Western Railroad Discussion > Monday Meets: Meet me at Newman

My ol’ body sometimes has me wondering why I’m still so willing to stand out there in the hot sun holding a heavy telephoto lens in the ready position for looong minutes at a time. It makes the argument that I could easily be sitting in the shade somewhere, maybe tipping back on a cold one.

Then I get a given day’s results home, downloaded and up on the screen. And I remember why I still go out there. I don’t always get calendar page material, but most times I come home with some fun stuff that I can weave a short tale around. So here’s my tale: I shot this ‘Monday Meets’ with a 70-300 tele-boomer that seems to get a bit heavier every time I go out.

But there’s another little twist to this tale! Lately it’s been occurring to me that I simply can’t quit. I HAVE to keep going out if I want at least keep up with the “Bob & Don” show from out there on the left cost… ;^)

1. & 2. UP 6046 is that tiny headlight way back there through the heat waves meeting an stationary eastbound stacker… and…… yes ………

3. …it is moving toward this photographer. After 2 tele-boomer shots @ 300mm, this shot comes in at a mere 170mm. But the train is indeed moving west, without anyone having to drive stakes to gauge its progress.
(3 photos taken June 24, 2019 near the old UP location of Newman, KS)

Thanks for looking!
Lance Garrels
santafe199



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/12/19 17:11 by santafe199.

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 That rail sure has some rough spots in it .

That's a fairly severe vertical 'wow' on both rails on the right hand track of photos 1 and 3, telephoto effect notwithstanding.
Don't believe I'd like to take that much above 15 mph. Thanks for keeping those back and arm muscles in tone.

Charlie

cewherry Wrote: > ...  Don't believe I'd like to take that much above 15 mph ...

I guess I just plum forgot to mention that I was shooting through 300mm of telephoto glass...

WOW, that's a HUGE lens

Dave

300mm lens, that's huge.
Be nice for roster shots, no?

overniteman Wrote: > ... 300mm ... nice for roster shots, no ...
(chuckling out of control) Only if you are really, really, really desperate, I guess. Over the years I've seen some gawdawful, long telephoto, 3/4 angle 'wastuh' shots, as we used to call them. Newsworthy, you say? Ooooooooooh-kay..... ;^)

GBW309 Wrote: > ... WOW ... HUGE ...
(more chuckling) Eeeyeahhh... In a thread that was supposed to be about "Monday Meets" I saw that little blip in the rails long before I posted my "Monday Meets" thread. I know actual reading is a lost art, so I thought that mentioning the 300mm aspect would preclude any panic about how supposedly "bad" the track is. Most people don't realize they are looking at long telephoto distortion, until somebody explains it. I would bet a hefty sum that if a person were to walk up to that "15 MPH slow spot" from the side, that person wouldn't notice anything at all wrong with the track. I tried to establish the telephoto distortion thing ahead of time, without coming right out saying so. But I guess I just didn't make the "300mm" big & bold enough. It's really no big deal, but it's amazing how many times you see a telephoto shot looking along a track cause the routine Chicken Little panic about how bad the track is. Every time, Every time. Every time. Every time...  ;^)

Lance/199