BLUEBELL RAILWAY - Giants of Steam

[davidb]

The Bluebell Railway are running their "Giants of Steam" event on 31st October and 1st November. It's a number of years since the last time this was run and could be a worthwhile day out.

They have two visiting locomotives and are hoping to run three of their own including "Camelot" which is nearing completion of it's overhaul.

Try this link to the Bluebell site:

http://www.bluebell-railway.com/event/giants-of-steam/

I for one will be attending!!

This photo is of S15 class number 847 by Derek Hayward.

[davidb]

This event is now in progress. See two visitors (A4 class no 4464 "Bittern" and "Schools" class no 925) run alongside Bluebell residents no 73082 "Camelot" (newly restored), S15 class no 847 and Q class 541. Great opportunity to photograph these rare examples from the steam era.

There is an extensive timetable running on Sunday (last day of Giants of Steam) - twenty two trains between 09:15 and 18:15 running between Sheffield Park and East Grinstead. Visit the engine shed and museum at Sheffield Park. Take a guided tour of the Carriage and Wagon Works at Horsted Keynes. A great day out for railway enthusiasts.

[davidb]

I returned to the Railway on Sunday. After having trouble with my camera on Saturday (the battery seemed to go flat; must have forgotten to recharge it after my last photo-shoot) I returned well prepared by taking a second camera. (Fortunately, it wasn't needed!)

The day was a lot different from Saturday - the morning was misty and overcast, the afternoon saw the sun break through but by 3:00 pm the sun had disappeared behind mist and cloud and only got worse. My ISO setting was on AUTO but instead of increasing as it got duller the shutter speed just got slower. I eventually learned my lesson and changed ISO to manual but by then it was really too late. Oh well! Next time I'll know!

Over the two days I managed to take about 300 photographs and some of the best are on Flickr; here's the link.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/44566609@N03/

[Mike Farley]

My ISO setting was on AUTO but instead of increasing as it got duller the shutter speed just got slower.

It should be possible to put the camera into manual so that you can set both aperture and shutter speed, but leave the ISO on Auto so that you still get the benefit of automated metering. I am not sure that exposure compensation will function in this mode, though, which can limit your scope. It's worth experimenting so that you are ready next time.

[davidb]

My ISO setting was on AUTO but instead of increasing as it got duller the shutter speed just got slower.

It should be possible to put the camera into manual so that you can set both aperture and shutter speed, but leave the ISO on Auto so that you still get the benefit of automated metering. I am not sure that exposure compensation will function in this mode, though, which can limit your scope. It's worth experimenting so that you are ready next time.

On normal days (i.e. sunny or a little overcast AUTO ISO does work well(ish). It's just that Sunday afternoon was really dull and the shutter speed just got slower. I'll take control of the camera (instead of the other way round) in future.

If both the shutter speed and the aperture are manual I wouldn't have thought that AUTO ISO could have made much difference. Certainly if the conditions are similar to last Sunday it'll be the ISO that will be manual.

[Mike Farley]

If both the shutter speed and the aperture are manual I wouldn't have thought that AUTO ISO could have made much difference. Certainly if the conditions are similar to last Sunday it'll be the ISO that will be manual.

It's like three sides of a triangle. If you fix two of the sides, aperture and shutter in this instance, the third side has to adapt. Given the overcast conditions on Sunday, it have worked well as the difference in EV between the brightest and darkest parts of the scene would that much less than on a sunny day.