Bike, plus camera, plus trains is currently a convenient way of combining exercise with a focal point for the ride. My nearest railway line is about seven miles away in the Trent valley and I have been exploring the stretches I can reach fairly easily in search of promising spots to take photos.
This is not quite so straightforward as I had imagined. Railway property is more thoroughly fenced off in Britain compared to many other countries. Lineside vegetation is not cut back in the way it once was. High-tech’ grey steel boxes of varying shapes and sizes partially obstruct the view at some otherwise convenient locations and there is a proliferation of modern signage in some places.
Some attractive features of the trackside landscape have been eliminated. Historic station buildings have been replaced with functional shelters, sidings have been taken out, semaphore signals have disappeared and the old signal boxes are closed and now gradually decaying while they await removal.
I have also been getting used to a bridge camera, acquired to record wildlife without having to quickly change over the lens, as on the conventional SLR. In theory, the built-in zoom brings the action closer, without going any nearer and frightening off the birds.
The camera certainly has a lot of different functions. I’m gradually familiarising myself with it but it’s very much work in progress. Crucially with a moving target - and like so much else in life - it still comes down to a matter of timing. Thoughtful artistic composition might have to wait a bit longer.
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