Cathedrals Express

[Bootsy]

i was in the right place at the right time tonight.well i crossed the railway crossing about 5 minutes before the train started moving.so park van,grab camera,leg it to the barrier for a good spot in the crowd and be ready as it approached.and considering i never got the back of someone else head in shot.i'm happy with these 3 shots.pity about the nasty looking fence in image 2
c&c welcome

[Donald]

i was in the right place at the right time tonight

You were indeed.

#1 is the pick for me. I wonder about cloning that little bit of equipment popping in from the bottom.

I think there are too many other 'bits' interfering in #2 and #3 is, I think, at the wrong angle to be a study of the detail; i.e. the wheels

[dje]

Yes the first one is a great shot and the compostion is very good particularly when you think about the short timeframe you had to work in. Cheers Dave

[shreds]

No. 1 would have benefitted a vertical format to get all the smoke in, and whilst probably impractical, a higher viewpoint (stepladders?) would have lifted you above the butterfly bushes and included a good view of the coaches too. Not practical to clone these out.

Personally no. 3 for me offers a different perspective to the usual views and allows the better use of the light; in the first two shots there appears to be some almost burning out of some items due to the angle of the sun.

Nevertheless, the difficulties of capturing a moving object like a train are often underestimated and under appreciated.

[Bootsy]

cheers for the feed backmaybe a little re-edit when i get time

[arith]

Some people get all the luck: not only do I go to a place they live but when I get there I find they are all away somewhere being photographed by you at the roadside.

Only jokin and I like the bottom one.

[FrankMi]

i was in the right place at the right time tonight.well i crossed the railway crossing about 5 minutes before the train started moving.so park van,grab camera,leg it to the barrier for a good spot in the crowd and be ready as it approached.and considering i never got the back of someone else head in shot.i'm happy with these 3 shots.pity about the nasty looking fence in image 2
c&c welcome

Hi Paul, is it possible that the Cathedral Express was used as the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter films? Looks very close to the Hogwarts Express on the Glenfinnan Viaduct heading to the Hogwarts School in Scotland.

[Bootsy]

Hi Paul, is it possible that the Cathedral Express was used as the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter films? Looks very close to the Hogwarts Express on the Glenfinnan Viaduct heading to the Hogwarts School in Scotland.

i was thinking the same.but i have no idea

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Paul, is it possible that the Cathedral Express was used as the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter films? Looks very close to the Hogwarts Express on the Glenfinnan Viaduct heading to the Hogwarts School in Scotland.

Hi Frank,

Well, the rake of maroon coaches might be, but this is more likely the Loco used in the films;


Click to see 1600 x 744px
Nikon D5000 18-200mm at 20mm, iso 1600, 1/180s at f/8

Shot at the National Railway Museum in York on 29 April 2011.

I had difficulty getting it all in and it was effectively backlit which didn't help.

[Donald]

I think Frank's onto something there, if you look very closely at the engine crossing the viaduct.

I knew that viaduct very well in my childhood. We lived about 20 minutes away (my dad still does). When they were doing the filming, the train used to be parked up overnight at the old (now closed) Glenfinnan railway station. The station itself is now converted into a house and the people in it used to wake up in the morning, open their curtains and see the Hogwarts Express through the window.

[FrankMi]

Hi Frank,

Well, the rake of maroon coaches might be, but this is more likely the Loco used in the films;


Click to see 1600 x 744px
Nikon D5000 18-200mm at 20mm, iso 1600, 1/180s at f/8

Shot at the National Railway Museum in York on 29 April 2011.

I had difficulty getting it all in and it was effectively backlit which didn't help.

That's it! I didn't have a close-up so it was difficult to be sure. Ah, the days of steam locomotives. Of course, the Hogwarts Express was run using Magic but sure does look like one of the steam-driven locomotives of yesteryear. Thank you Paul, for posting the Cathedral Express and bring back memories!

[Wendy Stanford]

#3 for me, I like the way the engine fills the frame, the composition is great, with your eye been drawn to the front of the train, there is enough blurring to show movement, ? how difficult woud it be to clone out the fence ,

[shreds]

Wendy, its not a fence, its is the level crossing barrier.

As part of the scene, I would minimise it still further, by recomposing and if you then did a B&W conversion, low and behold, the distracting red barrier dissapears (almost) and doesnt draw the eye.