How Did I Take That?

First thing to say as this is the first in a series of blogs on how I’ve taken certain  photographs. I plan some shots, I react to some shots too and I plan some shots and end up reacting to something different.

To Catch A Train At Dawn.

Ok, this was taken on 22 May 2012 at 5.35am in Arnside , a village in Cumbria, England. It faces the estuary of the River Kent on the north eastern corner of Morecambe Bay.

I was sitting on the sofa the evening before watching the weather forecast on the TV. The weathergirl said is was gonna be a lovely day, clear skies with a little mist to start the day. 

Knowing that area of the country quite well I thought the weather would be perfect for some early morning shots of the via-duct and estuary. 

Packed the camera, tripod and went to bed. Rudely awaken by the alarm at 3.15 am, give it another five minutes……Woken by the smell of coffee wafting up my nostrils, made by my lovely girlfriend and assistant for the day, Angie.

Arrived at Arnside after an hours drive at 4.45. Light was just beginning to beat back the darkness so I set out for a walk to look for good photographic view points…

I had taken a few pics of boats on the sand etc and just before the sun broke the horizon (to the right of the picture) the colours were stunning!!

This is a picture I had had in mind for years but never got round to taking it. So camera (Canon 5D MK 11) in place,  24 – 105  f4 lens fitted with a 2 stop graduated filter to darken the sky a touch , I composed the shot. Click! nice!

Lovely photograph of the via-duct at first light on a misty spring morning. Then! I heard the train coming!!! Camera back in position….

I set the camera to manual mode and put the settings in I had metered for.

An ISO of 100 for maximum quality, an F stop of 11 for a sharpness of details throughout and a shutter speed of 1/25 to fit in with the other two settings and using a tripod with a remote release.

I took three photographs of the train but this is the one I felt worked best, with it making its way into the photograph and out of the mist. If only it had been a steam train!!! ah well maybe next time……..

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Mick Ryan 2013