Tornado passing through Thatcham Station

[whole diary]

[BerkshireBugsy]

This made me laugh - what a random (thread) distraction!

Random distraction? How insulting! It's lateral thinking... 

I think I prefer this one...

Link to soap

[BerkshireBugsy]

Forenames are generally alright - after all, it's what is shown on their name badges.

Surnames, for other than managers or above, would indeed be frowned upon - if used without their permission.

Hope this helps.

Chris.

from Nailsea.  

Ta CfN

[TonyK]

That was my first thought on seeing the name!

Personally, I no longer use it.

The camera was on auto but I've just checked and it was equiv to ASA500 (It's ages since I have even had to worry about ISO settings!)

f3.3 1/80th sec

I was leaning against the footbridge side to get some bracing.

By accident or by design, it's a very nice photo, and shows the power of the modern digital camera. The big aperture gives a sharpness to the locomotive, with the focus softening towards the rear of the train.

It also demonstrates the ability of the photographer to frame the picture nicely and make the best of the fleeting moment he is presented with!

[Western Pathfinder]

In Inspector Morse Matey was usually said by Superintendent Strange .

[BerkshireBugsy]

The camera was on auto but I've just checked and it was equiv to ASA500 (It's ages since I have even had to worry about ISO settings!)

f3.3 1/80th sec

I was leaning against the footbridge side to get some bracing.

By accident or by design, it's a very nice photo, and shows the power of the modern digital camera. The big aperture gives a sharpness to the locomotive, with the focus softening towards the rear of the train.

It also demonstrates the ability of the photographer to frame the picture nicely and make the best of the fleeting moment he is presented with!

Many thanks for the compliment - It was by design but I agree about the power of a modern digital camera. When I first switched to digital from film (SLR) I missed two two things..which were

1) The ability to have an external flash and avoid red eye
2) The ability to control depth of field

Thankfully when I could afford a digital SLR those issues went away...

[TonyK]

I bought my first one in January, and quickly transferred my previously knowledge from film days to the new technology. Now for the rest, which is taking time, although it is fun. The shop I bought the camera from offered me a course at a fee. I declined, because without the need to buy film or pay for processing, I can take 500 pictures of my wheelie bin until I get it right.

[BerkshireBugsy]

I bought my first one in January, and quickly transferred my previously knowledge from film days to the new technology. Now for the rest, which is taking time, although it is fun. The shop I bought the camera from offered me a course at a fee. I declined, because without the need to buy film or pay for processing, I can take 500 pictures of my wheelie bin until I get it right.

I had the camera shooting at 3 frames/sec because I didn't want to miss a chance. I *think* one of the big pluses of digital is that you can take many photos and delete the ones you don't like but I like to at least try and get it right in the camera - I guess old habits die hard.

If I get time I may try and photoshop out the CIS^▸ (Customer Information System) on P1 and possibly the dog.

[PhilWakely]

The camera was on auto but I've just checked and it was equiv to ASA500 (It's ages since I have even had to worry about ISO settings!)

f3.3 1/80th sec

I was leaning against the footbridge side to get some bracing.

By accident or by design, it's a very nice photo, and shows the power of the modern digital camera. The big aperture gives a sharpness to the locomotive, with the focus softening towards the rear of the train.

It also demonstrates the ability of the photographer to frame the picture nicely and make the best of the fleeting moment he is presented with!

I think the photo is excellent. It catches the mood and the time of day perfectly and I don't think it needs any Photoshopping.

I had a somewhat different challenge with my attempt at photting Tornado on that tour. I was at Broadclyst, just east of Exeter when lighting conditions were probably at their brightest (1:15pm), but I chose a location where I had just one chance of getting a good picture. The loco would have been at speed and the angle was almost side on from below so I needed a relatively wide angle (34mm). I was in a rather boggy field with no chance of setting up a tripod, so had to rely on a steady hand.  This was a tailor-made situation for a good DSLR and I think I turned out extremely lucky.  I chose 'Shutter Speed bias' rather than pure 'Auto' and opted for 1/800 sec - the camera determined the other settings . The aperture was no bigger than f/5 and ISO 100 equivalent.

[BerkshireBugsy]

The camera was on auto but I've just checked and it was equiv to ASA500 (It's ages since I have even had to worry about ISO settings!)

f3.3 1/80th sec

I was leaning against the footbridge side to get some bracing.

By accident or by design, it's a very nice photo, and shows the power of the modern digital camera. The big aperture gives a sharpness to the locomotive, with the focus softening towards the rear of the train.

It also demonstrates the ability of the photographer to frame the picture nicely and make the best of the fleeting moment he is presented with!

I think the photo is excellent. It catches the mood and the time of day perfectly and I don't think it needs any Photoshopping.

I had a somewhat different challenge with my attempt at photting Tornado on that tour. I was at Broadclyst, just east of Exeter when lighting conditions were probably at their brightest (1:15pm), but I chose a location where I had just one chance of getting a good picture. The loco would have been at speed and the angle was almost side on from below so I needed a relatively wide angle (34mm). I was in a rather boggy field with no chance of setting up a tripod, so had to rely on a steady hand.  This was a tailor-made situation for a good DSLR and I think I turned out extremely lucky.  I chose 'Shutter Speed bias' rather than pure 'Auto' and opted for 1/800 sec - the camera determined the other settings . The aperture was no bigger than f/5 and ISO 100 equivalent.

Thank you. I guess the reason I wanted to remove the CIS^▸ (Customer Information System) display is because I didn't think it was in keeping with the steam engine but it is totally subjective

I think your choice of Shutter Priority was a good one. For most of my stuff I used AP which is what I used for this pic but then it doesn't really matter if you remember changing one also changes the other. I didn't have the luxury of sunshine but then sometimes I think that isn't always a good thing having it too bright

[JayMac]

I had a somewhat different challenge with my attempt at photting Tornado on that tour.

An excellent image. So much so that a Facebook group has chosen it as their cover photo!

[BerkshireBugsy]

I had a somewhat different challenge with my attempt at photting Tornado on that tour.

An excellent image. So much so that a Facebook group has chosen it as their cover photo!

Is the FB Group one I can join?

[JayMac]

Search Facebook for "South West Railways and Heritage". You may be 'out of area' though BB.

And my request to join has been pending for 3 days now...

[Thatcham Crossing]

Forenames are generally alright - after all, it's what is shown on their name badges.

Thanks also to CfN from me - don't want to break any rules.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Well, it's not strictly a 'rule' - more a convention, or guidance, really, born out of politeness.

Front line staff generally have name badges with a forename on them (apparently, it doesn't have to be their real name, if they have personal reasons for not wanting that to be given).

Staff at manager level (for example, station managers) will have posters displayed at their stations with their full name and picture in the public domain, so that's rather different.

Likewise, directors will have their full names, picture and indeed a brief biography published on their company website.

We therefore simply ask, out of courtesy to passenger-facing members of railway staff (of whichever company) that we only refer to them in any posts on the Coffee Shop forum by their name badge name (unless they give their permission to be identified more specifically).

We also encourage you to consider whether identifying any particular member of staff (even by just their forename) in an unfavourable light, where it will be apparent from the circumstances exactly who they are, is appropriate.  For example, referring to "the train manager on the 25:62 from Nailsea on Monday" would perhaps be tactless, if you are complaining about her.  In such cases, it's better to go through the official channels with a formal complaint, rather than 'naming and shaming' them here on the Coffee Shop forum.

Having said all that, we have seen many examples where members of railway staff have given really great service to their customers, and 'Peter' at Thatcham and 'Norman' at Twyford  (Norman Topsom MBE, now retired) are cases in point. 

[Chris from Nailsea]

Is the FB Group one I can join?

And my request to join has been pending for 3 days now...

Well, as Groucho Marx said, "I don't want to belong to any club that will accept people like me as a member".