EOS 90D Nighttime train photography tips

[Twiddler]

Hi

I'm planning on shooting a slow moving train going over a 19th century viaduct at night. I want to capture the profile of the viaduct and the train carriage lights. The train will be going slow having just left the station. I've an eos90d and efs 18-135 lens - still haven't got a bigger lens - waiting for Black Friday!  Please advise on camera settings.

Thanks 

Twiddler64

[jrhoffman75]

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@Twiddler wrote:

Hi

I'm planning on shooting a slow moving train going over a 19th century viaduct at night. I want to capture the profile of the viaduct and the train carriage lights. The train will be going slow having just left the station. I've an eos90d and efs 18-135 lens - still haven't got a bigger lens - waiting for Black Friday!  Please advise on camera settings.

Thanks 

Twiddler64

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Are you trying to freeze train motion or do you want to have light streaks?

[Twiddler]

Hi John

I was thinking of freezing the train because the old viaduct has a great profile at night 

Twiddler64 

[Twiddler]

Hi again John

I should have said that this is great viaduct in the North of England spanning a valley - so the arches are quite atmospheric at night 

[Twiddler]

Hi Guys 

After some failed attempts I took this last night in an attempt to get a blur of the lights. I mistakenly set the shutter to 0.6 instead of 6 seconds. Other info Manual Focus, Raw, M, ISO 4000, f3.5, Zoom 22m. We had a full moon a couple of nights ago and as you can see the sky was clear and light. I intend to go back and take more photos on darker nights and freeze the train and also get a better blur. The problem is that the train isn’t going fast because the station is 500 meters away.

Any more advice welcome - my feedback to myself was ISO too high, and learn how to set the correct setting in the dark.  

Thanks 

Twiddler

[stevet1]

Twiddler64,

Do you want the whole valley to be visible, or do you want it shrouded in darkness and only the train to be visible?

Does the viaduct itself have lights, or will it be in silhouette?

What Shooting Mode will you be using; Av, Tv, M, P?

One thing I was thinking of, is that you could spot meter off the lights of the train and just have the viaduct and valley remain black in silhouette. 

If the train is going slow, a shutter speed between 1/250 - 1/500 should probably do the trick. If the train is going really, really slow, you might be able to get by with a shutter speed of 1/125.

Steve Thomas

[Twiddler]

Hi Steve

I really like the idea of spot metering the carriage lights. It's just a relatively small four carriage local train. Plus the back ground around is wooded and only a few lights in the surrounding area. 

I'll give this a go on Tuesday night.

Thanks

Twiddler

[Twiddler]

Hi again...

I'm trying to use M as much as possible. I seem to have a problem getting the light settings correct for night photography - still learning- hence my post. The viaduct is only 10 miles from home so I can keep trying different settings - this time of year I can only get one train in the dark after 9:30. 

Where I set my camera there are no street lights, but it's on a road with a few cars coming past, which I can't control. 

All good fun!!

Thanks 

[stevet1]

Twiddler,

"'m trying to use M as much as possible."

How far away from the train will you be?

If you use a wide aperture like f/2.8 or f/3.5, that 's going to let a lot of light in, and your valley may be brighter than you want. I think I'd aim for a smaller aperture like f/8 or so.. As you narrow your aperture, keep an eye on your shutter speed. Narrowing the aperture might cause your shutter speed to drop loer than you want. In that case, you have the option of raising your ISO a touch.

One approach would be to use Auto ISO, but the camera might pick an ISO higher than what you want and make your picture too bright. You could experiment and see what you think.

Your photography session sounds a lot like shooting the moon. You're exposing for the bright light of the moon and letting the rest fade to darkness. You might read up on that and see how other people approach moon shots.

Steve Thomas

[Twiddler]

Hi Steve

I'll be 150 - 200 meters away at the nearest point. The viaduct sweeps round and the furthest point is probably 400.