How to take a good picture of the railway?

Traveling by train can enjoy the beautiful scenery along the railway, but it is very important to choose the time and skills to take beautiful railway photos. This paper will introduce several common shooting techniques in railway photography to help you take high-quality railway photos.

First, shoot from above to capture the whole scenery.

Railway photography is a very interesting subject, so we need to have a deeper understanding of the scenery along the railway, such as how the scenery changes in different seasons, and whether there are cherry blossoms, red leaves, rice fields and other special attractions in a certain section. We can have a bird's-eye view of the train and its surroundings from a higher place such as a nearby hill or overpass. We can take the train as the theme of the photo, or as an element to supplement the scenery, and make sure that your composition includes the front, middle and background to get a stronger sense of depth. If you need to photograph a passing train, pay attention to the shutter speed. Generally speaking, a shutter speed of 1/500s or faster can ensure clear capture, but this number may vary according to the actual speed of the train.

This photo taken from a high angle captures all the scenery along the railway and provides an excellent sunset background for the ancient steam train. EF 24- 105mm f/4L is USM? 1/320s？ f/ 10？ ISO 400).

This photo shows a sharp color contrast, and the train running on the mountain highlights the magnificent snow-capped mountains, (EOS 5D Mark II? EF 50mm f/ 1.4 USM？ 1/400s？ f/9？ ISO 200).

Secondly, the application of geometric figures and lines in composition.

Besides trains, railway tracks, bridges and stations with different geometries and patterns are also good photography subjects. You only need a pair of keen eyes to find the hidden lines, shapes, arrangements and colors in these buildings. By carefully adjusting the angle and composition, we can create abstract photos from these tangible objects, and we can also use the railway track as a guide line in the composition to attract the audience's attention to the image.

Symmetrical composition plays an important role in creating this geometric photo, and the black-and-white photo style helps to highlight the heavy sense of history. EF 50mm f/ 1.4 USM？ 1/30s？ f/2.8？ ISO 800 standard).

This is a good example of a photo with a guide line. The guide line and vanishing point guide the eyes of the audience. (EOS 450D？ Ef-s18-135mm f/3.5-5.6? 1/25s？ f/3.5？ ISO 800 standard).

Third, capture the people and atmosphere at the station.

Railway is a means of transportation, which shows that passengers are also a good subject. Different types of people go in and out of the railway station, which makes it an interesting place. People have different moods when waiting for the train-some people look anxious, others look thoughtful. Taking such photos, besides paying attention to the actions of people around you, it is also important to make rational use of the composition of the space. Crowded stations can help capture the bustling city atmosphere, while spacious stations with only a few passengers can take photos with loneliness.

This photo uses the compression effect of telephoto lens to capture the girl's thinking face at the station, showing a lonely mood, (EOS 5D Mark III? EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM？ 1/800s？ f/2.8？ ISO 800 standard).

The use of wide-angle lens creates a sense of space in photos, which makes the extraction effect of overhead power lines, railway lines and railings more obvious and has a stronger sense of space. EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM？ 1/80 later? f/2.8？ ISO 5000 standard).