I have taken my first step into the world of digital photography. Here are a couple of shots taken today of the UP passenger special that operated round trip between Bakersfield and Mojave over the Tehachapi Pass route. The first shot was taken of the train entering Tunnel #2 on its return trip to Bakersfield: Second shot was taken just East of the Bakersfield Yard: Hopefully I will be the proud owner of a Canon Digital Rebel by the end of the summer, and the photo quality will be much better. For those who may be interested, these photos were taken with a Sony CyberShot 5.0 with a 3X zoom (It is meant for family photos, not trains...)
Unfortunately, it'll all be brown within a month... Since I haven't shared much lately, here are a few more of my recent digital shots. They were all taken on March 7, 2004, and there is lots of green in them as well. First shot is taken of a UP Southbound at Caliente: Next shot is of the same train at Bealville: Final shot is of a BNSF (gasp!) Northbound at Sandcut...it is UP trackage, so it still qualifies as a UP post, right??? Hope you all enjoy the pics, I hope to keep more coming...
Kevin, i've really missed seeing your pics posted here, your move to digital hasnt dropped the excellent quality of the pictures. I look forward to seeing more.
I'd not heard that 6936 was going to be out and about. Great shots in the fresh color of springtime! Boxcab E50
For those who may be in Northern California, this train is supposed to be running from Bakersfield to Sparks today. It was scheduled to leave Bakersfield early this morning, so it may make an afternoon run over Donner Pass today, but like everything else it is subject to change...also, thanks for the positive comments about the photos. I'm not used to taking pics with a point and shoot pocket camera, and while the camera shoots good photos I am having difficulty with the non-SLR rangefinder and the lack of zoom (3X whatever that is, maybe 80mm...yuck). Until I can find the funds to pick up that digital SLR I have my eyes on, it'll have to do.
Yes, Kevin, we missed your excellent photography. I too have a new digital and am very frustrated with it. Too different from the SLR. Guess I'll have to save my $$$ for one of those SLR type digitals.
I am very happy with my digital, but still getting used to the shutter lag! Are there any digitals which do not have a shutter delay? I found that the easiest way to get just the shot I want is to hold down the shutter release when set to multiple frame shooting. This takes a series of rapid-fire shots, so I can then choose the ones I want and delete the others. Uses up the memory pretty fast, though, so you need a big card!
These are striking photos..Kevin, I think you should have your name imbedded in the photos, along with a copyright symbol. Alan, one of the advantages of the digital slr is a very short shutter lag time. Ed [ 03. April 2004, 12:00: Message edited by: WM734 ]
Thanks for the nice comments. I usually do imbed my name into my photos (as all of the photos on my website have), but these were kind of spur of the moment posts. I may go back later and upload photos that have an embedded copyright to the same filename, so you may see the photos above reflect this. I hope to get out on Sunday and get some more Tehachapi shots before the hills turn brown. If I do, I'll be sure to share some of them here...
Kevin, in the shot at Caliente, there is a boxcar on the spur track at left. When we were there several years ago an SP SD45 was standing there dead. Is the track only used to set out bad-order cars, etc. or is stuff loaded/unloaded there?
Very nice shots. You figure a couple more weeks of green down there? Alan, from my shooting down there, IIRC they were unloading MofW cars there. The dead SD45 my have been set out as a bad order. Helper units usually weren't turned there. Greg
I'm pretty sure that track is only used for bad order set outs and occasional MOW equipment. No revenue generated at that location as far as I know.
Awesome shots, Kevin! Makes my heart green with envy! (No pun intended ) When you look for a digital camera, also be sure to get one with manual focus. I have a Minolta Dimage Z1 that has a 10x optical telephoto, and manual aperture control, but no focus control. Don't make the mistake I made!
