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Photographing a garden railway

Ben Shell

I gave a presentation on garden railway photography at the SVGRS clinics in 2012. Here are some of my example photos and notes from that presentation.

Look for the details and get in closeWhen photographing trains, leading lines are everywhere, but my favorite leading line photos are on S-curves.Look for textures, such as mountains, interesting plants, wooden buildings, etc.Find a unique perspective, either above or below the action.Look for invisible triangles, such as the two locomotives and a building in this photo.Photos illustrating the principle of variety are often closeups of different shapes, colors, or textures coming together.Freeze the action. Try to follow a train with your camera, and snap the photo while continuing to move your camera with the train. Ideally the train will be sharp, and the background will be blurredLook for opportunities for high key photography. This photo isn't really high key, but if the locomotive where white it might be. Perhaps I need to photograph my garden railway on a foggy morning with an LGB ICE train.Low key photography is easier than high key, since so many locomotives are black, but it's still important to look for a chance to shoot with a black background. This is pretty easy to do with a flash, especially at night or indoors.

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