[Coastal Flyer]

San Diego's "light rail."

[MB1]

#1 It looks slightly tilted to the left because of the poles on the right.

#2 It doesn't say "San Diego" to me.

#3 Cool capture.

[Coastal Flyer]

MB:

1. Good catch.
2. You are right,could be any major city.
3. Thanks.

CF

[MB1]

Actually it reminds me of Baltimore.

[photo101]

Question.

How does one go about setting up a shot like this? How or where do you get the camera focused in such a low light setting (I am assuming you set up your shot first waiting for the train to come?). Did you use flash or is that just light from the train itself?

Thanks for any help!

[Greg McCary]

I like it but the first thing I saw was the lean. Great capture CF.

[Yoyo Szeto]

I like the exposure of this shot a lot. Well done!
yoyo

[danic]

What a great shot!

I really like the colour of the light train, looks fantastic! Exposure looks pretty good too.

[Coastal Flyer]

Thanks everyone for leaving your comments. It really helps to get feedback. I will fix the lean, gosh darn it anyway; don't you hate it when the simple things ruin a shot???

As for the set up, yes, I was set up waiting for the train. The lean is attributable to getting my finger pinched in the hinge of the tripod leg as I was leveling the setup. It took a few minutes to get the bleeding to stop and by that time, had to hurry to finish the setup as the train was coming. Regardless, there was no flash used on this shot, although I did try that with later shots and did not care for the result as much. This shot was taken with ISO 200; 1/8 second; f9.0; I wanted the buildings in focus as well as the train.

At 1/8, timing is everything to get as much of the train as possible to fill the frame.

Thanks again for the comments.

CF

[Lori11]

I love this shot, I would frame it. I keep a very small first aid kit I found at target for $1.00 in my camera bag lol it has just enough in it to stop the bleeding and it nylon so it fits anywhere.

[photo101]

Thanks everyone for leaving your comments. It really helps to get feedback. I will fix the lean, gosh darn it anyway; don't you hate it when the simple things ruin a shot???

As for the set up, yes, I was set up waiting for the train. The lean is attributable to getting my finger pinched in the hinge of the tripod leg as I was leveling the setup. It took a few minutes to get the bleeding to stop and by that time, had to hurry to finish the setup as the train was coming. Regardless, there was no flash used on this shot, although I did try that with later shots and did not care for the result as much. This shot was taken with ISO 200; 1/8 second; f9.0; I wanted the buildings in focus as well as the train.

At 1/8, timing is everything to get as much of the train as possible to fill the frame.

Thanks again for the comments.

CF

Hi CF,

thanks for the reply. One more question, where was your focus point in the frame? Since the train was moving, I would think that your focus point would wander and therefore cause the rest of the frame to be out of focus. Is that correct? Or did you focus it manually?

Thanks for any help, just trying to learn and understand how to get the image you want in low light situations like this.

Jared

[Coastal Flyer]

Jared,

Sorry, I forgot to answer your question about focus point. I focused on the buildings in the background. As the train would be moving, I was not as concerned about keeping it in focus. However, I did want to keep everything in focus so I used a higher f-stop for greater depth of field.

Hope this helps. Let me know if there is anything else I can help with.

CF

[Herriot]

Very nicely composed and I think your timing is spot on resulting in a high impact result, great stuff.

[Coastal Flyer]

Herriot:

Thanks very much for the comments. It took a few passes of previous trains to get the timing. Of course, we don't talk about the shots that get tossed. Only the shots that actually work out. It was fun to play around with and massed much curiosity from passers-by.

Thanks again.

CF

[Coastal Flyer]

Thanks very much. I have fixed the tilt, it really helps. I would re-post but don't know how to post on an existing thread. I guess you will have to take my word for it.

Thanks again.

CF

[Overbeyond]

The exposure is spot on and it is a well focused and clean. The lean can be sorted out no problem but I honestly feel a bit of human presence or activity would make a very good shot even better.

[GeraldTheMouse]

I love this shot. You can make an account on PhotoBucket or something like that and upload pictures that way, and just copy/paste the one in the [img] brackets or whatever.

[Coastal Flyer]

Gerald,

Thanks for the tip on Photo Bucket. My fear of having an account such as that is the ability for viewers to download the images. I know some accounts say the image is protected, but you show me a protected image on the computer and I will give you a teenager who can crack into the protection. My own paranoia I suppose! I need to either get over it or just enjoy having photos on-line. Regardless, thanks again.

CF

[gahspidy]

Very well done, CF. Well planned. A little bloodshed is good for the story behind the shot as well. . . :thumbsup:

[Addies Granddaddy]

Good one, CF. Well deserved.
John

[Coastal Flyer]

Granddaddy/Gary:

This is indeed an honor and appreciate it very much.

Thank you.

CF (David)

[Frog]

I didn't critique it because you got everything and more than I could have said except for the parts that say, "Great Shot!"
Congrats on the sticky....I know it sure ticled me when I got one.

btw....to post a pic in a reply, click the go advanced button and it will bring you up the same format as a new post.

[Coastal Flyer]

Frog,

I certainly understand and appreciate your input at anytime. Thanks also for the directions in how to upload additional photos into an existing thread.

CF

[Grandpaw]

I would like to say that this shot just fascinates me and it keeps popping up in my brain. It is kinda like going to Disney World and coming out of "It's a Small World" and trying to forget the song that was playing while on the ride, my brain just keeps playing it over and over. I really like this photo, Jeff

[Coastal Flyer]

Grandpaw,

I will take your reference to "It's A Small World" as a compliment as I fully understand the context of your comment; however, I loathe that song for exactly that reason. There is something about this shot that I really like also, but cannot figure out why. There is nothing to it, but it just says something. I truly appreciate the comment. Thanks so much.

CF