What’s Your Angle?

Employing a variety of visual angles enhances and provides rich variety to your railroad photos.

Photographs by Gary Dolzall

“We Are Railfans” introduced our coverage of railroad photography in the article “Trackside, Camera in Hand” -- and with it the promise that we will regularly explore this popular aspect of being a railfan. Indeed, we will frequently feature articles on both railroad photography and “virtual railroad photography,” along with captivating images of railroading real and virtual.

As “Trackside, Camera in Hand” recounted, limitations of camera and film technology meant the earliest pioneers of railroad photography more often than not had to limit their efforts to still portraits. But today, with the extraordinary digital camera capabilities and technology tools available to us, the only limit is our own creativity (and yes, the fact that trains and the weather quite often don’t “cooperate” when we’re trying to photograph a wonderful railroad image!).

Among the many ways to bring variety, drama, and appeal to one’s railroad photographs is by employing a variety of “angles” in your photo compositions. Not only does the use of many angles provide diversity to our images, but the various angles have unique and appealing visual characteristics.

So, let us talk about and look at some different angles that can, collectively, enhance your railroad photos:

The “Wedge Shot”: The traditional “three-quarters wedge shot” is taken at trackside, at standing eye level, and capturing the train as it approaches. This was a favorite style early on when cameras and film first allowed “action photos” – and it remains widely used today, if for no other reasons than “wedgies” can be taken in almost any location and, if you’ve arrived trackside about 10 seconds before the train pounds past, it is likely the only option! While certainly not on the cutting edge of creativity, the wedge shot remains a pleasing way to capture a nice portrait of a train.

A traditional staple of railfan photography, the “three-quarters wedge shot” nonetheless offers much appeal in capturing a portrait of a moving train. In the era before today’s Chicago-area commuter carrier Metra, Milwaukee Road No. 44 – a rare EMD F40C – has a short commuter train rolling northbound from “The Windy City.”

The Overhead View: An exceedingly popular angle and rightfully so. Photographing a train from an elevated angle tends to beautifully display the details and scenery of a locale. An overhead view nicely shows the not-always-seen details of the top of locomotives and also beautifully illustrates train consists that extend into the distance. Of course, unless one travels with a very tall ladder or a drone, this type of image requires that a trackside hill, embankment, or overhead bridge be handy!

Photographing a train from an elevated angle tends to beautifully display the details and scenery of a locale as well as showcasing the train itself. Magnificent Santa Fe “Warbonnet”-clad EMD GP60M No. 100 is making its inaugural run with AT&SF hot intermodal Q-NYLA as it flashes through Ransom, Illinois, on May 20, 1990.

The Low-Angle Photo: Trains tend to be bigger than life in any case and shooting an object from low-level even further accentuates its size and tends to add dramatic impact to the image. The low-angle photo is a great approach to try when otherwise the image might not feel particularly distinctive or interesting.

Trains tend to be bigger than life in any case, and shooting an object from low-level even further accentuates its size and tends to add dramatic impact to an image. Flashy Boston MBTA EMD F40PH-2 1013 glints in the evening light at Framingham, Massachusetts.

Capturing the Curve: Trains rounding a curve, taken from whatever angle or height, certainly provide a photograph with built-in drama. Shooting from the “inside” of a curve produces the classic view with the train elegantly stretching around the bend, while shooting from the “outside” of the curve, particularly with a long lens, can produce some quite striking images.

Trains rounding a curve provide a photograph with built-in drama. Shooting from the “outside” of the curve, particularly with a long lens, can produce some particularly striking images. Frisco 4-8-2 1522 is putting on a show as it powers an excursion over the ex-Soo Line rails of the Wisconsin Central in 1988.

The “Going Shot”: The fun, and the opportunity for some wonderful railroad photographs, is far from over when the locomotives have shot past. If you have been “shooting with the sun” (which is to say with the sun at your back), a going shot often offers different, and on occasion, dramatic, lighting.

The fun, and the opportunity for some wonderful railroad photographs, is far from over when the locomotives have shot past. Railfans along the tracks admire the steamy plume and shimmering passenger cars of a Chessie Steam Special passing through Newport, Kentucky.

The “Pan (or Pacing) Shot”: Typically taken with a slow shutter speed to accentuate speed and motion, the “pan shot” is taken from a stationary position but following (or “panning”) the camera with the subject. The “pacing shot” is typically taken from an auto moving at the same speed as an adjacent train. Both are challenging (and the pacing shot requires someone driving the car other than yourself!), but the rewards are superb.

The technique of “panning” with a train from a stationary location (or pacing from an adjacent automobile) infuses railroad photographs with speed, motion, and drama. Amtrak AEM-7 935, a classic and long-lived “Toaster,” is at speed with an Amtrak regional service on ex-New Haven rails near Southport, Connecticut.

Stepping Back: Railroads and trains exist in an environment rich in visual elements, whether they be the details of a busy yard complex or the beauty of scenic countryside. Remember to often take a step back (or for that matter, a whole lot of steps back) and capture that full and rich railroading environment in your photographs!

Railroads exist in an environment rich in visual elements, whether they be the details of a busy yard complex or the beauty of scenic countryside. Remember to step back and capture that full and rich railroading environment in your photographs. As lensed from the Bear Mountain Bridge north of Peekskill, New York, a Metro-North commuter train powered by a New Haven-liveried EMD FL9 glides along the beautiful and historic Hudson River. Images and Captions: