Behind the photo lines

Recently Garrie @ XYZphotogallery sent out a call for artists for an exhibition of Photographers photographing photographers - I’ve been lucky enough to exhibit with the gallery a couple of times, and thought about submitting a couple of images for this one, but ended up missing the deadline, so didn’t give myself the opportunity.

It did plant a seed though, and had me thinking back to some of the shots I’d taken of other people taking photos - with a railway theme.

People who read my article ‘Chasing the shot’ either in Newsrail or on my website might remember I included a photo of a group of photographers shoulder to shoulder  trying to get their own interpretation of ‘The Shot’. 

Photographers and videographers set their sights on K 153 and K 190 as they lead the Cruise Express charter up the climb out of Dunolly.

 I don’t say that in a derogatory way, I see getting ‘The Shot’ as creating your own special memory of a moment, a scene, or a feeling.It might not be something that anyone else would, or can appreciate, it’s about capturing something that’s your own to keep and enjoy.

Even if there’s someone beside or kneeling in front of you to get a similar image, it’s your connection to the photo that’s the important thing.

I put a few photos in a folder, had a couple more I wanted to dig out, when I got to it, without forcing the idea.

It came up again when Nick Anchen’s latest book ‘Echoes of Blue and Gold’ arrived, and a photo of a photoshop at Bullarto on the Daylesford line by talented photographer, researcher, and friend Geoff Winkler stood out as another example of photographing the photographers getting The Shot.

https://www.sierraaustralia.com/victorian-railways-echoes-of-the-blue-and-gold.html

I dug out a couple more, and wrote a few to find, and parked it again.

Then in mid August, there was a tour to Maldon in Central Victoria on the VGR to return their loco K 160 which had been under major overhaul at Steamrail’s Newport Workshops back to its home railway.

This trip was to be double headed with K 183, and interestingly offered a supplementary option of a photostop on the branch.

Photostops were once a common occurrence on mainline trips, the train pulls up, passengers out (in the good old days by every available doorway), train sets back down the track, and then comes roaring past so people who were travelling could get an action shot - all very good stuff.

There was a group of us booked on the trip, as we’d done several times this year, and most of us took the option to get some line side viewing of the train on this steeply graded line.

Without going into detail of the trip itself (it was a great day out btw), the location, Pipeline Track was fairly tight, so I decided to step back, and get a crowd shot rather than try to jostle for a position in the pack. 

Framing up the crossing sign with some rather interesting bullet holes, a dip in the crowd to get the locos in, and this was the end result.

Pipeline crossing, K 160 leads K 183 on the way to Maldon with the Vintage Train, there’s a lot of screens on display as people catch their shot.

I ended up sharing this photo on Facebook - my A Railway Life profile, and in a couple of groups, and didn’t think that much more of it until I got a message saying I’d opened a can of worms with the photo.

It seems someone had a look, and pointed out the lack of ‘real’ cameras in a sea of phones and an iPad, which had caused a flurry of discussion!

Some people got fairly passionate about it!

As I’ve said earlier, capturing memories that are important to you is what it’s about, rather than the tool you use, phone, iPad, watercolour painting (thanks @Will James).

So, I’ve decided to share some of my favourite ‘Getting the shot’ images with you.

This is a favourite of mine, a young couple on the Paris Metro, crossing the Bir Hakeim bridge, capturing their moment of seeing the Eiffel Tower. The connection of her hand on his arm makes the image for me.

New Zealand, and the Grand Trunk steam spectacular, celebrating 50 years of the Federation of Rail Organisations of New Zealand returning to Palmerston North from Okanue.

Paraparamu NZ, as a goods train heads south, Clayton and Sean capture the footage. A couple of days later, the station was demolished, so this scene is a part of history.

R 766 has just passed under the bridge at Colorado Road, west of Harden on its first trip down the Main South, with photographers capturing a trailing shot as the smoke hangs above them.

A mix of cameras and phones capture R 766 at Junee on the same history making journey.

A while later, a swim (for some), and a few drinks over dinner, something has the photographers and locals interested, and pointing their cameras towards the crossing in the photo above.

Leaving Castlemaine on the main line, as J 549 parallels us up the branch.

Alan videos the scene at Castlemaine of the Maldon Vintage Train pulling into the yard.

Do you have any favourites amongst this set? Let me know your experiences of photo lines, or including people as part of the scene.

Thanks for reading, 

Scott