I made another photography trip on the Amtrak Texas Eagle this time from Temple to El Paso,Texas. I have been using the Temple Texas Amtrak Station as my home base. It isn't the closest to my home but it is the easiest to get to.
My trip to El Paso went through San Antonio. I arrived in San Antonio around 11pm in my sleeper car. I decided to get the bedroom so I had a private compartment with a restroom, desk and electrical outlets. The Texas Eagle that I was on was switched at 2am from the north south track to the east west track on the Sunset Limited to El Paso and beyond. When I woke up the next day I was almost to Del Rio,Texas.
It's fun meeting and photographing new people. There are many folks who are interested in photography and what I am up to taking photos for Amtrak. I was actually invited to speak at a camera club in Austin,Texas so I guess that will work out in the next several months.
I like to shoot in Aperture Priority but on the train I am shooting more in Manuel Mode or Shutter Priority. I need to use higher shutter speeds and with the Manuel Mode I can manage the many diverse lighting situations I am encountering. I remember when I was President George H.W. Bush's White House photographer it was alway a challenge to get a good exposure being on a black runway underneath the shiny Air Force One. In that situation I actually started using Auto Program Mode because I didn't have the time to take light meter readings. Remember in those days I was shooting film. Now on the Amtrak I have the time to play around with composition a and exposures.
I saw a beautiful sunset outside Alpine,Texas the other day. Taking photos from a moving train through a dirty window is a special challenge but with the Manuel Mode I have so much more control when shooting with my Nikon D810. I find my iPhoneXmax also comes in handy many times. My finished product after I turn in my photos is primarily social media so I am good with file size.
I think my next trip will be up to Oklahoma City so I can ride on the Heartland Flyer.
My trip to El Paso went through San Antonio. I arrived in San Antonio around 11pm in my sleeper car. I decided to get the bedroom so I had a private compartment with a restroom, desk and electrical outlets. The Texas Eagle that I was on was switched at 2am from the north south track to the east west track on the Sunset Limited to El Paso and beyond. When I woke up the next day I was almost to Del Rio,Texas.
It's fun meeting and photographing new people. There are many folks who are interested in photography and what I am up to taking photos for Amtrak. I was actually invited to speak at a camera club in Austin,Texas so I guess that will work out in the next several months.
I like to shoot in Aperture Priority but on the train I am shooting more in Manuel Mode or Shutter Priority. I need to use higher shutter speeds and with the Manuel Mode I can manage the many diverse lighting situations I am encountering. I remember when I was President George H.W. Bush's White House photographer it was alway a challenge to get a good exposure being on a black runway underneath the shiny Air Force One. In that situation I actually started using Auto Program Mode because I didn't have the time to take light meter readings. Remember in those days I was shooting film. Now on the Amtrak I have the time to play around with composition a and exposures.
I saw a beautiful sunset outside Alpine,Texas the other day. Taking photos from a moving train through a dirty window is a special challenge but with the Manuel Mode I have so much more control when shooting with my Nikon D810. I find my iPhoneXmax also comes in handy many times. My finished product after I turn in my photos is primarily social media so I am good with file size.
I think my next trip will be up to Oklahoma City so I can ride on the Heartland Flyer.
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