Rail Rider by fishers

Rail Rider

A journey by train is somehow much more relaxing than other modes of transport. I love to just sit and gaze out of the window on many of my journeys, and this trip from York to Rotherham was a trip like that. The weather was very dull and grey, so little chance of a landscape shot. Here, a few miles south west of York, just after passing the village of Copmanthorpe, the route is a busy four track section, so this shot of the other three lines was taken between passing passenger and coal trains.

This is a very different kind of shot to my normal style, which aims to record realistically what I see. This is an attempt to be more abstract and to capture the impression of travel, movement and speed on a railway journey. I would love to hear your thoughts, positive and negative, on this shot - please critique me.

Ian
Wow. Neat idea and good capture.
March 12th, 2013  
Bob
Cool. I wish passenger rail was more available here. Our light-rail (trolleys) are growing in the metro area and I do like using them.
March 12th, 2013  
Awesome shot!!! Love the action here!!!
March 12th, 2013  
Wow, how clever! Really like the abstract nature of the shot!!
March 12th, 2013  
I think that is a great shot as if I were in the same circumstances I would have been asleep!!!!!
March 12th, 2013  
I agree with you . Train is the nicest way of traveling. Great capture of speed and rail lines
March 12th, 2013  
Great shot. Love the lines and movement. Looks like a smooth journey
March 12th, 2013  
Lee
Great shot, very effective.
March 12th, 2013  
very cool shot
March 13th, 2013  
Does it for me. Can't beat a bit of camera movement.....even when attached to a train.
March 13th, 2013  
Thank you Graham, glad you like it.

Ian
March 13th, 2013  
@bobhuegel

Than you Bob - we are very fortunate in York to be at the centre of a good network of railway routes, with particularly fast services south towards London and north towards Scotland. It is a very pleasant way to travel! A few of our cities now have tram services, but they are still quite limited.

Ian
March 13th, 2013  
@monkeykid

Thank you Therese - it can be quite hypnotic watching the neighbouring tracks with their trains speeding by.

Ian
March 13th, 2013  
@gillg

Thank you Gill - it is quite different to my usual style, but I was pleased with the result.
March 13th, 2013  
@pyrrhula

Thank you Pyrrhula - I do enjoy train travel! This shot is a bit deceptive - it looks like we are travelling quickly, but it was such a dull day that the shutter speed was slow, so it looks like we are going fast even though we were slowing down for a station stop.

Ian
March 13th, 2013  
@padlock

Thank you Padlock - I'm afraid I get quite involved in watching the world go past the train!

Ian
March 13th, 2013  
@purplehaze12

Thank you Hazel - it was a pleasant trip on a route I don't use very often, since there are only two trains a day to the station I was heading for. I usually catch a fast train to Doncaster and change there into a local service.

Ian
March 13th, 2013  
@gamelee

Thank you Lee, I was pleased with the result.

Ian
March 13th, 2013  
@bkbinthecity

Thank you Brian - I did like the result.

Ian
March 13th, 2013  
@isleofmanlandscapes

Thank you Colin - using a train is the lazy way to do camera movement!

Ian
March 13th, 2013  
I can feel the movement. great shot.
March 13th, 2013  
@bruni

Thank you Bruni, glad you like it.
March 13th, 2013  
Good sense of speed through the blur and I like the lines.
March 13th, 2013  
@rossevs

Thank you Ross, glad you like it. It is a rather different kind of shot to those I usually take, and I did learn quite a lot from this experiment.

Ian
March 14th, 2013  
Very neat pan!
March 17th, 2013  
@ruthmouch

Thank you Ruth, but I didn't do the panning, it was simply the movement of the train as I pointed the camera through the window.

Ian
March 19th, 2013  
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